New Race and Class Combinations in World of Warcraft: Forever

Alongside the Skyborne, World of Warcraft: Forever introduces something Classic hasn't seen in twenty years: six race and class combinations that were impossible in the original Azeroth.

You'll be able to create such a character right at release, with no additional requirements announced:

• Human Hunter
• Gnome Priest
• Dwarf Shaman
• Troll Warlock
• Orc Mage
• Forsaken Paladin

More combinations are promised in one of the future updates.

In the classic game, the class lineup was tightly bound to race and worked as part of its identity: Shamans belonged only to the Horde, Paladins only to the Alliance, and the magic of the Light and fel magic were split across the two sides of the conflict. Forever removes that boundary.

The most striking of all is the Forsaken Paladin: undead that draws power from the Light, breaking both class logic and the lore players have grown used to since the days of Warcraft III. The Dwarf Shaman doesn't look much simpler — the dwarves of Ironforge had no connection to the elements before this.

The other four options don't break the mold quite as hard, but they push in the same direction: the Orc Mage and Troll Warlock give the Horde the casters it never had, the Gnome Priest adds another healer to the Alliance, and the Human Hunter closes a long-standing oddity — Humans could be almost anything except a beast-wielding marksman.

For raids and dungeons, this is first and foremost a question of racial bonuses: combinations that were previously unavailable now let you pair the right class with a convenient race where before you had to choose one or the other.

The new race isn't part of this list, because it follows its own scheme. The Skyborne aren't tied to a faction: the player chooses their side, and part of the class lineup depends on it — the Horde unlocks the Shaman, the Alliance the Mage. The list shared by both branches looks familiar: Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, and Druid.

There's no full list of future combinations — it's only been said that it will keep growing. The starting zones for the new combinations haven't been revealed either: it's unclear whether, for example, the Forsaken Paladin will be sent to train in Tirisfal Glades or whether a separate questline will be prepared for them. The details, as with the rest of Forever's systems, are promised for the beta, which begins on 17 September.