The Skyborne are the new race in World of Warcraft: Forever, and the only one without a fixed faction. You pick Horde or Alliance at character creation, start on the floating Zephras Isle, and get a racial kit that works very differently from every other race’s. This WoW Forever Skyborne guide covers what Blizzard has confirmed, what the beta (live since September 17) shows, and which faction and class combos are worth rolling before launch on November 4.
The short version: Skyborne are a leveling and open-world race, not a min-max race. As of the beta, they are the only race in Forever whose active racials aren’t combat tools. The combos that make the most sense are caster Druids on either faction and Warriors you plan to level. Mage and Rogue are the weakest fits.
One practical point before you plan a main: Skyborne aren’t included with the subscription, and the race plus Zephras Isle need the Skyborne Heroic Pack ($30) or a higher edition.
Skyborne at a Glance
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Starting zone | Zephras Isle, levels 1 to 12 |
| Faction | Chosen at character creation: High Order (Alliance) or Windshaper (Horde) |
| Alliance classes | Druid, Hunter, Mage, Rogue, Warrior |
| Horde classes | Druid, Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior |
| Not available | Paladin, Priest, Warlock |
| Shared racials | Walk on Air, Wind Blessed, Elemental Insight |
| Faction racial | Read Ley Line (Alliance), Skysight (Horde) |
| Extras | Own druid forms, dance, voices and customization |
Who the Skyborne Are
The Skyborne call themselves the shen’dorei. Thousands of years ago, a group of Highborne exiles from Eldre’Thalas (the city that later became Dire Maul) made a pact with the wind spirits and built a home inside Skywall, the elemental plane of air that Cataclysm players know from Vortex Pinnacle and Throne of the Four Winds. BlizzardWatch describes them as a splinter group of the Shen’dralar, the Highborne who stayed behind in Dire Maul.
When your story starts, that home is in trouble. The air spirits that protected Zephras Isle have vanished, old structures are failing, and the Skyborne are split over what to do. That split is the faction choice. The Windshapers (Horde) descend from the first shen’dorei to receive the wind spirits’ gift of skysight, and they want their missing elemental mentors back. The High Order (Alliance) are descendants of the Highborne scholars of Eldre’Thalas. They concluded that relying on the elementals left the race vulnerable, and they want to reclaim the arcane knowledge their ancestors lost.
Visually they’re Night Elf cousins with a lighter, windswept style. Skin ranges from sky blue to peach and darker tones, feathers can go into the hair, and Blizzard lists ten faces and 21 to 25 hairstyles per body type. Icy Veins reports Classic-style models as well, similar to how TBC blood elves were handled.
Zephras Isle: The Skyborne Starting Zone
Zephras Isle covers levels 1 to 12 and is self-contained. The route runs in a U-shape: you start at Thendal Village in the northwest, head south and downhill through farmland and ruins, cross from the Shrine of Alar into the much darker Shadowgate Forest, and finish at the Ruins of Ban’aethal on the northeastern edge. The ruins recall Dire Maul, the floating towers Throne of the Four Winds. That tour comes from BlizzardWatch, who spent a full 30-minute BlizzCon demo just exploring.
The zone has been playable in the beta since it opened on September 17, and the beta runs until October 21. A few things are still open:
- Where you go after level 12. BlizzardWatch found a sleeping Altarius, the elemental dragon from Vortex Pinnacle, at Ban’aethal, which hints at the way out. No official source has said which Horde or Alliance zone Skyborne are sent to next.
- The racial mount. BlizzardWatch bet on the crane-like galestrider after the demo, and Wowhead now reportedly lists Galestriders as the racial mounts. Blizzard’s own Skyborne preview doesn’t mention one.
- Where the ley lines are. Both faction racials last far longer near a ley line or elemental convergence, so their locations decide how good those racials are. We haven’t found a reliable map of them yet.
WoW Forever Skyborne Classes by Faction
Your faction decides your class list. Both sides get Druid, Hunter, Rogue and Warrior. Alliance Skyborne also get Mage, which follows the High Order’s arcane path, and Horde Skyborne get Shaman, which fits the Windshapers’ elemental traditions. Paladin, Priest and Warlock aren’t available on either side.
| Class | High Order (Alliance) | Windshaper (Horde) |
|---|---|---|
| Druid | Yes | Yes |
| Hunter | Yes | Yes |
| Rogue | Yes | Yes |
| Warrior | Yes | Yes |
| Mage | Yes | No |
| Shaman | No | Yes |
| Paladin, Priest, Warlock | No | No |
Skyborne Racials
| Racial | Faction | Type | Effect (beta) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walk on Air | Both | Active | Glide downward for 10 seconds with directional control, no fall damage. 2-minute cooldown. |
| Wind Blessed | Both | Passive | 1% melee, ranged and spell haste. |
| Elemental Insight | Both | Passive | 5% more damage to elementals. |
| Read Ley Line | Alliance | Active | 100% more health and mana regeneration for 15 seconds, or 15 minutes near a ley line. 2-second cast, 2-minute cooldown, not usable in combat. |
| Skysight | Horde | Active | 10% more movement speed for 30 seconds, or 15 minutes near an elemental convergence. 2-minute cooldown, not usable in combat. |
Sources disagree on one point. Icy Veins’ general race overview lists Read Ley Line for all Skyborne, while Method and Icy Veins’ own Skyborne page split it by faction. Blizzard’s official preview settles it: Read Ley Line is High Order only, Windshapers get Skysight. Cooldowns, cast times and the 15-minute durations come from beta tooltips as listed by Icy Veins, not from Blizzard, and can still change before November 4.
