WoW Forever racials add one new race and change the old ones. The Skyborne get Walk on Air, Wind Blessed and Elemental Insight, plus Skysight on the Horde or Read Ley Line on the Alliance. Each original race gets a new racial in the BlizzCon build. Six new class combos open up, with the Undead Paladin at the top.

Three Skyborne characters, the only new race in WoW Forever. Image: Blizzard Entertainment.

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The Skyborne are the only new race in WoW Forever, and both factions can play them. You pick Horde or Alliance at character creation. The Horde version is called Windshaper Skyborne. The Alliance version is called High Order Skyborne. Blizzard explains both in its Skyborne race article.

WoW Forever itself comes with a WoW Subscription or Game Time. The Skyborne race and the Zephras Isle start come in the Skyborne Heroic Pack, and the pack is the one purchase you need for the race. Press reports put the Heroic Pack at $29.99. The Blizzard post does not show a price.

The Heroic Pack also gives early name reservation and the Cerulean Prideclaw ground mount. You still buy the riding skill in the game before you can use that mount. Our WoW Forever editions and price guide lists what each pack adds. The Skyborne also have their own /dance emote.

Blizzard lists five Skyborne racials. Three are shared by both factions. Each faction adds one racial of its own. The effects below come from the Blizzard text.

The Skyborne racial icons, with the Horde only and Alliance only racials marked. Image: Blizzard Entertainment.

The Blizzard text gives no cooldown or duration for Skysight or Read Ley Line. Blizzard can still change the racial values before launch on 4 November 2026.

Walk on Air lets you glide down for 10 seconds. WoW Forever has no flying mounts, and the racial does not lift you up. Use it to drop from a cliff or a bridge to the next quest target. RestedXP says its Zephras Isle route has "Skyborne-specific steps that make full use of their racial ability" (update of 9 October 2026).

The WoW Forever Skyborne classes depend on the faction. Shaman is Horde only. Mage is Alliance only. The other four classes are open on both sides.

You choose Horde or Alliance for your Skyborne at character creation. Image: Blizzard Entertainment.

Think about your friends before you pick. WoW Forever has no traditional realms. Blizzard Watch reports that you can group only with players of the same faction and the same ruleset.

Blizzard says the Skyborne have new druid forms made for the race. The Blizzard text does not name the forms. A search summary of a BlizzCon preview lists Bear, Cat, Travel and Moonkin forms. We could not confirm that list. The preview art shows four forms: a bird-like form, a blue cat, a white antlered bear and a second blue cat.

Four Skyborne druid forms from the Blizzard preview. Image: Blizzard Entertainment.

The Skyborne druid is open to both factions. On Zephras Isle, the RestedXP route includes the Druid Bear Form class questline. Druid talents change in Forever too. One third-party count lists 15 new and 23 changed druid talents. Our WoW Forever talents guide covers the trees and the calculators.

Every Skyborne starts on Zephras Isle. Blizzard lists the zone for levels 1 to 12. The RestedXP route runs levels 1 to 12 for Horde and 1 to 14 for Alliance. After the island, the route sends Alliance players to Westfall and Horde players to Silverpine Forest.

A village on Zephras Isle, the level 1 to 12 Skyborne starting zone. Image: Blizzard Entertainment.

The island has class questlines. The RestedXP route covers Hunter pet taming, Druid Bear Form and the Shaman Fire Totem. Other races can visit Zephras Isle, and the route supports them there. For the plan after level 12, read our WoW Forever leveling guide.

RestedXP added separate Horde and Alliance routes for Zephras Isle on 9 October 2026. The addon shows an arrow to each next step, and its CurseForge listing says it can accept and turn in quests for you.

The 8 original WoW Forever races get new racials too. The WoW Forever new racials below come from the Zockify race guide. The list reflects the playable BlizzCon 2026 build. Zockify says the racials may still change before release. Each race gains at least one racial and loses at least one.

The source gives names only, with no effects or numbers. Our sources do not show which Classic racials stay. Five races lose a resistance racial: Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, Undead and Tauren.

