WoW Forever Priest Racials: 6 Priest Races and Their Spells

• October 15, 2026 patch notes. Human Ruthless (+2% crit on all spells and attacks) and Dwarf Earth Fury (+2% critical damage and healing) replace the weapon specializations. Gnome Eureka! now lasts 8 seconds with no charges and boosts Power Word: Shield, and Night Elf Quickness stacks with other speed bonuses. Troll Regeneration rises to 20%, and Undead Touch of the Grave procs 30% of the time for casters, on a cooldown of 25 seconds. Devouring Plague now comes back every 24 seconds. Every change is in our October 15 patch notes.

Blizzard's Create the Hero matrices list 6 Priest races for World of Warcraft: Forever. Alliance covers Gnome, Dwarf, Human and Night Elf. Horde covers Troll and Undead.

Gnome Priest is 1 of the 6 new race and class combinations Blizzard named for launch. The other 5 new combos are Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Orc Mage, Troll Warlock and Undead Paladin.

Orc, Tauren and both Skyborne lines show no Priest column on those tables. If you want Priest fantasy on Horde without Undead or Troll, that option is not on the published matrix.

Faction	Priest races	New for Forever?
Alliance	Gnome, Dwarf, Human, Night Elf	Gnome Priest is new
Horde	Troll, Undead	Both return

The 1st raids open on 9 December 2026. A Priest needs level 60 before that date for week-1 raid nights. See race and class combinations for the full grid. Role megas and the new class hub: WoW Forever Priest, Holy PvE, Shadow PvE.

Classic Priests carried race-locked class spells. Names players still search include Fear Ward, Desperate Prayer, Starshards and Touch of Weakness.

Blizzard published the Forever list on 30 September. Each Priest race has 2 spells unique to it, and several were reworked.

Gnome (new). Confounding Flash at level 10 confuses up to 5 nearby enemies for 3 seconds. Contingency Plan at level 20 wards a friendly target for 30 seconds. Below 35% health the target gets an absorb shield and a heal over time.

Dwarf. Desperate Prayer is unchanged. Chastise at level 20 damages and immobilizes a Humanoid for 2 seconds.

Human. Divine Grace at level 10 instantly heals a friendly target below 50% health and removes Weakened Soul. It cannot target yourself. Feedback is unchanged.

Night Elf. Starshards at level 10 deals much more damage and has a cooldown of 30 seconds. Elune's Grace at level 20 cuts the chance for melee and ranged attacks to hit you by 50% for 15 seconds.

Troll. Hex of Weakness and Shadowguard are unchanged.

Undead. Touch of Weakness is unchanged. Dark Sacrifice at level 20 turns your own health into mana over time, scaled by Spirit.

Fear Ward and Devouring Plague are baseline for every Priest at level 20, and the 15 October notes cut Devouring Plague's cooldown from 1 minute to 24 seconds. The same notes give Shadow Word: Death a cooldown of 18 seconds and cut Vampiric Embrace's from 1 minute to 30 seconds, and Vampiric Embrace can no longer be resisted. Every race also keeps its 2 active and 2 passive racials.

The hub on reworked racials tracks kit updates. Talent notes cover the tree milestones Blizzard published.

Gnome Priest is the Alliance search spike for this topic. Blizzard lists 4 Gnome racials on Create the Hero.

Racial	Kind	What it does
Escape Artist	Active	Short root and snare immunity
Eureka!	Active	15 October 2026 notes: a buff of 8 seconds with no charges, 10% lower cost and 10% more damage or healing on non-periodic spells and abilities, and a stronger Power Word: Shield
Expansive Mind	Passive	Maximum Mana, Rage or Energy increased by 5%
Engineering Spec	Passive	More reliable engineering devices

Eureka! hits both healing and Shadow. Since the 15 October 2026 patch notes it is a buff that lasts 8 seconds with no charges: direct heals and damaging casts gain 10% damage or healing and cost 10% less Mana, and Power Word: Shield gets a boost too. Channeled Mind Flay and Penance still count. Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague and Renew get no bonus. Expansive Mind raises maximum Mana by 5% for long dungeon pulls.

Escape Artist is the root and snare break for open-world and battleground movement. Engineering Spec helps if you craft devices. Full class list for the race sits on Gnome racials.

Blizzard also gave Gnome Priests 2 race-specific spells: Confounding Flash at level 10 and Contingency Plan at level 20.

3 more Alliance races share Priest with Gnome. Their kits are published in full.

