The Skyborne, or shen’dorei, are World of Warcraft: Forever's new race. Thousands of years ago a group of Highborne exiles made a pact with the wind spirits and built a civilization inside Skywall, the elemental plane of air. When the story begins, the spirits that protected their home have vanished, its ancient structures are failing, and the Skyborne are split over what to do next.
You choose which side your Skyborne takes at character creation.
Two factions, one people
| Windshaper Skyborne | High Order Skyborne | |
|---|---|---|
| Faction | Horde | Alliance |
| Classes | Druid, Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior | Druid, Hunter, Mage, Rogue, Warrior |
| Signature racial |  Skysight: 10% movement speed |  Read Ley Line: double health and mana regeneration |
| Who they are | Descendants of the first shen’dorei to receive the wind spirits’ gift of skysight, sent to Azeroth to find their missing mentors | Descendants of the Highborne scholars of Eldre’Thalas, sent to reclaim the arcane knowledge their people lost |
Both share the rest of their racials:
Walk on Air lets you glide downward for 10 seconds, steering as you fall.
Wind Blessed adds 1% haste to melee, ranged and spellcasting.
Elemental Insight adds 5% damage against Elementals.
Zephras Isle
Every Skyborne starts on Zephras Isle, a floating island in Skywall that runs from level 1 to 12. It mixes classic Warcraft architecture with elemental stonework and takes you through the crisis that sends your people to Azeroth. From there your character joins the Horde or the Alliance.
Which class to pick
- Shaman (Windshaper only). The Windshapers' whole story is about the wind spirits, so the class fits the lore, and 1% haste helps every shaman spec. See the shaman guide.
- Mage (High Order only). Read Ley Line doubles your regeneration, which shortens every drinking break, and the High Order's story is about reclaiming arcane power. See the mage guide.
- Druid (both). Skyborne druids get shapeshift forms made specifically for the race. See the druid guide.
- Hunter, Rogue and Warrior (both). Wind Blessed helps every melee and ranged spec. Rogues will enjoy gliding off rooftops with Walk on Air.
Skyborne cannot be Paladins, Priests or Warlocks.
Looks and extras
The Skyborne have two body types with thousands of combinations: sky-blue to peach to darker skin tones, feathers in the hair, ear lengths, face and body tattoos in the Zephyr and Wayfinder styles, earrings and more. A barber shop in the cities lets you change your mind later. They also have their own voice lines, emotes and a dance.
Access to the Skyborne and Zephras Isle comes with the Skyborne Heroic Pack and the editions above it. See every combination on the Windshaper and High Order race pages.