Two other racials have sourced details. Gnome Engineering Specialization reduces gadget backfire. Tauren Cultivation lets a Tauren gather herbs without Herbalism, and it doubles the yield when the Tauren has Herbalism. Our WoW Forever professions guide shows how those racials fit a profession plan.

Outside the Skyborne, our sources list six new race and class pairs for Forever. The list comes from Zockify and other press, and the sources differ on exact lists. The Undead Paladin is the headline. Blizzard called it a long-requested combo at BlizzCon, says Warcraft Tavern.

Method.gg confirms that Paladin is open to the Horde as Undead. RestedXP added 8 Paladin-only quests in Tirisfal Glades and the Undead Paladin "Redemption" quest chain. Tirisfal Glades also holds Ruins of Lordaeron, a new Horde dungeon. Blizzard lists it for levels 15 to 20, and Warcraft Tavern lists 15 to 22. Our WoW Forever dungeons guide has the full dungeon list.

Sources disagree about the Undead Warrior. Zockify lists it. The Warcraft Tavern demo list leaves it out. Check the character creation screen when it opens on 27 October 2026.

Zockify lists the classes for five of the original races. Our sources do not give full lists for Night Elf, Undead or Tauren. Method.gg also keeps a list of all class and race combinations.

The Skyborne rows come from Blizzard. The other rows come from press pages, so confirm them in the game.

The last two rows come from a wiki page, not from Blizzard. Treat them as unconfirmed.

Do not copy Classic racial math into Forever. Several old racials are gone, and the new ones have no published numbers yet.

Our sources do not rank the races for leveling speed. Principal Designer Kris Zierhut said the XP curve did not change, according to press reports. Icy Veins reports a Blizzard stat: players needed 20.5 hours to reach level 20 in Forever and 20.4 hours in Classic. MassivelyOP says the analytics show a slightly slower pace than Era. Both reports are search snippets. The Blizzard text lists no XP bonus for any Skyborne racial. A racial can still cut travel time and rest time.

Our take: the Skyborne have the clearest leveling racials, because Blizzard published their numbers. For the Horde, Skysight is the best sourced speed racial. For the Alliance, a Skyborne Mage gets the most from Read Ley Line. For the original races, the new racial effects are not known yet. Pick the class you like, then follow the route in our fastest way to level 60 guide.

RestedXP finished its Forever routes for levels 1 to 35 in its update of 9 October 2026. The update covers Zephras Isle and all six new combos in the table above. Forever routes for levels 35 to 60 come after launch. Until then, the existing Era routes cover levels 35 to 60. The Dungeon Leveling Guide is still work in progress, and RestedXP builds the guide alongside the game, so updates keep coming.

The RestedXP addon is a free download. The Forever guides are the paid part. Our link takes 10% off: $40.50 for both factions or $27.00 for one. Read the RestedXP coupon guide for the cart steps, or compare it with other addons in our best WoW Forever leveling addon guide.

Our sources do not measure which side levels faster. Pick Horde for Skysight run speed or for Shaman. Pick Alliance for Read Ley Line regeneration or for Mage. Your friends and your ruleset matter more, because you can group only inside one faction.

Each side has five classes. Shaman is Horde only and Mage is Alliance only. Druid, Hunter, Rogue and Warrior are open to both.

Yes. The Undead Paladin is new in Forever and gives the Horde its first Paladin. RestedXP supports the class with Paladin-only quests in Tirisfal Glades.

Blizzard lore ties them to elves. Blizzard describes the Windshapers as descendants of the first shen'dorei high elves. Blizzard describes the High Order as descendants of the Highborne scholars of Eldre'Thalas.

The Skyborne cannot be priests. Our sources list Priest for Human, Dwarf, Gnome and Troll, with Gnome Priest as the new combo. In the BlizzCon build, Humans get Will to Survive, Dwarves get Mace Specialization and Big Game Hunter, Gnomes get Eureka and Trolls get Rapid Regeneration. The pages we checked do not give the effects.

No. WoW Forever comes with a subscription or Game Time. The Skyborne race needs the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a higher pack.

Early name reservation and character creation start on 27 October 2026, per the Blizzard roadmap. Press reports say the window runs to 3 November with up to 3 characters. The game launches on 4 November 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST. Sources differ on the time zone label, so check our release date guide.