Race	Actives	Passives
Human	Will to Survive; Perception	Ruthless (+2% crit on all spells and attacks); The Human Spirit (+5% Spirit)
Dwarf	Stoneform; Find Treasure	Earth Fury (+2% critical damage and healing); Big Game Hunter (+5% vs Beasts)
Night Elf	Elune's Light (+10% crit 15s); Shadowmeld	Quickness (+1% Dodge, +2% run, stacks with other speed bonuses); Wisp Spirit (+75% run while dead)

Since the 15 October notes, Human Ruthless gives a Human Priest +2% crit on all spells, with no sword needed.

Human Spirit adds Spirit for regen-heavy healing. Will to Survive clears stuns. Perception detects stealth for 20s.

Dwarf Stoneform clears Bleed, Poison and Disease and cuts Physical damage for 8s. Earth Fury, which replaced Mace Spec on 15 October, adds 2% critical damage and healing with any weapon, so a Dwarf Priest's critical heals land harder.

Night Elf Elune's Light is a 15s 10% crit window. Shadowmeld grants stealth while immobile. Quickness adds Dodge and run speed for kite work.

Horde Priests are Troll or Undead on the official matrix. Both kits are published.

Race	Actives	Passives
Troll	Berserking (+10% cast and attack speed 10s); Rapid Regeneration	Beast Slaying (+5% vs Beasts); Regeneration (20% regen in combat since 15 October)
Undead	Will of the Forsaken; Cannibalize (35% Health and Mana)	Underwater Breathing (+300%); Touch of the Grave (procs 30% of the time for casters, on a cooldown of 25 seconds)

Berserking is a 10% cast and attack speed burst for 10s. Rapid Regeneration returns 50% maximum Health over time. Beast Slaying helps on beast trash in Classic-banded dungeons.

An Undead Priest breaks Charm, Fear and Sleep with Will of the Forsaken. Blizzard states it no longer grants immunity after the remove. Cannibalize restores 35% Health and Mana over time. That Mana line is new compared with older Classic wording.

Tauren has War Stomp and Cultivation. Tauren has no Priest column, so those traits stay off this class. Details live on Tauren racials.

Blizzard has not ranked races for Priest. The pick follows the published numbers on Create the Hero.

For Alliance healing throughput, Gnome Eureka! and Expansive Mind line up with Mana and heal casts. Human Spirit helps Spirit-based regen, and Ruthless now adds +2% crit to every heal. Dwarf Earth Fury adds 2% critical damage and healing with any weapon. Night Elf Elune's Light is a timed crit buff for burst heals.

For Shadow damage, the same Gnome pair still applies. Troll Berserking is the Horde cast-speed answer. Night Elf crit window and Undead Mana return from Cannibalize both help long fights.

Faction locks the pool. Alliance has 4 Priest races. Horde has 2. Skyborne Priest is absent from both matrices. See Skyborne for the classes that race does play.

Class identity beyond racials is on classes and class changes. Blizzard published the Priest class article on 30 September. The same post changed the healing kit every race shares: Prayer of Healing now heals the target's whole party, Renew from several Priests stacks on 1 target, and Shadow gets Vampiric Embrace as its 16-point talent, on a cooldown of 30 seconds since the 15 October notes. Blizzard's class highlight video for Druid, Warlock and Priest followed on 6 October. Full kit and talents: WoW Forever Priest.

Once the race is picked, a healer and a Shadow Priest face the same climb: about 150 hours of play from level 1 to 60.

A Gnome Priest and an Undead Priest share these calendars, because the race leaves the hours unchanged.

Control breaks decide many Priest duels. Will of the Forsaken still removes Charm, Fear and Sleep. A Gnome Priest uses Escape Artist for a moment of immunity to roots and snares. Will to Survive removes stuns. Shadowmeld lets a Night Elf slip into the shadows while still, and in combat it discourages enemies from attacking, with a 2 minute cooldown.

Perception helps Human Priests find stealth openers for 20s. Quickness adds Dodge and run speed for Night Elf kiting. Berserking shortens cast time on Troll burst windows.

War Stomp is a Tauren tool. Tauren has no Priest column, so that stun is not available on this class.

For the broader PvP picture, read Forever PvP. Hardcore is not a launch ruleset. It arrives later on Blizzard's roadmap.

Forever opens every Priest race on 4 November 2026, and the 1st raids follow on 9 December 2026. That is a 5-week window to hit level 60.

Racials do not replace a leveling plan. They ride along while you quest, clear the 9 new dungeons and finish profession camps. Name reservation runs 27 October to 3 November 2026 PST with an upgrade purchase.

If you want a booked path, our leveling pre-order is $299 with 1 booster or $420 with 2 boosters. A human Pro plays your Priest by hand in our own gaming hubs, on a PC dedicated to your account and a residential IP in your own city, so to the game it looks exactly like a family member playing from home. Regular rates are $399 and $599. Details live on WoW Forever leveling and the leveling notes.