Class overview
Faction identity
Forever keeps Horde and Alliance separate. Your faction continues to shape your social and world experience.
Nine launch classes
The launch roster is Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock and Warrior. Blizzard has confirmed six new race/class combinations: Orc Mage, Troll Warlock, Undead Paladin, Human Hunter, Gnome Priest and Dwarf Shaman.
Skyborne
Skyborne split into Horde Windshapers and Alliance High Order. Both can be Druid, Hunter, Rogue or Warrior; Windshapers can also be Shamans, while High Order Skyborne can also be Mages.
New race and class combinations
Forever adds six confirmed combinations beyond the original-era roster: Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Orc Mage, Troll Warlock and Forsaken (Undead) Paladin. Skyborne add further faction-specific combinations through their own class lists.
Racial abilities are also being redesigned. Blizzard's stated structure gives each race two active and two passive racial abilities, aiming for comparable offensive value while preserving different utility. That should make race choice less dependent on one overwhelmingly dominant racial and more about the situations and class pairing you value.
Dwarf racial design was revised again in the 16 October beta build: Mace Specialization was replaced by Earth Fury (2% increased critical damage and healing). Find Treasure also grants a chance at extra items from most chests. Stoneform retains its defensive Bleed, Poison and Disease identity, while Big Game Hunter remains a situational Beast-damage bonus.
Verified 22 October 2026 against Blizzard's 16 October final beta development notes. Other changes include Troll Regeneration reaching 20%, the Gnome Eureka! effect becoming an 8-second buff, and updates to Orc, Undead and Skyborne abilities. Treat numerical race rankings as pre-launch information until live performance is tested. Individual racial values remain subject to beta tuning, so this page will be updated again before final race recommendations are added.
WoW Forever race and class choices
WoW: Forever launches with nine classes and expands the original race/class matrix with six confirmed combinations: Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Orc Mage, Troll Warlock and Undead Paladin. Skyborne add another set of faction-dependent choices.
Alliance combinations
Dwarf: Hunter, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior. Gnome: Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior. Human: Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior. Night Elf: Druid, Hunter, Priest, Rogue, Warrior. High Order Skyborne: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Rogue, Warrior.
Horde combinations
Orc: Hunter, Mage, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior. Tauren: Druid, Hunter, Shaman, Warrior. Troll: Hunter, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior. Undead: Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior. Windshaper Skyborne: Druid, Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior.
How much should race affect your class choice?
Blizzard says every race now has two active and two passive racial abilities, with offensive power intended to be broadly comparable while utility remains distinctive. That means race can matter without us pretending a universal best race already exists before live testing.
The final beta racial changes alter early race recommendations. Dwarves gain Earth Fury (2% critical damage/healing) in place of Mace Specialization. Humans replace Sword Specialization with Ruthless (2% critical strike chance); Orcs replace Axe Specialization with Savage (1% critical strike chance). Tauren Endurance grants 2% critical damage/healing. These replace older weapon-specialization advice.
Skyborne faction choice matters
Both Skyborne paths can be Druids, Hunters, Rogues and Warriors. Windshaper Skyborne join the Horde and can also be Shamans; High Order Skyborne join the Alliance and can also be Mages. The choice is made at character creation and determines faction as well as those exclusive class options.
For more detail, see our Skyborne guide, Priest guide and Rogue guide. These pages will be updated with build recommendations only when live or sufficiently stable data supports them.
Class availability rechecked 22 October 2026 against Blizzard's race/class lists; the racial redesign was updated using Blizzard's 16 October beta development notes.
GUIDE STATUS
Built to stay accurate.
Confirmed systems can be documented now. Tuning, drop tables, market values and performance rankings remain clearly provisional until they can be checked against the live game.
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