WoW Forever Skyborne: Horde Shaman, Alliance Mage, Levels 1–12

The High Order Skyborne and Windshaper Skyborne pages, and the Zephras Isle record, read a reviewed beta snapshot: client build 1.60.1.70205, retrieved October 3, 2026. About and sources treats those rows as development data. Where that client, Blizzard's news posts, and later Wowhead writeups disagree, the racial section says which number came from where.

What classes can Skyborne play?

Skyborne in WoW Forever can be Druid, Hunter, Rogue, or Warrior on both factions. Horde Windshapers can also be Shaman, and Alliance High Order can also be Mage. They cannot be Paladin, Priest, or Warlock on either faction. Each branch has five classes. Druid includes forms made for the race, and the posts do not describe the forms.¹²

Class	Windshaper (Horde)	High Order (Alliance)
Druid	Yes	Yes
Hunter	Yes	Yes
Mage	No	Yes
Rogue	Yes	Yes
Shaman	Yes	No
Warrior	Yes	Yes

That article lists nine classes: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, and Warrior, and the Skyborne rows are blank for Paladin, Priest, and Warlock.¹ The same article is the source for the other new combinations, including Orc Mage and Gnome Priest. Those grids are summarized on the race and class guide. Racial text for every playable race is on the race comparison.

Are Skyborne Horde or Alliance?

Skyborne in WoW Forever can be either Horde or Alliance. The choice is made at character creation. Windshaper Skyborne join the Horde, and High Order Skyborne join the Alliance. Blizzard's September 22, 2026 forum post calls them the shen'dorei, or hidden people.⁶²

Windshaper Skyborne join the Horde. Blizzard describes them as descendants of the first shen'dorei high elves to receive the wind spirits' gift of elemental skysight, called out of Skywall to find the missing elemental mentors and restore the wind spirits.²

High Order Skyborne join the Alliance. Blizzard describes them as descendants of the Highborne scholars of Eldre'Thalas. After the wind spirits left Zephras Isle, the High Order realized that dependence on those patrons had left the Skyborne vulnerable. A new generation was called back to Azeroth to reclaim the arcane knowledge they had lost.²

Horde and Alliance still cannot group. On the PvP ruleset, an account can create characters for one faction: an Alliance character there blocks a later Horde character, and the reverse is blocked as well. Normal, Roleplaying, and Hardcore allow both factions. Hardcore is planned for sometime after launch. The October 22 note adds a Roleplay-PvP ruleset for the November 4 launch and says Blizzard plans to offer it during Early Name Reservation. That note does not say whether Roleplay-PvP uses the one-faction limit.⁷

Early Name Reservation runs October 27 through November 3, 2026, PST, with any Forever upgrade. Regional clocks and the three-character cap are in the name-reservation guide.³

Blizzard's announcement also lists two body types, feathers, face and body tattoos including options named Zephyr and Wayfinder, a unique /dance, and a barber shop in cities for later changes. It says the visit costs coin and does not print the amount.²

What are the Skyborne racials?

Each Skyborne branch in WoW Forever has four published racials. Walk on Air, Wind Blessed, and Elemental Insight match on both branches. Wind Blessed is 1% melee, ranged, and spellcasting haste in Blizzard's posts. The fourth racial does not match: Horde gets Skysight, and Alliance gets Read Ley Line.²¹

Blizzard published those four in the September 22 announcement and in the race-and-class article.²¹

Racial	Windshaper Skyborne	High Order Skyborne
Walk on Air	Glide downward through the air for 10 seconds	Same
Wind Blessed	Passive. 1% increased melee, ranged, and spellcasting haste	Same
Elemental Insight	Passive. 5% damage to elementals	Same
Faction racial	Skysight: an Elemental Blessing that increases run speed by 10%	Read Ley Line: activate a ley line for 100% increased health and mana regeneration

Those posts do not give a cooldown. They also do not say how long Skysight or Read Ley Line lasts, whether the speed buff works while mounted, or whether either active changes near a place in the world.²¹