What the Skyborne Racials Are Actually Worth
Icy Veins calls Skyborne one of the weaker races, and for max-level min-maxing that’s fair. The reason is structural. Every other race gets at least one active racial that matters in a fight: a damage cooldown (Blood Fury, Berserking, Elune’s Light), a defensive (Stoneform) or a crowd control break (Will to Survive, Will of the Forsaken). Skyborne get a glide and an out-of-combat buff. Our best race for every class guide compares all of those kits class by class.
Wind Blessed: small, but always on
1% haste means roughly 1% more swings, shots or casts, and you never have to press it. For comparison, Troll Berserking in original Classic gave 10% haste at full health for 10 seconds every 3 minutes, which averages out to about 0.6% over a long fight. On paper the flat 1% wins. In practice Berserking still does more, because you line it up with trinkets and burst windows and it scales up to 30% at low health (Forever’s values for it aren’t published yet). Wind Blessed is a real passive, just not a strong one.
Elemental Insight: depends on the content
5% more damage against elementals does nothing against most of what you fight. It pays off in elemental-heavy zones like Searing Gorge, Burning Steppes, Silithus and Un’Goro’s Fire Plume Ridge, and would matter in an elemental-heavy raid. How many elementals Forever’s new raids contain isn’t known yet.
Walk on Air, Read Ley Line and Skysight: a leveling kit
All three actives are about the open world. Walk on Air turns any cliff into a shortcut. Read Ley Line doubles regeneration between pulls, and Skysight’s 10% speed matters most before your first mount. Together that’s the most leveling-focused racial kit of any race in Forever.
One caveat on Read Ley Line: the 15-second version barely covers a single drink. The 15-minute version near a ley line is the real racial, so its value depends on how many ley lines sit along your route. It’s also unclear whether it speeds up food and drink or only natural regeneration.
Best Skyborne Faction and Class Combos
Rule of thumb: the more downtime and walking a class has, and the less it relies on a combat racial, the better Skyborne fits it. Here is how the combos rank, best first.
| Rank | Combo | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Druid, either faction (Balance, Restoration) | Only one other druid race per faction, haste suits casters, exclusive forms |
| 2 | Warrior, either faction (leveling) | Most downtime, no speed tools, both faction racials help |
| 3 | Hunter, either faction | Haste speeds up Auto Shot, small gap to Night Elf and Troll |
| 4 | Shaman, Horde | Best lore fit, but Troll and Orc bring real combat cooldowns |
| 5 | Mage, Alliance | Conjured water makes Read Ley Line redundant, Gnome is stronger |
| 6 | Rogue, either faction | Relies most on combat racials, Sprint covers movement |
1. Druid (both factions): the best Skyborne pick
Druid is where Skyborne make the strongest case. Each faction has only one other druid race (Night Elf or Tauren), and neither brings a caster racial that beats permanent haste for Balance and Restoration. Then there are the Skyborne druid forms, which Blizzard designed specifically for the race and which you can’t get on anything else.
On faction, Alliance is slightly ahead: Read Ley Line cuts a mana-hungry leveler’s drinking time, while Skysight overlaps with Travel Form once you have it. Feral players should stay with Night Elf (Elune’s Light, 10% crit) or Tauren (5% more health for bears). And no, the bird form doesn’t fly. Forever has no flying at all.
2. Warrior (both factions): the leveling pick
Warriors have the most downtime in a Classic-style game (no self-heals, a meal after almost every pull) and no speed tools. Skyborne address both, and 1% haste means a few more swings and a bit more rage. Horde Skysight is the better warrior racial because it saves time on every run between quests until your mount. Alliance Read Ley Line speeds up health between pulls near a ley line.
The catch is endgame. Human and Orc still have weapon crit bonuses and combat cooldowns that beat Skyborne for raid DPS, and Dwarf and Tauren are better tanks. Pick a Skyborne Warrior if the leveling experience matters more to you than your parse.
3. Hunter (both factions)
1% ranged haste speeds up Auto Shot, a big share of a Classic hunter’s damage. Read Ley Line helps with mana between pulls on the Alliance side, while Skysight overlaps with Aspect of the Cheetah. Night Elf and Troll are still stronger at 60, but the gap is small enough to play whichever race you like.
4. Shaman (Horde only)
Skyborne Shaman has the best lore fit in the game: the Windshapers are the people who lost their elemental mentors. Mechanically it’s middling. Troll Berserking and Orc Blood Fury are real combat cooldowns, and Skysight loses most of its value once you have Ghost Wolf. Haste suits Elemental and Restoration, so it’s a fine choice, not the optimal one.
5. Mage (Alliance only)
Mage is the combo people are most curious about, and the weakest caster fit. Mages conjure their own water, which takes away most of Read Ley Line’s value, and Gnome (Eureka!, Escape Artist, 5% more mana) is strong in both PvE and PvP. Play it for the High Order story, not for numbers.
6. Rogue (both factions)
Rogues get the least out of Skyborne. Energy doesn’t care about mana regeneration, Sprint already covers movement, and rogues lean on combat racials more than any other class, especially in PvP, where Human’s stun break and Undead’s fear break decide fights. Walk on Air’s ledge drops are the one real perk.
FAQ
Is Skyborne a good race in WoW Forever?
For leveling and open-world play, yes. For max-level PvE or PvP min-maxing, most other races offer more, because Skyborne have no combat cooldown. Balance and Restoration Druids are the exception, where Skyborne are a top pick.
Can Skyborne fly with Walk on Air?
No. It’s a 10-second downward glide that prevents fall damage. You can’t gain height with it, and WoW Forever has no flying mounts.
Sources: Blizzard’s Skyborne preview, Blizzard’s upgrade pack announcement, BlizzardWatch’s Zephras Isle hands-on, beta racial values from Icy Veins’ Skyborne guide and race overview, and Method’s racial list. Screenshots and art: Blizzard Entertainment.