Orc in WoW Forever: racials, classes and what's new

What are the Orc racials in WoW Forever?

Orcs have four racial traits in WoW Forever, two active and two passive: Blood Fury and Shatter Curse, which you activate, and Savage and Hardiness, always on. Compared with Classic Era: 1 new and 3 changed. The texts and numbers below come from the game files of the Forever beta (build 1.60.1.70532), the old ones from Classic Era 1.15.9.70003.

• Blood Fury

  Changed

  Active, instant, 3 min cooldown

  Increases Attack Power and Spell Power by 10% for 15 sec.

  New values. New cooldown (Classic Era: 2 min)

  In Classic Era: Increases base melee attack power by 25% for 15 sec and reduces healing effects on you by 50% for 25 sec.

  In practice: A damage cooldown that now raises spell power as well as attack power, so it helps casters as well as melee.

• Shatter Curse

  New

  Active, instant, 3 min cooldown

  Instantly removes all Curses and Banes, and reduces all Magical damage taken by 5% for 8 sec.

  In practice: Removes curses and banes and cuts magic damage for a few seconds: a defensive tool against casters.

• Savage

  Changed

  Passive

  Increases your critical strike chance with all spells and abilities by 1%.

  New values

  In Classic Era: Skill with Axes and Two-Handed Axes increased by 5.

  In practice: A little critical strike chance for spells and abilities, always on and whatever the weapon.

• Hardiness

  Changed

  Passive

  Duration of Stun effects on you reduced by 20%.

  New values

  In Classic Era: Chance to resist Stun effects increased by an additional 25%.

  In practice: Shorter stuns on you, always on: useful in PvP and against enemies that stun.

What changed for orcs since Classic?

Orcs lose Command, the 5% pet damage bonus of Classic, and gain Shatter Curse, which removes curses and banes and cuts magic damage taken by 5% for 8 seconds. Blood Fury now raises attack power and spell power by 10% with no healing penalty, on a 3-minute cooldown, Axe Specialization became Savage, 1% critical strike chance whatever the weapon, and Hardiness shortens stuns by 20%.

Which classes can orcs play in WoW Forever?

Orcs can play six of the nine classes in WoW Forever: warrior, hunter, rogue, shaman, mage and warlock. Mage is new for the race: Classic Era did not allow it. Each class links to its page and to its talent calculator, with the talent trees of the Forever beta.

• Warrior

  Class pageWarrior talents

• Hunter

  Class pageHunter talents

• Rogue

  Class pageRogue talents

• Shaman

  Class pageShaman talents

• MageNew on Forever

  Class pageMage talents

• Warlock

  Class pageWarlock talents

Where do orcs start in WoW Forever?

Orcs start in Durotar, as in Classic: Blizzard keeps the original starting zones and adds new characters, quests, profession hooks and recipes to them. The Group Finder of the beta lists it for levels 1 to 14. They share it with trolls. Our leveling tool then shows which zones and dungeons fit each level.