WoW Forever Racials: Every Racial Ability & What's Changed

World of Warcraft: Forever reworks almost every racial from original Classic. Each race now has a mix of active abilities and passives. Several old racials, such as weapon skill bonuses, are replaced with modern-style effects like flat critical strike chance.

Everything below comes from the beta tooltips (hover any ability for the live tooltip). This is beta data, so numbers can still change before launch on 4 November.

Quick picks

If you want…	Look at
The best PvP “get out of jail” button	Human (Will to Survive), Undead (Will of the Forsaken), Gnome (Escape Artist)
Raw damage cooldowns	Night Elf (Elune’s Light), Orc (Blood Fury), Troll (Berserking)
Defensive cooldowns	Dwarf (Stoneform), Orc (Shatter Curse)
Faster levelling	Tauren (Plainsrunning), Skyborne (Read Ley Line or Skysight), Troll (Rapid Regeneration)

Alliance racials

Human

• Will to Survive (new): instantly removes all stun effects. 3 min cooldown.
• Perception: greatly increases stealth detection for 20 sec. 3 min cooldown.
• Sword Specialization (changed): +2% critical strike chance with all spells and attacks while a sword is equipped. In Classic this gave weapon skill.
• The Human Spirit: Spirit increased by 5%.

Dwarf

• Stoneform (changed): removes and grants immunity to Bleed, Poison and Disease effects, and reduces Physical damage taken by 10% for 8 sec. 3 min cooldown. In Classic it gave armor instead of damage reduction.
• Find Treasure: shows nearby treasure on the minimap.
• Mace Specialization (changed): +1% critical strike chance while a mace is equipped.
• Big Game Hunter (new): 5% more damage against Beasts.

Night Elf

• Shadowmeld (changed): you can now use it in combat, where it “discourages enemies from attacking you”. Using it in combat raises the cooldown from 10 sec to 2 min.
• Elune’s Light (new): +10% critical strike chance with all spells and attacks for 15 sec. 3 min cooldown.
• Quickness: +1% dodge and +2% movement speed. Night Elf Rogues and Druids are also harder to spot in stealth.
• Wisp Spirit: become a fast wisp on death.

Gnome

• Escape Artist: escape all movement-impairing effects and become immune to them for 3 sec. 2 min cooldown.
• Eureka! (new): your next 3 non-periodic damaging or healing abilities cost 10% less mana and deal 10% more. 2 min cooldown.
• Expansive Mind (changed): increases your maximum resource by 5%. On a Rogue that means Energy.
• Engineering Specialization: engineering devices fail or backfire 20% less often.

Some Gnome racials appear to have class-specific versions in the beta data. The Eureka! and Expansive Mind tooltips above are tagged for one class each, so the exact effect may differ slightly on your class.

Horde racials

Orc

• Blood Fury (changed): +10% Attack Power and Spell Power for 15 sec. 2 min cooldown. Orc casters now benefit fully.
• Shatter Curse (new): removes and grants immunity to all Curses and Banes, and reduces Magical damage taken by 15% for 8 sec. 3 min cooldown. It works like a magical version of Stoneform.
• Axe Specialization (changed): +1% critical strike chance while an axe is equipped.
• Hardiness: stuns on you last 20% shorter.

Undead (Forsaken)

• Will of the Forsaken: instantly removes all Charm, Fear and Sleep effects. 2 min cooldown.
• Cannibalize (changed): regenerates 7% of your Health and Mana every 2 sec for 10 sec. It needs a Humanoid or Undead corpse.
• Touch of the Grave (new): your spells and attacks have a 10% chance to drain health from the target, up to 5% of your maximum health.
• Underwater Breathing: breath lasts 300% longer underwater.

Tauren

• War Stomp: stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec, with a 0.5 sec cast. 2 min cooldown.
• Plainsrunning (new): gain 1% movement speed for every 5 sec you keep moving, up to 30%. Taking damage or stopping reduces it. This is excellent for levelling and world travel.
• Cultivation (changed): grow a duplicate of a nearby herb that you can harvest without Herbalism.
• Endurance (changed): +5% total health and +1% chance to hit.

Troll

• Berserking (changed): +10% attack and casting speed. 3 min cooldown. It no longer requires you to be wounded.
• Rapid Regeneration (new): regenerate 50% of your maximum health over 6 sec, with no food needed. Moving, acting or taking damage cancels it. 3 min cooldown.
• Regeneration: +10% health regeneration, and 10% of it continues during combat.
• Beast Slaying: 5% more damage against Beasts.

Skyborne (both factions)

The Skyborne are split into two factions with slightly different kits.

Shared by both:

• Walk on Air: glide downward for 10 sec while steering. 2 min cooldown.
• Wind Blessed: +1% Haste.
• Elemental Insight: 5% more damage against Elementals.

Faction-specific:

• High Order (Alliance): Read Ley Line takes a 2 sec cast and gives +100% Health and Mana regeneration. It lasts 15 sec normally, or 15 min if you’re near a ley line.
• Windshaper (Horde): Skysight gives +10% movement and mounted speed. It lasts 30 sec normally, or 15 min near an elemental convergence.

Racials that seem to be gone

Several Classic racials don’t appear in any Forever racial list we’ve seen. These include the elemental resistances, Human Diplomacy, Dwarf Gun Specialization, Orc Command, and the Troll Bow and Throwing specializations. We’ll confirm when Blizzard publishes full notes.

New race/class combinations

Forever adds six new combinations, all included in the base game:

Alliance	Horde
Human Hunter	Orc Mage
Gnome Priest	Troll Warlock
Dwarf Shaman	Undead Paladin

That means every class is now available on both factions. Dwarf is the only Alliance Shaman (Skyborne Shamans are Horde-only), and Undead is the only Horde Paladin. On top of that, Skyborne add Druid, Hunter, Rogue and Warrior on both sides, plus Mage (Alliance) or Shaman (Horde).

Gnome Priests also get their own racial priest spells, Confounding Flash and Contingency Plan.

Trying to pick a side? Read Alliance vs Horde: which should you pick?

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Sources: beta tooltips via Wowhead, Blizzard: Skyborne racials, Warcraft Tavern: racial abilities, Warcraft Tavern: race/class combos, Warcraft Tavern: 1 Oct beta notes. Beta data, subject to change.