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World of Warcraft Forever races and classes: every race and class combination, including Skyborne

Sat, Oct 24, 20267:30 AM3 min readBy Forever Upgrades
GuideAlliance and Horde banners listing the WoW Forever races

Which races and classes can you play in WoW Forever? All nine classic classes are back, the new Skyborne race joins both factions, and Blizzard has opened up race and class combinations that were never possible in Classic - Undead Paladins, Orc Mages, Dwarf Shamans and more. Here are all World of Warcraft Forever races and classes, every combination, and the best race for each class.

Alliance and Horde banners listing the WoW Forever races: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome and Skyborne for the Alliance; Orc, Undead, Tauren, Troll and Skyborne for the Horde
WoW Forever races: four per faction, plus the Skyborne on both sides.

WoW Forever races

  • Alliance: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome and Skyborne (High-Order).
  • Horde: Orc, Undead, Tauren, Troll and Skyborne (Windshaper).
  • The Skyborne are the new race: you choose their faction, and the choice changes their classes.

WoW Forever classes

The nine classes are the same as in Classic: Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Shaman, Mage, Warlock and Druid. What's changed is what they can do - new talents and abilities for every class (try them in our WoW Forever talent calculator) - and who can play them. Paladins and Shamans are no longer faction-locked: the Horde gets Undead Paladins, and the Alliance gets Dwarf Shamans.

Every race and class combination

Blizzard's official list, as published by Icy Veins, gives 56 race and class combinations in total. New combinations - ones you couldn't make in Classic - are marked:

  • Human: Warrior, Paladin, Hunter (new), Rogue, Priest, Mage, Warlock
  • Dwarf: Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Shaman (new)
  • Night Elf: Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Druid
  • Gnome: Warrior, Rogue, Priest (new), Mage, Warlock
  • Skyborne (High-Order, Alliance): Warrior (new), Hunter (new), Rogue (new), Mage (new), Druid (new)
  • Orc: Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, Mage (new), Warlock
  • Undead: Warrior, Paladin (new), Rogue, Priest, Mage, Warlock
  • Tauren: Warrior, Hunter, Shaman, Druid
  • Troll: Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Shaman, Mage, Warlock (new)
  • Skyborne (Windshaper, Horde): Warrior (new), Hunter (new), Rogue (new), Shaman (new), Druid (new)
Chart of every World of Warcraft Forever race and class combination, with the new combinations marked: Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Gnome Priest, Orc Mage, Undead Paladin, Troll Warlock and every Skyborne class
World of Warcraft Forever races and classes: every combination, with the new ones marked.

New race and class combinations in WoW Forever

  • Alliance: Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Gnome Priest.
  • Horde: Orc Mage, Undead Paladin, Troll Warlock.
  • Skyborne: every class - Warrior, Hunter, Rogue and Druid on both sides, Mage for the Alliance and Shaman for the Horde.

Skyborne classes

The Skyborne are elves who start on Zephras Isle. Blizzard splits them by faction, as Icy Veins quotes: “Horde-aligned Windshapers which can become Shaman, or an Alliance-aligned High-Order Skyborne which can become Mages.” Both versions can also be Warriors, Hunters, Rogues and Druids. Playing a Skyborne needs one of the WoW Forever editions.

Best race for each class

Racials were reworked for Forever (see our racials breakdown). In our level 60 sims, the race that comes out on top for each spec is:

  • Warrior: Fury - Night Elf, Arms - Night Elf
  • Paladin: Retribution - Human, Holy - Human
  • Hunter: Beast Mastery - Orc, Marksmanship - Night Elf, Survival - Night Elf
  • Rogue: Assassination - Night Elf, Combat - Night Elf, Subtlety - Night Elf
  • Priest: Shadow - Night Elf, Holy - Night Elf, Discipline - Night Elf
  • Shaman: Enhancement - Skyborne, Elemental - Orc, Restoration - Skyborne
  • Mage: Arcane - Skyborne, Fire - Human, Frost - Skyborne
  • Warlock: Demonology - Orc, Destruction - Gnome, Affliction - Orc
  • Druid: Balance - Night Elf, Feral Combat - Night Elf, Restoration - Night Elf
Tip: the difference between races is a few percent at most. Pick the race you like the look of and the faction your friends play - then use our WoW Forever tier list to choose a spec.
Our take: opening Paladin and Shaman to both factions is the change that will reshape groups the most - every dungeon on both sides can now have a Paladin's blessings or a Shaman's totems. And the Skyborne's faction-locked Mage and Shaman make a neat reason to pick a side.

Sources

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