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Skyborne in WoW Forever: The New Race

The Skyborne are the only new race in WoW Forever: descendants of the Highborne who made a pact with the wind spirits. This guide covers their two factions, every racial with values from the game files, the playable classes, the starting zone and what's in the Skyborne Heroic Pack.

Two factions: Windshapers and High Order

At character creation, you pick which side your Skyborne joins: Horde (Windshapers) or Alliance (High Order). Both share three racials, but each has its own active racial and class options. official

WindshapersHigh Order
FactionHordeAlliance
ClassesWarrior, Hunter, Rogue, Druid, ShamanWarrior, Hunter, Rogue, Druid, Mage
Faction racialSkysightRead Leyline
LanguagesDarnassian, OrcishDarnassian, Common
After the starting zoneMulgoreDalaran (Alterac Mountains)

Languages and onward travel are taken from the beta data. from game data

Windshapers

The Windshapers are shamanistic spiritual leaders of the Skyborne people on Zephras Isle. They honor the elements and seek to gain a better understanding of the nature of the elemental plane to protect the shen'dorei way of life within Skywall.

High Order

The High Order are the Skyborne descendants of the Highborne magisters of Eldre'Thalas. Having spent the past 10,000 years in the realm of Skywall, members of the High Order seek to reclaim the ancient arcane knowledge of their forebears.

Faction descriptions from the game.

Skyborne Racial Abilities

Walk on Air

Racial · all Skyborne · Cooldown 90 sec

Glide downward through the air for 10 sec while controlling your direction of travel.

Wind Blessed

Racial Passive · all Skyborne

Increases your spellcasting, melee, and ranged Haste by 3%.

Elemental Insight

Racial Passive · all Skyborne

Damage dealt versus Elementals increased by 5%.

Skysight

Racial · Windshapers · Cooldown 2 min

Attempt to draw power from a convergence of elements and receive its blessing, increasing your movement and mounted movement speeds by 10%. Lasts 30 sec if no elemental convergence is nearby, and 15 min if one is found.

Read Leyline

Racial · High Order · Cooldown 2 min

Attempt to tap into the power of a nearby leyline, increasing your Health and Mana regeneration by 100%. Lasts 30 sec if no leyline is nearby, and 15 min if one is found.

Names, values and cooldowns are from the beta client (build 1.60.1) and may still change before launch. from game data

An early quest in the starting zone teaches your faction racial: The Gift of Skysight (Windshapers) and Reading the Ley Lines (High Order). from game data

Which classes can Skyborne play?

ClassWindshapersHigh OrderLevelingPvP
Warrior✓✓CB
Hunter✓✓SA
Rogue✓✓BS
Druid✓✓AA
Shaman✓–BA
Mage–✓AS

Classes as announced by Blizzard. The Leveling and PvP columns show the tier (S to C) from our Tier list. official

Not playable: Paladin, Priest, Warlock. These classes are only available to other races. See all combinations under Races and Classes. official

Starting zone: Zephras Isle

All quests with levels and chains: Zephras Isle. For what comes next, see the Leveling guide.

Skyborne Heroic Pack

More on names and rulesets: Rulesets and Names. All dates: Release and Countdown.

Best class and faction combinations

The right combination depends on your playstyle. Our take, based on the racials and the Tier list: our assessment

Not sure which class suits you? Take the class quiz.

FAQ

Is Skyborne free in WoW Forever?

No. Skyborne requires an upgrade pack, at minimum the Skyborne Heroic Pack ($29.99 / €29.99).

Which classes can Skyborne play?

Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Druid on both factions, plus Shaman on the Horde side only (Windshapers) and Mage on the Alliance side only (High Order). Paladin, Priest and Warlock aren't available.

Are Skyborne Horde or Alliance?

Both. You pick at character creation: Horde (Windshapers) or Alliance (High Order).

Where do Skyborne start?

In their starting zone Zephras Isle, levels 1–12. After that, the Horde takes a skysailer to Mulgore and the Alliance to Dalaran.

What racials do Skyborne have?

Walk on Air, Wind Blessed and Elemental Insight for all Skyborne, plus Skysight (Windshapers) and Read Leyline (High Order).

Which Skyborne faction is better?

It depends on your class. Shaman is Horde-only (Windshapers) and Mage is Alliance-only (High Order). Skysight helps with travel and PvP, while Read Leyline cuts downtime for casters and healers.

Last updated: Oct 14, 2026. We only use information from official announcements. Anything that so far only appears on fan sites or is contradictory is flagged and may still change.

Zephras IsleRaces and ClassesTier list

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