WoW Forever Skyborne Guide: Windshaper vs High Order

The Skyborne are the only new race in World of Warcraft: Forever, and the most talked-about choice on the character screen. They are elves of the air, they come in a Horde and an Alliance version with different class lists, they start in their own zone, and they cost extra. This guide puts the lore, the classes, the unlock, the starting zone and the racials — at the values that actually went live, not the ones in the first announcement — on one page.

Who the Skyborne are

Blizzard's "Meet the New Skyborne" post tells it this way: thousands of years ago, exiles of the Highborne made a pact with the elemental spirits of the wind and built a civilisation in Skywall, the Elemental Plane of Air. When Forever begins, something has gone wrong on Zephras Isle: the air spirits have vanished and the ancient structures that keep the island going are failing. That crisis is the thread of the starting zone, and it splits the race in two.

The wiki also says their own name for themselves, shen'dorei, means "hidden people", and lists Valanaar and Zephras Isle as their capitals. Those details come from one community wiki rather than a Blizzard post, so read them as background, not as gospel.

Classes: what each faction can play

Blizzard's 29 October "Return to Azeroth" post gives the final list. Four classes are shared; one more depends on the side you pick:

No Skyborne can be a Paladin, Priest or Warlock. If one of those is your class, the races and classes guide has the full table, including the six new combinations Forever adds to the old races.

How to unlock the Skyborne

The Skyborne are not free. Blizzard's announcement and launch post say you need the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a higher digital upgrade — the Epic Pack or the Warcraft Forever Collection. Without one, the race button stays locked. You can still visit Zephras Isle on any character: per Warcraft Wiki, anyone can take the airship there, pack or not.

The Cerulean Prideclaw is a ground mount, and like every store mount it still needs the riding skill bought in game. A beta datamine reported by Method put its requirement at level 60; that hasn't been confirmed, so don't plan your first mount around it. We don't list pack prices here — they differ by region and change with sales; Blizzard's shop shows yours.

Zephras Isle: the 1–12 start

Every Skyborne begins on Zephras Isle, which Blizzard lists as the zone for levels 1–12. It is a sanctuary floating in Skywall, and the quests revolve around the missing air spirits. Here is the route as Warcraft Wiki and the travel guides describe it:

1. Level 1 · Thendal Village

   Your first quests. Learn camping from an early quest like every other race — campfires are the rested-XP system Forever adds (see the campfires guide).

2. Levels 3–10 · Across the island

   Look for the tornadoes: Warcraft Tavern says they grant Blessing of Zephras, +40% run speed for 5 minutes on the isle. It's the fastest way around before you have a mount.

3. Around 10 · Valanaar

   The main hub. Class trainers, the profession vendors — whose trade supplies sell apprentice tradeskill bags since the 5 November hotfix — and your first talent point at level 10.

4. Level 12 · Valanaar Skydocks

   Board the airship. Alliance lands in northern Dalaran in the Alterac Mountains; Horde at Skywatcher Plateau in Mulgore. Method notes a Skyborne-only portal from Dalaran to Stormwind, and no fast route to Orgrimmar for Horde Skyborne.

Two practical notes. First, the Horde arrival in Mulgore puts you in the Tauren lands with Thunder Bluff close by, but Orgrimmar is a long run — set your Hearthstone deliberately. Second, the isle has its own neutral reputation, the Nightclaw Druids in the north-east: Wowhead's guide says quests take you to Friendly, the rest is a long ear turn-in grind, and Exalted brings the Nightclaw Mantle and the title "of the Nightclaw". It's a collector's goal, not something to do on the way to 12.

Racials: as announced vs as launched

The Skyborne racials changed more than any other race's during the beta. Blizzard's Skyborne article still shows the first values; the dev notes of 16 October and 3 November changed them, and the 3 November values are what went live. If a site quotes 1% or 3% haste, it's quoting an old version.

The other shared passive is Elemental Insight, +5% damage against Elementals — handy on Zephras Isle and anywhere with elementals, invisible elsewhere. Two more details from the dev notes matter in practice:

• Charged and Attuned last through death but are removed when you enter a raid (27 October notes). Wowhead's live tooltips say you get them by using Skysight at an elemental convergence or Read Leyline at a ley line, for an hour.
• Read Leyline can't be used while Innervate is active (Wowhead tooltip) — High Order Druids can't stack the two.
• Racials work in Druid forms, Blizzard's Hunter and Druid deep dive says, Walk on Air included.

Class tuning is still moving: Blizzard has announced a class tuning pass for 10 November 2026. It doesn't name Skyborne racials, but check the current notes before you treat any number here as final.

Windshaper or High Order: how to choose

For a Druid, Hunter, Rogue or Warrior the decision is mostly faction and racial. A melee class in the open world gets more out of a speed racial than a regen one; a Druid or Hunter who drinks a lot gets more from Read Leyline. Either way the 2% haste and the glide are the same. If you're also choosing a ruleset, read the rulesets guide first: on the PvP ruleset your account is locked to one faction.

Walk on Air, the Galestrider and getting around

Forever has no flying — Blizzard's design pillars rule it out — so the Skyborne's air theme shows up in two smaller ways. Walk on Air is a downward glide of up to 10 seconds: step off a cliff and drift instead of falling. It's a shortcut down hills and off bridges, and a way out of a fight if there's a ledge nearby. It does not take you up.

The racial mount is the Galestrider. Warcraft Tavern's riding guide says Genn Fairweather at Fairweather Stables on Zephras Isle (53.8, 81.2) sells both the riding skill and the mounts, to Skyborne of both factions, in Umber, Stormy and Empyrean colours plus Swift versions. Riding is one universal skill from level 40, learned at your own race's trainer — the riding and mounts guide has the costs and the reputation rules for other races' mounts.

Customisation, forms and the little things

Blizzard's post adds feathers, tattoos (Zephyr and Wayfinder styles) and earrings, a unique /dance and their own voices. Skyborne Druids get their own form models rather than borrowing Night Elf or Tauren ones. Forever's transmog is opt-in and appearances are account-wide, so a Skyborne alt can wear what your main collected.

Leveling a Skyborne after Zephras Isle

After level 12 a Skyborne levels like anyone else on its faction — the same zones, the same nine new dungeons from Hall of Thanes at 13 to Shaper's Terrace at 58, the same 1,000+ new quests. The only real difference is where you land: Alliance Skyborne are near Southshore and Hillsbrad from Dalaran, Horde Skyborne are in Mulgore with the Barrens next door. The Forever leveling guide has the full route and the dungeon level ranges.