The short answer
The Skyborne are the new playable race in World of Warcraft: Forever, an elven people also called the shen'dorei or hidden people.
You choose Horde or Alliance when you create the character. Horde Skyborne are Windshapers and can become Shaman; Alliance Skyborne belong to the High Order and can become Mages.
Both sides can also play Warrior, Hunter, Rogue and Druid. The race and its Zephras Isle starting experience require the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a higher edition; a subscription alone does not unlock them.
Classes by faction
| Class | Horde (Windshaper) | Alliance (High Order) |
|---|---|---|
| Warrior | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hunter | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rogue | ✓ | ✓ |
| Druid | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shaman | ✓ | — |
| Mage | — | ✓ |
| Paladin, Priest, Warlock | — | — |
✓ available, — not available. Official Blizzard race and class tables.
Blizzard's What's Next panel recap says Horde-aligned Skyborne embrace elemental traditions and gain the Shaman class, while Alliance-aligned Skyborne pursue their ancestors' arcane legacy and gain the Mage class.
Warrior, Hunter, Rogue and Druid are open to both. Druids get new Skyborne druid forms made for the race, alongside new racials, customizations, voices and dances.
Paladin, Priest and Warlock do not appear in Blizzard's Skyborne class list, so a Skyborne cannot be any of those three. That makes five classes per faction, or ten Skyborne combinations in total.
What unlocks the race
| How you play | Skyborne | Beta access |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription or game time only | — | — |
| Skyborne Heroic Pack | ✓ | — |
| Epic Pack | ✓ | ✓ |
| Warcraft Forever Collection | ✓ | ✓ |
✓ included, — not included. Based on the footnotes of Blizzard’s official Forever page; benefits apply only to the WoW account the product was bought for.
The official Forever page states in its footnotes that access to the Skyborne race or the Zephras Isle starting questline requires the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a higher edition.
The Epic Pack and the Warcraft Forever Collection both include everything in the Heroic Pack.
As of 2026-09-24, Blizzard has not announced any in-game way to unlock the Skyborne. The pack is the only route named on the U.S., German and Korean official pages.
The same footnote marks the race benefit as applying only to the WoW account it was purchased for. If you have several WoW accounts on one Battle.net login, buy the pack for the account you will play on.
The Heroic Pack does not include Beta access. Beta access comes with the Epic Pack and the Collection, and the first Beta week listed Skyborne and Zephras Isle as new content.
Zephras Isle, the starting zone
The Skyborne starting experience is Zephras Isle, an elemental skybound zone covering levels 1 to 12. Blizzard describes it as mixing classic Warcraft aesthetics with architecture inspired by Skywall.
The Found Photos panel recap sets the scene: the Skyborne story begins with rebels who fled Eldre'Thalas after the War of the Ancients and found refuge in Skywall.
When players arrive, their elemental benefactors have vanished, the pylons holding Zephras together are failing and parts of the island are falling.
The Windshapers, the High Order and the Al'Aketh compete for control of the island. Blizzard calls Zephras Isle a surprising but self-contained experience.
Racial traits: one ability differs
Each race in Forever has two active and two passive racial abilities, tuned to a similar amount of offensive power while keeping its own utility, according to the Deep Dive panel recap.
| Trait | Horde (Windshaper) | Alliance (High Order) |
|---|---|---|
| Walk on Airactive | Glide downward for 10 sec | Glide downward for 10 sec |
| Faction abilityactive | Skysight: +10% run speed | Read Ley Line: +100% health and mana regeneration |
| Wind Blessedpassive | +1% haste | +1% haste |
| Elemental Insightpassive | +5% damage to Elementals | +5% damage to Elementals |
Traits as published in Blizzard's race and class article on 2026-09-22. Values can change before launch.
Blizzard's race and class article lists the same three traits for both Skyborne groups.
Walk on Air lets you glide downward through the air for 10 seconds, Wind Blessed gives 1% increased melee, ranged and spellcasting haste, and Elemental Insight increases damage to Elementals by 5%.
Only one active ability depends on the faction. Horde Windshapers get Skysight, an Elemental Blessing that increases run speed by 10%.
Alliance High Order Skyborne get Read Ley Line, which activates a ley line for 100% increased health and mana regeneration.
Dates that differ by region
| Item | U.S. | Germany | Korea |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Name Reservation | Oct 27 – Nov 3 (PST) | Oct 27 – Nov 3 (PST) | Oct 28 – Nov 4 (KST) |
| Beta ends | Oct 21 | Oct 21 | Oct 22 |
| Launch date on the Forever page | Nov 4 | Nov 4 | Nov 5 |
As printed on each regional Blizzard page, checked 2026-09-24.
Early Name Reservation is included with every upgrade edition, so it comes with the Heroic Pack.
The U.S. and German news posts list October 27 to November 3, 2026 (PST), while the Korean post lists October 28 to November 4, 2026, Korean time.
Blizzard says you can create and customize up to three characters during that window, with names reserved first come, first served.
The U.S. and German Forever pages end the Beta on October 21, 2026; the Korean page ends it on October 22.
Each region states its own date and time rather than a single converted moment, so use the date shown on the page for your region. The launch-time page converts the official launch time to your time zone.
Common mix-ups
Skyborne are not a third faction. Each Skyborne character belongs to the Horde or the Alliance, and the faction you pick decides between Shaman and Mage.
A subscription or game time lets you play Forever, but it does not unlock the Skyborne; Blizzard requires the Heroic Pack or a higher edition for this race.
Buying the Heroic Pack does not get you into the Beta. For that you need the Epic Pack or the Collection.
The racial traits are close to identical across factions. Pick your Skyborne side for the class and faction you want, not for the one differing active ability.
Everything here follows Blizzard's announcements and the Beta, not the live game. Recheck the class list and racials after launch on November 4 (U.S. and Europe) or November 5 (Korea).