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PassTheTorch

Races and classes

Forever keeps the eight original races, adds the Skyborne, and opens six race and class combinations that vanilla never allowed. Every race also had its racials rebuilt into two actives and two passives with roughly equal offensive value, which means the old “Troll or Orc, everyone else is a mistake” advice is dead. This page is the grid and the numbers; the class pages carry the per-class verdicts. verified

The grid

Section titled “The grid”

New combos are marked with an asterisk. Source: Blizzard’s 2026-09-22 “Create the Hero You Want to Be” post, checked against the Deep Dive recap. verified

Alliance

Section titled “Alliance”
Race Warrior Paladin Hunter Rogue Priest Shaman Mage Warlock Druid
Human yes yes yes* yes yes yes yes
Dwarf yes yes yes yes yes yes*
Night Elf yes yes yes yes yes
Gnome yes yes yes* yes yes
High Order Skyborne (paid) yes yes yes yes yes

Horde

Section titled “Horde”
Race Warrior Paladin Hunter Rogue Priest Shaman Mage Warlock Druid
Orc yes yes yes yes yes* yes
Tauren yes yes yes yes
Troll yes yes yes yes yes yes yes*
Undead yes yes* yes yes yes yes
Windshaper Skyborne (paid) yes yes yes yes yes

By class

Section titled “By class”
Class Alliance races Horde races
Warrior Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, High Order Skyborne Orc, Tauren, Troll, Undead, Windshaper Skyborne
Paladin Human, Dwarf Undead (new)
Hunter Human (new), Dwarf, Night Elf, High Order Skyborne Orc, Tauren, Troll, Windshaper Skyborne
Rogue Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, High Order Skyborne Orc, Troll, Undead, Windshaper Skyborne
Priest Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome (new) Troll, Undead
Shaman Dwarf (new) Orc, Tauren, Troll, Windshaper Skyborne
Mage Human, Gnome, High Order Skyborne Orc (new), Troll, Undead
Warlock Human, Gnome Orc, Troll (new), Undead
Druid Night Elf, High Order Skyborne Tauren, Windshaper Skyborne

Paladin is still Alliance-heavy (two races versus one) and Shaman is still Horde-heavy (four versus one), so the old faction identity survives. Priest has no Skyborne option on either side. verified

Racials, every race

Section titled “Racials, every race”

Blizzard’s racial post could not be loaded by our tools; three fan transcriptions of the BlizzCon build and beta client agree on the text below (Method, zockify, classicwow.gg). Cooldowns and percentages come from the classicwow.gg beta snapshot and can be tuned before launch. The Dwarf and Undead lines match the examples Blizzard gave in the Deep Dive recap. verified text unverified numbers

Race Active 1 Active 2 Passive 1 Passive 2
Human Will to Survive: removes stuns (3 min CD) Perception: stealth detection for 20 sec Sword Specialization: +2% crit to all spells and abilities with a sword equipped The Human Spirit: +5% Spirit
Dwarf Stoneform: removes bleed, poison, and disease, 10% less physical damage for 8 sec (3 min CD) Find Treasure: runs alongside other tracking Mace Specialization: +1% crit to all spells and abilities with a mace equipped Big Game Hunter: +5% damage vs Beasts
Night Elf Elune’s Light: +10% crit for 15 sec (3 min CD) Shadowmeld: usable in combat, 2 min CD in combat; Druids stealth as if 1 level higher Quickness: +1% dodge, +2% run speed Wisp Spirit: wisp form while dead
Gnome Escape Artist: removes roots and snares, 3 sec immunity (2 min CD) Eureka!: next 3 spells or abilities cost less and do 10% more damage or healing (2 min CD) Expansive Mind: +5% max mana, rage, or energy Engineering Specialization: 20% fewer device failures
High Order Skyborne (Alliance, paid) Walk on Air: glide 10 sec Read Ley Line: +100% health and mana regen for 15 sec Wind Blessed: +1% melee, ranged, and spell haste Elemental Insight: +5% damage vs Elementals
Orc Blood Fury: +10% attack power and spell power for 15 sec, no healing penalty (2 min CD) Shatter Curse: removes curses, 15% less magic damage for 8 sec (3 min CD) Axe Specialization: +1% crit with an axe Hardiness: stun duration minus 20%
Undead Will of the Forsaken: removes charm, fear, and sleep, no immunity window (2 min CD) Cannibalize: 7% health and 7% mana per 2 sec for 10 sec Underwater Breathing Touch of the Grave: attacks and spells sometimes drain health
Tauren War Stomp: 2 sec stun, up to 5 targets in 8 yd Cultivation: grow herbs without Herbalism Plainsrunning: +1% speed per 5 sec moving, max 30% Endurance: +5% health, +1% hit
Troll Berserking: +10% attack and cast speed for 10 sec, no health condition (3 min CD) Rapid Regeneration: 50% health over 6 sec, cancelled by any action Beast Slaying: +5% damage vs Beasts Regeneration: 10% of health regen continues in combat
Windshaper Skyborne (Horde, paid) Walk on Air: glide 10 sec Skysight: +10% run speed for 30 sec Wind Blessed: +1% melee, ranged, and spell haste Elemental Insight: +5% damage vs Elementals

What changed from vanilla, in one list: changed in Forever

  • All +10 resistance passives are gone (Gnome Arcane, Undead Shadow, Dwarf Frost, Night Elf Nature, and so on).
  • Weapon-skill racials (Human sword and mace, Dwarf mace and gun, Orc axe) became crit chance with that weapon type, for all spells and abilities.
  • Will of the Forsaken breaks charm, fear, and sleep but no longer grants an immunity window.
  • Blood Fury lost its healing penalty. Berserking lost its health condition.
  • Stoneform is now a bleed, poison, and disease purge with physical damage reduction.
  • Shadowmeld works in combat.
  • Gnome Escape Artist gives 3 sec immunity after the break.
  • Tauren Endurance gives +1% hit, which under the unified hit stat helps casters, healers, and melee equally.
  • New buttons: Human Will to Survive, Orc Shatter Curse, Gnome Eureka!, Tauren Cultivation, Troll Rapid Regeneration, Undead Touch of the Grave, Night Elf Elune’s Light.

