Datamined: the Skyborne in their class gear, their Galestrider mounts and Forever's new race and class combinations
· ForeverDB
We went through the WoW Forever beta client for everything about races and classes, and rendered the Skyborne and their new crane mounts straight from its models. There are no new classes, one new race in two factions, six new class options for the Classic races, and a family of Galestrider mounts that Blizzard hasn't talked about yet.
Blizzard has already introduced the Skyborne and Forever's new race and class combinations (our write-ups: Meet the Skyborne and Races, classes and reworked racials). We went through the beta client itself (build 1.60.1.70009) to see what it holds, checked it against Classic Era's data, and rendered the race and its mounts from the client's own models and textures. Everything below comes from the client; where we read between the lines, we say so.
The short version
- No new classes. The client has exactly the nine Classic classes: no Death Knight, Monk or any other.
- One new race, the Skyborne, in two versions: the High Order (Alliance) and the Windshapers (Horde).
- Six new class options for the Classic races: Human Hunter, Orc Mage, Dwarf Shaman, Undead Paladin, Gnome Priest and Troll Warlock.
- New mounts: the Galestriders, cranes in four colours with swift versions, set up in the client as the Skyborne's racial mounts. None of Blizzard's posts so far mention them.
The Skyborne in their class gear
The client has a Skyborne NPC for each of five classes, each in class-themed armour and with its own look: hair, horns and feathers, tattoos and the race's "Eyesight" option. We rendered all five from their models, baked textures and gear. The blue skin is one of the race's skin colours.
What the client says about the race
- Two races in the data, one people. The High Order and the Windshapers are separate playable races (their own race IDs and faction), both named "Skyborne" with the lore name shen'dorei, and linked to each other in the client. The client marks both as playable, as it does the eight Classic races; every retail race in the files is marked NPC-only.
- Classes. The client's race and class table allows the High Order to be Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Mage or Druid, and the Windshapers Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Shaman or Druid, as Blizzard announced. The High Order's default class on the creation screen is Mage, the Windshapers' is Shaman.
- Languages. The High Order speak Common and the Windshapers Orcish. Both also get Darnassian, which otherwise only Night Elves learn: a nod to their Highborne ancestry.
- Customisation. Body type 1 has 18 customisation options and body type 2 has 19, including horns, feather colour, a blindfold, "Eyesight", earrings and face and body tattoos. A Classic human has 10.
- Starting level 1, on Zephras Isle (see below).
The High Order is made up of the descendants of the ancient Highborne scholars of Eldre'Thalas. When the wind spirits disappeared from Zephras Isle, the High Order realized that the Skyborne's utter dependence upon their elemental patrons had left them dangerously vulnerable. The High Order's race description in the client
The Windshapers are the descendants of the first shen'dorei high elves to receive the wind spirits' gift of elemental skysight. A new generation of Windshapers is called to Azeroth from their home within Skywall to solve the mystery of what became of their missing elemental mentors. The Windshapers' race description in the client
Racials
Both factions share three racials: Walk on Air (a controlled glide for 10 seconds), Wind Blessed (1% Haste) and Elemental Insight (5% more damage against Elementals). Each also has an active ability of its own, and the client's tooltips add a detail Blizzard's article left out: both last far longer in the right place.
- High Order: Read Ley Line increases Health and Mana regeneration by 100%. It lasts 15 seconds, or 15 minutes if you use it at a ley line.
- Windshapers: Skysight increases movement and mounted speed by 10%. It lasts 30 seconds, or 15 minutes at an elemental convergence.
Galestriders: the Skyborne's mounts
The client adds a family of crane mounts called Galestriders: four colours, each with a swift version in gilded armour. None of Blizzard's posts so far mention them.
- Racial mounts. The client adds a Galestrider Riding skill set up exactly like Classic's racial riding skills, such as Ram Riding for Dwarves and Kodo Riding for Tauren: one entry for the race itself (both Skyborne factions) and one for everyone else. In Classic, riding another race's mounts took exalted reputation with that race; how Forever handles Galestriders isn't in the client.
- Level 40 and 60, like Classic's racial mounts: the four Galestriders need level 40 and the swift ones level 60. All eight bind when used.
- Where you get them isn't in the client. The mount entries have no source text. A racial vendor, as for Classic's mounts, is the likely answer, but that's our guess. Both levels are above the beta's current level cap, so the items are marked Speculation on the site.
- A pet and a taming spell. A companion, Galestrider Chick, is in the client too. So is a "Tame Galestrider" spell ("Begins taming an Ornery Galestrider to be your companion for 10 minutes") that uses the same wording as the taming rods of Classic's hunter class quests. It may be part of a Skyborne hunter quest; the Ornery Galestrider itself isn't in the client.
- Food. There's Galestrider Jerky, and Lowlands Galestrider Tenderloin is a quest item: expect a quest that has you hunting Galestriders.
Six new class options for the Classic races
We compared the client's race and class table with Classic Era's (build 1.15.9). Six Classic races gain one class each, the same six Blizzard announced; no race loses one, and Night Elves and Tauren are unchanged.
- Human: Hunter, joining Warrior, Paladin, Rogue, Priest, Mage and Warlock.
- Orc: Mage, joining Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Shaman and Warlock.
- Dwarf: Shaman, joining Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue and Priest.
- Undead: Paladin, joining Warrior, Rogue, Priest, Mage and Warlock.
- Gnome: Priest, joining Warrior, Rogue, Mage and Warlock.
- Troll: Warlock, joining Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Shaman and Mage.
The team is also adding six new class-and-race combinations to explore: Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Orc Mage, Troll Warlock, and Undead Paladin, with more planned for future updates. World of Warcraft: Forever Deep Dive Panel Recap
Nothing in this build points to which combinations come next.
Zephras Isle
The Skyborne start on Zephras Isle, a new zone in the client with its own loading screen (at the top of this article) and map. The map names Valanaar in the south, Falaath Village, Shen'dar Village, the Shrine of Akir, Thendal Village and the Ruins of Ban'Aethal. Open it on our interactive map.
Pictures are rendered from the WoW Forever beta client (build 1.60.1.70009): models in their bind pose, with the client's own textures. Beta data can change before launch on November 4, 2026.