World of Warcraft: Forever Breaks Classic’s Old Rules With Six New Race and Class Combos

Some of Azeroth’s oldest character-creation restrictions are about to disappear. Blizzard has released a new trailer highlighting the six additional race and class combinations coming to World of Warcraft: Forever, opening possibilities that were never available within the original Vanilla framework and giving familiar races entirely new ways to approach the journey to level 60.

The additions include Undead Paladins, Dwarf Shamans, Orc Mages, Troll Warlocks, Gnome Priests and Human Hunters. Rather than simply reproducing the rules of 2004, Forever is selectively loosening some of Classic WoW’s most recognizable boundaries while keeping the original nine-class structure intact.

Six new ways to experience Azeroth

On the Alliance side, Humans can finally become Hunters, Gnomes gain access to Priest, and Dwarves can take up the role of Shaman. The Horde receives Orc Mages, Troll Warlocks and perhaps the most unusual combination of the entire group: the Forsaken Paladin.

Some of these combinations will already look familiar to players of modern World of Warcraft. Dwarf Shamans, Human Hunters and several of the other pairings eventually became possible in later expansions. What makes them significant in Forever is the context: the game is built around a reimagined version of original Azeroth, with its level-60 structure and Classic-inspired design philosophy.

That means Blizzard is taking concepts introduced much later in WoW’s history and selectively integrating them into a world that otherwise deliberately draws from the game’s earliest era.

Forsaken Paladins take center stage

The new trailer places particular emphasis on the Undead Paladin, and it is easy to understand why. Unlike several of the other combinations, Forsaken Paladins represent something genuinely unusual even when compared with modern World of Warcraft.

Paladins and the Forsaken have traditionally occupied very different thematic spaces. The former channel the Light to protect allies and destroy creatures associated with darkness, while the latter exist as undead beings whose relationship with Holy magic has historically been far more complicated.

Forever nevertheless allows Forsaken characters to become Paladins, creating an intentionally uncomfortable intersection between undeath and the Light. Blizzard has placed considerable narrative emphasis on making that idea part of Forever’s version of Azeroth rather than presenting it purely as a mechanical character-creation option.

It also produces a major change from Vanilla’s traditional faction structure. Paladin was originally exclusive to the Alliance, while Shaman belonged to the Horde. Forever effectively dismantles that division by giving the Horde its Forsaken Paladins and the Alliance its Dwarf Shamans.

Dwarf Shamans bring the elements to the Alliance

Dwarves channeling the elements provide the other major side of that shift. Within Forever’s roster, the combination gives Alliance players access to Shaman without abandoning the game’s original collection of playable races.

The pairing also fits naturally alongside the broader changes Blizzard is making to racial abilities. Dwarves retain Stoneform, which grants immunity to Bleeds, Poisons and Diseases while reducing Physical damage taken, while Mace Specialization now increases critical strike chance with spells and abilities when using a mace.

Those adjustments are part of a larger racial overhaul designed to ensure that the expanded class selection does not simply bolt new options onto racial kits created for a much narrower set of classes.

Orc Mages and Troll Warlocks expand Horde casters

The Horde also receives two new combinations focused on spellcasters. Orcs can become Mages, while Trolls gain access to Warlock.

The revised Orc racial kit makes the former particularly notable. Blood Fury now increases both Attack Power and Spell Power by 10% for 15 seconds, meaning the iconic racial is no longer designed primarily around physical damage characters. Orc Mages can therefore benefit directly from an ability traditionally associated with the race’s martial identity.

Troll Warlocks similarly gain access to Berserking, which increases attack and casting speed by 10% for ten seconds. Combined with the race’s revised regeneration abilities, it gives Troll players another caster option alongside Mage, Priest and Shaman.

Gnomes finally get a healing class, while Humans take up the bow

The Alliance’s remaining additions are less dramatic in terms of faction identity but significantly expand character creation.

Gnomes can now become Priests, finally giving the race a dedicated healing-capable class within Forever’s roster. Their redesigned racial Eureka! reduces the cost of their next three spells or abilities while increasing their damage or healing by 10%, while Expansive Mind increases maximum Mana, Rage or Energy by 5%.

Humans, meanwhile, gain Hunter. It is one of the combinations that feels almost inevitable from a fantasy perspective, but it simply did not exist in original Vanilla WoW. Forever finally closes that particular gap, allowing Human characters to combine ranged weapon combat, tracking and animal companions with racials such as Will to Survive and Perception.

Blizzard is changing racials alongside the class restrictions

These new combinations are only one part of the character overhaul. Blizzard has redesigned racial abilities across Forever so that every race receives two active and two passive racial traits, with the stated goal of preserving racial identity while making the bonuses useful across a broader variety of classes.

That becomes especially important when previously impossible combinations enter the equation. Orc racials need to function properly for Mages, Gnome abilities now have to account for Priests, and Forsaken racial tools must work with a mana-using Paladin.

Rather than removing racial identity to make every combination equivalent, Blizzard appears to be trying to preserve meaningful differences while avoiding situations where a newly available class is poorly supported by its race’s original abilities.

Forever is expanding Classic without abandoning its framework

Blizzard has already confirmed that these six combinations are not necessarily the end of the experiment, with additional race and class pairings planned for future updates.

They also exist alongside Skyborne, the completely new playable race introduced with Forever. Skyborne characters have faction-dependent options of their own: Horde-aligned Windshapers can become Shamans, while Alliance-aligned High Order Skyborne gain access to Mage. Both factions can also create Skyborne Warriors, Hunters, Rogues and Druids.

It reinforces the broader philosophy behind World of Warcraft: Forever. Blizzard is not treating the project as a museum-piece recreation of Vanilla, nor is it simply transferring modern WoW systems into an older map. Instead, the studio is selectively rewriting parts of original Azeroth while attempting to preserve the slower progression, class identity and world-focused structure associated with early World of Warcraft.

World of Warcraft: Forever launches globally on November 4, 2026, while its beta is already underway and is scheduled to continue until October 21. When the permanent version of this reimagined Azeroth opens its doors, some of the characters walking through them will look very familiar — but their classes may be something Classic players were never previously allowed to choose.