Eureka! has a discrepancy: classicwow.gg says “50% less resources”; the talentsforever JSON splits it into 15% less mana for healing spells and 50% less for damage spells. Treat the discount as unsettled. unverified

For the Skyborne lore, exclusive classes, and the $29.99 unlock, see Skyborne.

The six new combos and the “no lore published” caveat

Section titled “The six new combos and the “no lore published” caveat”

Blizzard’s post lists the six combos with “more planned for future updates” and nothing else. Blizzard has not published per-combo lore explanations. The fan writeup covering the post says as much and only editorializes that Undead Paladin “is a real lore statement.” The right-hand column below is existing Warcraft lore that makes each combo plausible, not a Blizzard Forever statement. verified as absent

Combo Existing lore hook (not a Blizzard Forever statement)
Orc Mage Later canon (Cataclysm era) had orc mages trained in Orgrimmar; in year-one canon the Horde’s arcane tradition was thin vanilla baseline
Troll Warlock Darkspear trolls practice dark magic and hexes; warlock fits their voodoo tradition vanilla baseline
Undead Paladin Forsaken priests already existed; a Forsaken wielding the Light at a cost to themselves is a known later-canon theme, and the Forsaken Kingdom campaign Forever follows may set it up unverified inference
Human Hunter Stormwind rangers and Brotherhood of the Horse trackers; no lore obstacle, purely a missing 2004 option vanilla baseline
Gnome Priest Later canon added gnome priests; Forever simply grants it vanilla baseline
Dwarf Shaman Wildhammer dwarves are shamanistic; Forever’s Dwarf model presumably covers them vanilla baseline

What the new combos mean mechanically:

  • Undead Paladin gives the Horde a Paladin for the first time, with Blessing of Kings and Blessing of Salvation in Horde raids and Will of the Forsaken on a plate healer. Undead Priest racial spells were also re-dealt; see Priest and Paladin.
  • Dwarf Shaman gives the Alliance Windfury Totem, Bloodlust-free but still real, plus Stoneform on a Shaman. Dwarf Gun Specialization was removed, so the Dwarf Hunter argument is now Big Game Hunter and Stoneform. See Shaman.
  • Human Hunter with Sword Specialization is a crit racial for a class that carries a melee weapon it rarely swings; the passive says “all spells and abilities,” so whether ranged shots count is a question for the class page. See Hunter.
  • Gnome Priest with Expansive Mind (+5% mana) and Eureka! is a straightforward healer racial kit. See Priest.
  • Orc Mage with Blood Fury (+10% spell power, no healing penalty) and Hardiness. See Mage.
  • Troll Warlock with Berserking (+10% cast speed, no health gate). See Warlock.

Faction choice considerations

Section titled “Faction choice considerations”

Faction is decided once and enforced everywhere: no cross-faction grouping, auctions, or mail on any ruleset, and on the PvP ruleset a reported one-faction-per-account lock. See Rulesets. verified

Consideration Alliance Horde
Paladin Human, Dwarf Undead only
Shaman Dwarf only Orc, Tauren, Troll, Windshaper Skyborne
Priest races 4 (Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome) 2 (Troll, Undead)
Druid races Night Elf, High Order Skyborne Tauren, Windshaper Skyborne
Skyborne exclusive Mage, Read Ley Line Shaman, Skysight
Fear break Human Will to Survive breaks stuns, not fears Undead Will of the Forsaken breaks fear, no immunity
Stealth counter Human Perception (20 sec), Gnome Escape Artist Troll and Orc have no detection; Tauren War Stomp
Hit racial none Tauren Endurance +1% hit
Haste racial High Order Skyborne Wind Blessed Windshaper Skyborne Wind Blessed
Crit racials Human (sword), Dwarf (mace), Night Elf Elune’s Light Orc (axe)
Riverglades hub Farholde Keep (Brotherhood of the Horse) Rog’mar
Skyborne exit Dalaran, Alterac Mountains Skywatcher Plateau, Mulgore

Honest read: the racial rework flattened the gap. Vanilla’s “Horde has Will of the Forsaken and Berserking, Alliance has Paladins” argument is now “both sides have Paladins and Shamans, both have a haste elf, both have a fear or stun break.” Pick the faction by who in the guild wants to play what and by which capital city people want to live in, not by racials. The one durable asymmetry is class-race depth: Alliance has more Priest and Paladin choices; Horde has more Shaman choices.

Unknown as of 2026-09-24

Section titled “Unknown as of 2026-09-24”
  • Final racial numbers at launch; every cooldown and percentage above is a beta-client reading.
  • Eureka!’s exact resource discount.
  • Whether the Human and Dwarf weapon crit passives apply to ranged attacks for Hunters.
  • Per-combo lore for the six new pairs: nothing published.
  • Which additional combos are “planned for future updates.”
  • Whether the PvP ruleset’s one-faction-per-account lock is real (reported from the panel, not in Blizzard’s written recap).

Sources

Section titled “Sources”