WoW Forever Skyborne: the new race, its Zephras Isle start, its faction-split classes, and the $29.99 gate — everything Blizzard has said

Three names are used for them: Skyborne, shen'dorei, and 'hidden people'. Their origin is tied to Eldre'Thalas — the ruined highborne city that Classic players know as Dire Maul — and to Skywall, the elemental plane of air. The What's Next recap describes them as 'a new playable race whose shared ancestry has led to very different visions for the future', and that split is what the faction choice dramatises: some Skyborne 'embrace elemental traditions', others 'pursue the arcane legacy of their ancestors'.

On Zephras Isle, 'several groups are vying for control … as the crisis deepens, including the Windshapers, the High Order, and the Al'Aketh'. Blizzard's product page maps two of them to the faction choice: 'Follow the path of the Windshaper Horde or the High Order Alliance in your quest to defend Zephras Isle' — so Windshapers are the Horde-aligned Skyborne and the High Order the Alliance-aligned; the Al'Aketh's role is not stated. The same page calls the Skyborne 'a new race of windswept elves' whose 'once-secluded home faces an existential threat'. It frames the whole addition as 'unexpected, but added with care and restraint' — 'a surprising but self-contained experience'.

The What's Next recap describes the start: 'On Zephras Isle, you'll begin an elemental skybound starting experience from levels 1 through 12, blending Classic Warcraft aesthetics with architecture inspired by Skywall.' Level 12 is later than the Classic starting zones' usual 1–10, which suggests a longer opening arc; Blizzard has not published quest counts for the isle. The Found Photos recap adds the visual idea — an island in the elemental plane whose pylons are failing, with 'portions of the island' already 'falling into ruin and darkness'.

Zephras Isle is where the money matters. Blizzard's announcement lists 'access to the new Skyborne race and Zephras Isle starting experience' inside the Skyborne Heroic Pack. The other new zones — Riverglades, Mount Hyjal, Shen'dralas — are for everyone; Zephras is the Skyborne's zone and comes with the race. Blizzard has not said whether non-Skyborne characters can visit the isle later.

'At character creation, you'll choose whether your Skyborne joins the Horde or the Alliance: Horde-aligned Skyborne embrace elemental traditions and gain access to the Shaman class, while Alliance-aligned Skyborne pursue the arcane legacy of their ancestors and gain access to the Mage class. Both factions can also play Warriors, Hunters, Rogues, and Druids, including new Skyborne druid forms created specifically for the race.' That is the complete class rule, quoted whole.

Reading it: a Skyborne cannot be a Paladin, Priest or Warlock on either side; a Horde Skyborne cannot be a Mage; an Alliance Skyborne cannot be a Shaman. The race brings Druids to two more races' worth of players on each faction and gives the Alliance its first Shaman-adjacent choice through a different door — a Dwarf Shaman — rather than through the Skyborne, whose Alliance branch is arcane. The matrix below is the rule as a picture.

Blizzard promises the Skyborne come 'along with new racials, customizations, voices, dances, and visual options', and 'new Skyborne druid forms created specifically for the race'. It has not published the racials. The Deep Dive gives the rule that will apply — every race has 'two active abilities and two passive abilities, tuned to provide a similar amount of offensive power while preserving signature utility' — and worked examples for Dwarves and Undead, but nothing Skyborne-specific. The 'elemental' and 'arcane' framing of the two branches is thematic; Blizzard has not said the racials differ by faction.

The druid forms are the most concrete cosmetic promise: forms 'created specifically for the race', which in Classic terms means Skyborne bear, cat, aquatic and travel forms with their own look. No images have been published in the recaps this site has read.

The race is inside three packs and nowhere else. The Skyborne Heroic Pack ($29.99) includes 'access to the new Skyborne race and Zephras Isle starting experience, Early Name Reservation, the Cerulean Prideclaw ground mount (players will need to purchase the riding skill in-game to access and use this mount), cosmetics, housing decor, and one Invite-A-Friend Launch Code'. Warcraft Tavern's shop read-out names the cosmetics as the Shen'dorei Skyseer's Garb set, the Veteran Adventurer's Rucksack and the Shen'dorei Windwell toy. The Epic Pack ($59.99) and the Collection ($79.99) include the same race plus beta access, Game Time and more.

Two press outlets led with the gate — Wowhead ('Skyborne Race Costs $29.99 to Unlock') and MMORPG.com ('locked behind a $30 purchase') — and the official Forever forum carries a thread arguing the paid race creates 'a massive faction support imbalance'. Blizzard has not published a reply or a plan to sell the race separately or release it free. The price page has the full contents of every pack.

Blizzard sorts Forever's additions into three categories — 'Anticipated' places like Mount Hyjal, 'New but familiar' stories like the Riverglades, and 'Unexpected' surprises 'used more sparingly'. The Skyborne are its named example of the third: 'one of our more unexpected additions'. The recap is careful to argue they still 'fit within the larger fabric', anchoring them to the War of the Ancients, Eldre'Thalas and Skywall — all pre-existing Warcraft lore — rather than inventing a new origin.

That framing matters for expectations. Zephras Isle is described as 'self-contained', and the Skyborne's crisis is local: failing pylons, vanished benefactors, three factions contesting the isle. Nothing published connects the Skyborne to Forever's wider story beyond the faction they join at level 12 and the two raids — Hyjal Summit and the Barrow Deeps — that everyone shares.

A Skyborne character uses every system Blizzard has described for the rest of the game, and a few of them interact with the race in ways worth spelling out. Legacy Challenges include 'leveling a specific class'; a Skyborne Druid, Shaman or Mage is a new class-race pairing to level, and Legacy Points earned on it are 'shared across all alts'. Camping is universal — any Skyborne with a profession at skill 20 can contribute a campsite object. Transmog and the visual presets are opt-in: a player who chooses 'Classic Mode' at first launch has transmog disabled automatically, and the HD/SD character-model choice applies to the Skyborne like anyone else, though Blizzard has not shown SD Skyborne models.

One Blizzard sentence sets the scale of what is coming for the race: the Skyborne arrive 'along with new racials, customizations, voices, dances, and visual options'. Dances and voices are usually the last things published before launch; their absence from the recaps is not a sign of anything.

The pack must be bought before the character is created; Blizzard ties the race to the purchase. The Early Name Reservation in every pack matters because names in Forever are unique per region and two-part, so a reserved name is held against a much bigger pool than a realm's. A Skyborne Druid is the class with the most published Skyborne-specific content (the forms); a Skyborne Shaman or Mage is the faction-defining pick. Zephras Isle covers levels 1–12, after which the Skyborne join the shared level 13–60 world Blizzard describes across the other pages on this site.

If you want the Skyborne but not the beta, the Heroic Pack is enough. If the faction-imbalance argument matters to you, the forum watch on this site tracks the thread and will show a Blizzard reply the moment one is posted.

The classes hub has the full nine-class table. The race-class combinations page covers the six new pairings for the existing races. The new-zones hub places Zephras Isle beside Riverglades, Hyjal and Shen'dralas. The price page lists every pack item.