What the October 3 client resolves

On build 1.60.1.70205, Walk on Air resolves as "Glide downward through the air for 10 sec while controlling your direction of travel." Wind Blessed resolves as 1% spellcasting, melee, and ranged haste. Elemental Insight resolves as 5% damage versus elementals. Skysight and Read Ley Line do not. Their tooltips still say the percentage and both durations are client-defined: one length with no elemental convergence or ley line nearby, and another length if one is found. Skysight's unresolved line does say the buff covers movement and mounted movement. Because the numbers are unresolved, the race pages keep Blizzard's shorter summaries and do not print a duration from that build.⁴

Durations and the 3% haste listing

Wowhead's Skyborne overview, updated October 24, 2026, uses the longer Walk on Air line and then fills in figures Blizzard has not published.⁵

Racial	Away from the place	At the place	Haste on that page
Skysight	30 seconds, movement and mounted	15 minutes near an elemental convergence	Wind Blessed listed at 3%
Read Ley Line	15 seconds	15 minutes near a ley line	Wind Blessed listed at 3%

A user-submitted Wowhead Druid guide, updated October 20 and marked on the page as possibly stale, lists that same 30-second / 15-minute and 15-second / 15-minute split, with Wind Blessed still at 1%.⁸ Wowhead's class-and-race guide, updated October 16, prints 3% haste and a 1.5-minute cooldown on Walk on Air. A reader comment on the October 24 overview says both faction actives are on a 2-minute cooldown. The October 16 page also lists racials for other races that do not match Blizzard's published text, so neither cooldown is treated here as a launch number.⁹⁵

How much longer Wowhead says the buff lasts at the place

15 minutes divided by the short duration on Wowhead's October 24 overview. Blizzard's news posts do not publish these durations.

ChartData

Skysight at a convergence

30 times longer

Read Ley Line on a ley line

60 times longer

What is Zephras Isle in WoW Forever?

Zephras Isle is the WoW Forever starting experience for Skyborne, and Blizzard sets it at levels 1 through 12. The What's Next recap calls it an elemental skybound start with architecture inspired by Skywall. Highborne exiles made a pact with elemental wind spirits and built a civilization there, and that civilization is in crisis.²¹⁰

Blizzard's account: thousands of years ago, Highborne exiles made a pact with elemental wind spirits and built a civilization in Skywall, one of the elemental planes. On Zephras Isle that civilization is in crisis. The air spirits that protected the island have vanished, ancient structures are failing, communities are becoming isolated, and the Skyborne disagree about what comes next. The island is a level 1–12 starting experience that mixes classic Warcraft styling with elemental architecture. The What's Next recap calls it an elemental skybound start and says the architecture is inspired by Skywall.²¹⁰

The October 3 client names Thendal Village, Shen'dar Village, Valanaar, and Valanaar Skydocks on that continent, among other subzones.⁴

Wowhead's Zephras Isle guide, updated October 22, 2026, says the Heroic Pack or a higher edition is required for the race and the starting-experience questline, and that other players can go to the island without that purchase. It describes skyboats from Valanaar about every five minutes, one toward Dalaran and one toward the cliffs north of Thunder Bluff, and says players of both factions can take either boat. It places class trainers in a village it spells Thendall, in Shen'dar Village, and in Valanaar. Blizzard's Skyborne and pre-purchase posts do not describe boats, trainers, or visits by other races. The client spelling of the village is Thendal, one L.¹¹

How do you unlock Skyborne in WoW Forever?

Skyborne in WoW Forever unlocks with the Skyborne Heroic Pack, which includes the race and the Zephras Isle starting experience. The Epic Pack and the Warcraft Forever Collection include everything in that pack. Forever itself still requires a subscription or Game Time. The pre-purchase article does not print a price.³

Wowhead reported the Battle.net shop listing at $29.99 in the US and €29.99 in Europe on September 12, 2026. The October 24 race overview still describes the Heroic Pack as listed at that price. Check the shop for the current amount.¹²⁵

The Heroic Pack list in that article is the race and the Zephras Isle starting experience, Early Name Reservation, the Cerulean Prideclaw ground mount, Shen'dorei Skyseer's Garb, the Veteran Adventurer's Rucksack, the Shen'dorei Windwell toy, Skyborne housing decor for modern World of Warcraft, and one Invite-a-Friend Launch Code. Blizzard says the Prideclaw still needs the riding skill purchased in game.³

