Playable race
“Azeroth is home to a large variety of races, some native to its lands and some hailing from other realms. Whether as a stalwart defender of the Alliance or a fierce guardian of the Horde, deciding which race to play will define who you'll fight for in this neverending war. Where do your loyalties lie?”
- — Official description for playable races[1]
Playable races in World of Warcraft are the character races available to players, each offering unique racial traits, languages, and access to different classes. Most races are aligned with either the Alliance or the Horde, though some can choose either such as the dracthyr and pandaren.
Core races[2] refer to the standard set of playable races available without unlock requirements, while Allied races are additional variants that must be unlocked through specific requirements, such as questlines and achievements.
Core races
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Alliance
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Horde
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Both
Core race classes
Allied races
- Main article: Allied race
Allied races are playable race variants that expand upon existing core races with distinct appearances, racial abilities, and lore. Introduced in Battle for Azeroth, they are unlocked through specific requirements such as quest lines and achievements, and start at level 10 with their own unique customization options. Players who level an allied race character without a character boost can earn a heritage armor set exclusive to that race.
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- Alliance
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- Horde
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- Both
Allied race classes
Expansion races and requirements
Playable races introduced with a new expansion typically retain their expansion requirement until that expansion is merged into the base game, which usually occurs with the release of the following expansion. However for the first few races, these requirements wouldn't change until sometime after Cataclysm which released in December 2010. Refer to Account for when an expansion was merged into the base game.
Blood elves and Draenei. Required expansion until 29 June 2011.
Worgen and Goblins. Required expansion until 15 October 2013.
Pandaren. Required expansion until 14 October 2014, the release of patch 6.0.2.
Dracthyr. Required expansion until patch 11.0.0.
Battle for Azeroth introduced a new type of playable races known as "allied races". Allied races are unlocked through gameplay rather than by just owning the expansion, however the expansion requirement will be removed just like core races once the expansion is merged into the base game. The War Within introduced the Earthen allied race and require the expansion to earn the achievement that unlocks them.
Starting areas
- Main article: Starting area
The zone you begin in depends on your race. Except for worgen, goblins, and pandaren, any race can level in any starting zone of the same faction, you'll just have to hoof it over there. You'll probably want to reach level 5 where you start and then travel to the new zone. Shadowlands also introduced a new starting zone available for characters that aren't allied races, death knights and demon hunters; Exile's Reach, which includes a mini-dungeon.
Allied races don't have their own starting zone, but start at level 10, which means they don't need to level through a particular starting zone, and are free to choose between a variety of zones and dungeons appropriate for their level.
Racial traits
- Main article: Racial traits
As mentioned above, different races have different racials. These include passive bonuses and powerful abilities. While racial bonuses should not be game-changing, they can at times prove invaluable, and many dedicated players will choose their character's race solely for the purpose of finding the optimum build for high-end play. For most players, the enjoyment of a character is far more important than their racials, but they can still be useful and fun.
Notes
- The races you are able to play were originally always meant to belong to their main in-game faction, meaning playable humans were always from Stormwind, playable blood elves were always from Silvermoon City, etc.[3] but this was changed with Shadowlands' improved character customization. For example, you can now roleplay that your dwarf is from the Wildhammer clan rather than from the Bronzebeards.[4]
Gallery
Alliance core races.
Horde core races.
Races height from World of Warcraft: Beginner's Guide.
Races height from The Burning Crusade manual.
- Fan art
WoW model collage (this humorous illustration certainly does not exist).
Patch changes
- Patch 10.0.2 (2022-11-15): Added Dracthyr core race.
Patch 7.3.5 (2018-01-16): Introduced Allied races. - Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): Added Pandaren core race.
- Patch 4.0.3a (2010-11-23): Added Worgen and Goblin core races.
- Patch 2.0.3 (2007-01-09): Added Draenei and Blood elf core races.
See also
References
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