Last updated: 21 September 2026

WoW: Forever Race & Class Combinations Every Combo, New Ones Highlighted

World of Warcraft: Forever unlocks 6 new race-class combinations on races that already existed in vanilla WoW, plus a brand-new race, the Skyborne, that adds 10 more combos of its own. Between the returning classic combos and everything new, WoW Forever ships with 56 total race-class pairings at launch — up from 40 in the original 1.12 Classic era. The picker below covers all of them: filter by faction, click any race or class to see its full combo list, or roll a random character if you just want a new build to try.

01Race & Class Combination Picker

02The 6 New Race-Class Combos on Existing Races

Separately from the Skyborne, Blizzard unlocked six new race-class combinations on races that have been in the game since vanilla. These are included for anyone with a normal subscription — no upgrade pack required, unlike the Skyborne.

• Forsaken (Undead) Paladin — the Horde's first-ever Paladin option, and the combo with the biggest lore swing: an undead character drawing power from the Light. Blizzard's own marketing for the Warcraft Forever Collection leans directly into this, referencing "the first Forsaken Paladin."
• Orc Mage — the Horde's first pure-caster option for Orcs, who were previously limited to Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Warlock and Shaman.
• Troll Warlock — rounds out an already caster-heavy Troll class list (Mage, Priest, Shaman) with the last pure-DPS caster option.
• Human Hunter — Humans could already be Warrior, Paladin, Rogue, Priest, Mage or Warlock in Classic; Hunter fills the one obvious gap in an otherwise complete class list.
• Dwarf Shaman — gives the Alliance a second Shaman race alongside Draenei in retail WoW, and inside Forever's vanilla-style class list specifically, it's the race most often requested by the community since the original 2004 launch.
• Gnome Priest — the last gap in the Gnome class list (Warrior, Rogue, Mage, Warlock), adding a healer option to a race that previously had none.

None of these six add a class that didn't already exist — Forever keeps the original nine classes (no Death Knight, Monk, Demon Hunter or Evoker). They just remove old race locks that had been in place since 2004.

03Meet the Skyborne: 10 More New Combos

The Skyborne are a new elven race added in WoW Forever, and every one of their combos is new by definition. They're also the only race in the game that isn't locked to one faction at creation — you pick Alliance or Horde for your Skyborne the same way you'd pick a class, and that choice sets your fifth class option:

• Both factions: Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Druid
• Alliance Skyborne only: Mage
• Horde Skyborne only: Shaman

That's 5 confirmed combos per faction, 10 total. Skyborne cannot be a Priest, Paladin, Warlock or Death Knight on either side. See the Skyborne race guide for lore, racials, Zephras Isle, and how to unlock the race — it's a separate paid upgrade, not included with a normal subscription.

04Quick Picks for Beginners

If you're new to Forever (or new to WoW entirely), the combo you pick matters less than picking something you'll actually enjoy leveling to 60. A few solid starting points:

1. Human Paladin or Human Warlock (Alliance) — Humans have the most complete class list in the game and start in Northshire/Elwynn, one of the most polished early zones.
2. Tauren Warrior or Tauren Druid (Horde) — high base health and a forgiving, roomy starting zone (Mulgore) make Tauren a comfortable first Horde character.
3. Dwarf Shaman (Alliance, NEW) — if you want the freshest experience the Alliance side has to offer, this is the flagship new combo: a hybrid class the Alliance has never had access to before in a Classic-style ruleset.
4. Forsaken Paladin (Horde, NEW) — the single most talked-about new combo; a hybrid melee/healer with the Forsaken's racial toolkit (Will of the Forsaken and related racials) and a dedicated intro questline around level 10.
5. Skyborne (either faction, NEW race) — if the lore hook and the brand-new Zephras Isle starting zone matter more to you than an established class fantasy, Skyborne Druid works on both factions.

05How Race and Class Locks Still Work in WoW: Forever

Forever keeps the same faction-lock structure as Classic: Alliance and Horde players can't group, trade, or talk in the same channels while leveling, and every race except the Skyborne is tied to one faction from the character-creation screen onward. It also keeps the same nine-class roster from vanilla — the new combos open doors between existing races and existing classes, they don't add anything new to either list.

Not every race got a new option. Night Elf (Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Druid) and Tauren (Warrior, Hunter, Druid, Shaman) keep exactly the class lists they had in original Classic — both already had a Druid option, which was historically the rarer hybrid class to hand out, so Blizzard left them untouched this time around.