The Epic Pack adds beta access, 30 days of Game Time starting November 4, more cosmetics, tabards, pets, and two further invite codes, for three total. Blizzard dated that beta from September 17 through October 21, 2026, PST, and did not include it on the Heroic Pack. The Collection adds the Epic Pack contents plus Warcraft III: Reforged, the Forsaken Kingdom campaign, and Forsaken and Human figurine decor for housing in modern World of Warcraft. Blizzard says the Collection is available through January 11, 2027.³

Invite codes are for an eligible friend to play from November 4 through November 11, 2026 without a subscription or Game Time. They do not include beta access. Blizzard said the codes would be emailed beginning October 20, 2026, PST.³

Launch is November 4, 2026. The opening of Carve a New Path says 3:00 p.m. PDT. Later in that article, and in the pre-purchase article, the clock is 3:00 p.m. PST. The Forever overview records both.³¹³

What did beta players say about Skyborne classes and racials?

Beta players on Reddit and Blizzard's announcement thread described Skyborne racials and a few class runs from the beta. Those posts are player reports, not balance notes. Several of them prefer the Alliance ley-line racial to the Horde speed boost. Blizzard has not described the Druid forms they mention.¹⁴¹⁵

High Order Mage and Read Ley Line

On September 21, 2026, u/tenehemia wrote on r/wowforever that a hunter leveled to 20 barely registered the racials beyond slow fall, while a level 16 mage in Westfall made the ley-line buff worth refreshing about every 15 minutes. They called it excellent for a mana-hungry class. The 15-minute refresh is that player's report of the long version.¹⁴

u/Hezpez, a level 20 hunter in that thread, called slow fall nice, the movement racial mostly useless outside the starting zone, and the race underwhelming next to other races. u/mahourain wrote that the Alliance regen felt stronger than the Horde speed boost.¹⁴

A separate r/wowforever post, "Skyborne Racials," argues the same split is lopsided: the poster describes Read Ley Line as 100% health and mana regeneration for 15 seconds, and Skysight as 10% movement, mounted and on foot, for 30 seconds or 15 minutes near an elemental convergence, and says the Alliance version is the better competitive racial. Those durations are the poster's, and they match the shape of Wowhead's October 24 table rather than a number in Blizzard's news posts.¹⁶

On Wowhead's October 24 overview, commenter thirtya wrote that the Alliance racial is much better for the same reason, and added a 2-minute cooldown that the overview's own table does not print.⁵

Windshaper classes and Skysight

The original poster of "Love the game so far, but Skysight for Windshapers needs to be reworked" argued that a 10% speed buff, which they said works on foot and mounted and did not seem to stack with other movement buffs, loses to Ghost Wolf, Druid travel form, Aspect of the Cheetah, and Sprint. On that reading, Warrior is the Windshaper class where they would actually cast Skysight, with Rogue a maybe because Sprint is faster. They called Walk on Air fun and the other racials in line with other races. u/Vilraz replied that Skysight is a late-game racial that shines once mounts unlock. That pairing is the poster's, from beta play.¹⁷

Leveling the shared classes

u/TsubakiShad, on September 28, 2026, ranked their own levels 1–20: Skyborne warrior was solid, Skyborne rogue was easy aside from weak daggers until Deadmines, and Skyborne druid was the worst of the three. They tied the druid run to grouping as a bear from level 10 and to cat form not being available yet.¹⁸

u/Patron_Mamdani wrote they were looking forward to a Skyborne Druid because the bird hybrid forms looked good. On Blizzard's EU forum, Bigbazz wrote that the bear form looks bad and is bright enough to see from far off. Blizzard has not described the forms.¹⁵⁶

Walk on Air, and the "weak on purpose" argument

Walk on Air is the racial those threads still praise. u/YourMaleFather wrote that they jumped from the top of Stormwind Harbor and rated it "10/10." u/Lawsoffire, after playing the zone, compared the glide to a Goblin Glider rather than a plain slow fall and said it felt about 50% faster while gliding. The 50% is their impression. The same comment says they had not found a use for the Horde racial outside the island, which they spelled Zethras, and that they came out at level 14 in greens. Blizzard's posted range is 1–12.¹⁴¹⁵

u/AnonAnon6942, after several trips through the starting zone, wrote that the racials are "really bad" and guessed Blizzard undertuned them to avoid a pay-to-win complaint. The guess is theirs. Under that review, u/Square-Formal9928 agreed that weak racials were safer given how angry some players already were about the race. u/Aemnor_Duskbane disliked slow fall and liked the ley-line tap because it encourages exploring.¹⁵

