World of Warcraft: Forever is handing out new race and class pairs, then rewriting the racials underneath them. The class matrix is the headline most people wanted. The racial sheet is the part that might actually move the meta.
As of right now here is every legal combo and every racial that has been shown in the BlizzCon client. Some of it is still marked as subject to change. Enough of it is readable to start planning a November 4 character.
The new race/class combinations on top of vanilla are short:
- Human Hunter
- Dwarf Shaman
- Gnome Priest
- Undead Paladin
- Orc Mage
- Troll Warlock
- Skyborne across Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, and Druid, plus Alliance Mage or Horde Shaman
Dwarf Mage is not on the board. Night Elves keep the same five classes they had in 2004: Druid, Hunter, Priest, Rogue, Warrior. Tauren stay at four.
Undead Paladin is the one that most people are talking about. Dwarf Shaman is the Alliance version of the same idea. Now both factions have Paladins and Shamans, which will make content interesting. Human Hunter closes a gap that Classic players have asked about for years. Gnome Priest and Troll Warlock fill caster holes. Orc Mage gives the Horde another cloth option with Blood Fury sitting on spell power now.
Skyborne still cost a pack. Mage is Alliance only. Shaman is Horde only. The shared four classes are free of that split.
The racial pass is wider than the combo list. Forever gives every race four racials. Old resistance rows are gone. Weapon specializations now add crit chance instead of weapon skill. Several races picked up brand new buttons.
Night Elves are the interesting case if you already liked that kit. They did not get a new class. They got a new cooldown. Elune's Light increases critical chance by 10% for 15 seconds. Shadowmeld is still the stand-still vanish. Quickness now stacks 1% dodge with 2% run speed. Wisp Spirit still turns you into a wisp on death and adds 75% movement speed.
I'll probably roll a Night Elf hunter. That combo is not new, but Elune's Light on a hunter is. A timed 10% crit window changes how you open on a rare, how you finish a runner, and how you take a contested quest mob when two other hunters are in the same camp. The extra run speed on Quickness is small on paper and huge when you are kiting across the Barrens or trying to reach a corpse before someone tags the respawn.
That is the kind of tweak that can shake a 1-60 world more than another race being allowed to click Hunter. Classic racials were often flavor plus one PvP panic button. Forever is putting combat stats on the racial bar.
Humans get Hunter plus Will to Survive as a stun break, Perception for 20 seconds of stealth detection, Sword Specialization for 2% crit with swords, and The Human Spirit for 5% Spirit. Dwarves get Shaman plus Stoneform, Find Treasure, Mace Specialization, and Big Game Hunter for 5% damage to beasts. Gnomes get Priest plus Eureka, a burst that cheapens and pumps the next three spells or abilities, plus Escape Artist and an Engineering break.
On the Horde side, Orcs put Blood Fury on attack power and spell power together, which is why Orc Mage exists as more than a costume. Shatter Curse clears curses and cuts magic damage for 8 seconds. Axe Specialization adds crit. Hardiness still chops stun time. Undead Paladins keep Will of the Forsaken, Cannibalize, underwater breathing, and Touch of the Grave. Trolls add Warlock and still have Berserking. Tauren pick up Plainsrunning, a speed ramp the longer you keep moving, plus Cultivation herbs that do not need Herbalism.
Skyborne split their actives by faction. Both sides get Walk on Air, a 10-second downward glide, Wind Blessed for 1% haste, and Elemental Insight for 5% damage to elementals. Horde Skyborne get Skysight for a 10% run-speed blessing. Alliance Skyborne get Read Ley Line, which doubles health and mana regeneration while it is up.
None of this is locked in stone, as we still have the beta and a few weeks till launch. Tooltips will move between the September 17 beta and launch. The shape of what they want to change is already clear. Blizzard is not treating racials as museum plaques.
World Of Warcraft Forever still launches November 4 at 3:00 p.m. PST, with beta from September 17 through October 21 for Epic-pack accounts. The base game rides a normal subscription. Skyborne access sits on the Heroic Pack and up. Hardcore realms come later. The new dungeons and the December raid unlock sit on the same character you pick this week.
Are you rolling one of the new combos, or sticking with a Night Elf hunter and betting on Elune's Light? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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