Skyborne

The Skyborne are the only new playable race in Forever and the only thing in the game that costs money beyond a subscription. They are one species with two political halves, one per faction, and each half gets a different exclusive class and a different exclusive racial. If the guild goes Horde, Skyborne is the Horde’s only elf and its only new Shaman race; if Alliance, it is a fourth Mage race with a glide button. Read this before you spend $29.99. verified

Lore

Official version: the Skyborne descend from Highborne exiles who, thousands of years ago, “forged a pact with elemental wind spirits” and built a civilization on Zephras Isle inside Skywall, the Elemental Plane of Air. When players arrive, “the air spirits that once protected the island have vanished, ancient structures are beginning to fail, communities are becoming isolated, and the Skyborne are divided over what comes next.” verified

Expanded lore from warcraft.wiki.gg, which reads as datamined beta quest text and can change before launch: verified page, beta-era content

They call themselves shen’dorei, “hidden people.”
They were citizens of Eldre’Thalas (the Highborne city under Dire Maul) who fled persecution under Prince Tortheldrin. A rebel faction led by Shal’nan sabotaged a demonic summoning ritual, escaped westward, and negotiated with the wind spirits of Skywall, who lifted their island into the elemental plane.
The crisis: the wind spirits vanished, the pylons anchoring Zephras Isle began failing, and the sister islands Anvilas and Siroccas have already collapsed. Refugees are fleeing to Zephras, which is itself coming apart.
Why they reach Azeroth: the High Order contacted the Kirin Tor and the Alliance; the Windshapers contacted the Earthen Ring and the Horde. A cult called Al’Aketh, devoted to Al’Akir the Windlord, revealed the Skyborne to him and forced the exodus.
Physiology: night elves who became smaller, paler, and slender, close to high elves. About 30% are born with blue skin (the “Sky-Touched Blessing”), a phenomenon only five generations old. They wear hippogryph feathers, use windstones as power sources, ride Galestriders, are unfamiliar with engineering, and cannot be Priests.
Ruler: High Elder Talaanis Shadowsong. Capital settlement: Valanaar, a neutral sanctuary.

Where the idea came from: Senior Game Designer Josh Greenfield said the team deliberately chose another elf type, and that Chris Metzen “encouraged the team to push the idea further rather than staying conservative.” Lead Designer Tim Jones, asked why another elf: “elf characters are extremely popular,” citing the Blood Elf population effect. Both quotes are press headlines whose article bodies could not be loaded. unverified

High Order versus Windshaper

You choose the faction at character creation. The two variants are the same species with different politics, and the starting zone’s story is the split itself. verified

	High Order Skyborne	Windshaper Skyborne
Faction	Alliance	Horde
Identity	Descendants of Eldre’Thalas scholars who concluded that dependence on the elements was a vulnerability; pursue arcane self-reliance	Descendants of the first shen’dorei to receive the wind spirits’ gift of “skysight”; keep the elemental traditions and want to restore the missing mentors
Exclusive class	Mage	Shaman
Exclusive racial (active)	Read Ley Line: +100% health and mana regeneration for 15 sec	Skysight: +10% run speed for 30 sec
Azeroth contact	Kirin Tor, Alliance	Earthen Ring, Horde
Where the airship lands	Dalaran, Alterac Mountains	Skywatcher Plateau, Mulgore

The variant identity, exclusive classes, and racial names are from Blizzard’s two Skyborne posts. The 15 sec and 30 sec durations come from the fan racial transcriptions and can be tuned. verified names unverified durations

Racials, exact values

Every race in Forever has 2 active and 2 passive racials tuned for similar offensive value. Skyborne share three and get one per variant. verified

Racial	Type	Effect	Who
Walk on Air	Active	Glide downward for 10 seconds	Both
Wind Blessed	Passive	+1% melee, ranged, and spell haste	Both
Elemental Insight	Passive	+5% damage to Elementals	Both
Read Ley Line	Active	+100% health and mana regeneration for 15 sec	High Order only
Skysight	Active	+10% run speed for 30 sec	Windshaper only

The three shared racials and the two exclusive names are in Blizzard’s posts. verified Cooldowns are not published in any loaded source. Wind Blessed is a real throughput passive under the unified hit and crit model, since one haste stat applies to melee, ranged, and spells. Elemental Insight is niche in the open world and useful in Hyjal content, where Elementals are the local enemy type.

Classes

Class	High Order (Alliance)	Windshaper (Horde)
Warrior	yes	yes
Hunter	yes	yes
Rogue	yes	yes
Druid	yes, new Skyborne druid forms	yes, new Skyborne druid forms
Mage	yes, exclusive	no
Shaman	no	yes, exclusive
Priest	no	no
Paladin	no	no
Warlock	no	no

verified Skyborne Druid forms are made for the race and shown in the What’s Next panel; the specific look was not described in text. See Druid, Shaman, and Mage for how the racials fit each class.

The paid unlock

Skyborne and Zephras Isle require the Skyborne Heroic Pack ($29.99) or any higher edition (Epic Pack $59.99, Warcraft Forever Collection $79.99, Collector’s Edition $150.00). It is per Battle.net account, not per character. Everything else in Forever is included with a normal subscription. verified

Full edition contents and what else the Heroic Pack gives you (Early Name Reservation, a mount, a transmog ensemble, one Invite-A-Friend code) are on Editions and pricing.

Nothing suggests the race will ever be earnable in-game. verified as absent

Starting zone: Zephras Isle

Levels 1 to 12, a flying island in Skywall, sanctuary (no PvP on any ruleset). verified
Subzones: Thendal, Shen’dar, and Falaath villages, the Shrine of Akir, Shadowgale Forest, Nightclaw Cavern, the Ruins of Ban’aethal, and Valanaar with its Skydocks. verified, wiki beta data
No dungeon on the island.
Exit: airship from the Valanaar Skydocks. Alliance arrive at Dalaran in Alterac Mountains; Horde arrive at Skywatcher Plateau in Mulgore. verified, wiki beta data

Customization

Two body types, roughly 10 faces, 10 to 25 hairstyles, 9 skin tones, 9 to 10 eye colors, feathers, earrings and jewelry, and facial and body tattoo sets. Blizzard published the counts; the tattoo set names (Zephyr, Wayfinder) are from a fan datamine. A barber shop changes looks for a fee. verified counts unverified set names

Guild takeaway

A Skyborne alt is a $30 decision per account, not per character.
Horde guild: Windshaper Skyborne is the only Horde elf and the only new Horde Shaman race. Skysight is a leveling and flag-carrying racial.
Alliance guild: High Order Skyborne Mage competes with Gnome and Human Mage. Read Ley Line is a solo-leveling and between-pull button, not a raid throughput racial.
Both: Wind Blessed is the only haste racial in the game, and Walk on Air makes falling deaths and cliff shortcuts a Skyborne perk.
Nobody needs a Skyborne to raid. It is a cosmetic and convenience purchase with one real racial edge (haste).

Unknown as of 2026-09-24

Cooldowns of Walk on Air, Read Ley Line, and Skysight.
Whether racial values will be retuned between beta and launch.
What the Skyborne Druid forms look like in detail.
Whether the unlock will ever be earnable in-game (nothing suggests it).
Zephras Isle’s quest count and whether the zone content extends beyond level 12.