On the announcement thread, Gaby wrote that they would skip the paid race and play a night elf priest, because Skyborne cannot be priests. Saeth, a Horde mage, wrote that they would not move to the Alliance for a Skyborne mage, while Horde friends on warrior and hunter could stay.⁶

Sources & notes

Footnotes

1. Blizzard: Create the Hero You Want to Be. Nine classes, the Horde and Alliance grids, and the same racial summaries. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

2. Blizzard: Meet the New Skyborne. Factions, classes, the level 1–12 start, the four racial summaries, the Eldre'Thalas and Skywall backstory, druid forms, and the customization list. Blizzard's EU forum post of the announcement is dated September 22, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

3. Blizzard: Pre-Purchase World of Warcraft: Forever Upgrades. Heroic, Epic, and Collection contents; subscription or Game Time; beta window; invite codes; launch at 3:00 p.m. PST; name reservation from October 27 through November 3, 2026, PST. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

4. Reviewed beta snapshot on this site, build 1.60.1.70205, retrieved October 3, 2026, via public Wago DB2 exports. Resolved tooltips for Walk on Air, Wind Blessed, and Elemental Insight; unresolved client-defined values on Skysight and Read Ley Line. Zone names from the same snapshot. About and sources. ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Wowhead Skyborne race overview, updated October 24, 2026. 3% haste, Skysight and Read Ley Line durations, the longer Walk on Air line, and the $29.99 / €29.99 shop line. Commenter thirtya's cooldown is a reader comment. Duration ratios are 15 minutes divided by 30 seconds, and 15 minutes divided by 15 seconds, saved in skyborne-durations.json. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

6. Blizzard on the EU forum, September 22, 2026. "Shen'dorei, or hidden people." Player comments from Gaby, Saeth, and Bigbazz are forum opinion. ↩ ↩² ↩³

7. Blizzard, updated October 22: Choose Your Ruleset. One faction on PvP; both factions on Normal, Roleplaying, and Hardcore; Roleplay-PvP planned for November 4 and for name reservation, with no faction rule stated in that note. ↩

8. User-submitted Wowhead Druid guide, updated October 20, 2026. Same duration split, Wind Blessed at 1%. The page says Wowhead does not keep user guides current. ↩

9. Wowhead class-and-race guide, updated October 16, 2026. Prints 3% haste and a 1.5-minute Walk on Air cooldown. Other racials on that page diverge from Blizzard's published list. ↩

10. Blizzard: What's Next panel recap. Zephras Isle as a level 1–12 elemental skybound start with Skywall-inspired architecture, and the same faction class split. ↩ ↩²

11. Wowhead Zephras Isle guide, updated October 22, 2026. Skyboats, trainer hubs, the Thendall spelling, and the claim that the island can be visited without the pack. ↩

12. Wowhead, September 12, 2026: Skyborne race costs $29.99. Shop price as Wowhead reported it that day. Not a figure in Blizzard's pre-purchase article. ↩

13. Blizzard: Carve a New Path. Opening line: November 4 at 3:00 p.m. PDT. A later paragraph on the same page says November 4, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. PST. The Forever overview records both clocks. ↩

14. r/wowforever, September 21, 2026: how the racials feel. Comments from u/tenehemia, u/Hezpez, u/mahourain, and u/YourMaleFather. Player reports. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

15. r/wowforever, September 25, 2026: starting-zone review. u/AnonAnon6942, u/Square-Formal9928, u/Aemnor_Duskbane, u/Patron_Mamdani, and u/Lawsoffire. Player opinion, including the level 14 exit and the glide impression. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

16. r/wowforever: Skyborne Racials. One player's comparison of the two faction racials, including durations Blizzard has not published. ↩

17. r/wowforever: Skysight needs a rework. The original poster's class-by-class movement argument, and u/Vilraz on mounts. Player opinion. ↩

18. r/wowforever, September 28, 2026: levels 1–20. u/TsubakiShad's Skyborne warrior, rogue, and druid notes. One player's diary. ↩