What Skyborne Are (Shen’dorei)
Skyborne are shen’dorei, a hidden people in World of Warcraft: Forever. Lore hook from Blizzard's What’s Next and Found Photos articles: rebels from Eldre’Thalas after the War of the Ancients; Skywall; failing pylons; Windshapers / High Order / Al’Aketh. They have new racials, customizations, voices, and dances. At character creation you choose 
Horde or 
Alliance — one race, both factions.
They are not a free launch race. Shop footnotes: a normal subscription includes Forever; the race and the Zephras starting-zone questline need Heroic or higher. Housing decor in the pack is for modern WoW, not a Forever house. Hub: WoW Forever. How the paid race sits next to Classic: Forever vs Classic.
YouTube autocomplete already clusters on Skyborne customization, dance, druid forms, shaman, elves, starting zone, and zone — that is the demand this page answers. Specific customization options and dance videos are not yet in Blizzard's written articles.
Skyborne Classes: Shared, Horde-Only, Alliance-Only
| Class | Horde Skyborne | Alliance Skyborne | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Warrior | yes | yes | Shared. |
 Hunter | yes | yes | Shared. |
 Rogue | yes | yes | Shared. |
 Druid | yes | yes | Shared. Official: new Skyborne forms. Form list unpublished. |
 Shaman | yes | no | Horde-only for this race. |
 Mage | no | yes | Alliance-only for this race. |
Skyborne Paladin, Priest, Warlock, and the rest: not in the official class list we read. Shaman and Druid spell lists beyond all specs updated and hybrid itemization help for Enhancement: unpublished. More class articles are planned (Deep Dive). Paladin design is a game-wide dump (Holy Strike, Seal of Fury, seals not consumed by Judgment) — it is not a Skyborne-only kit. Class landscape: Forever classes.
Zephras Isle: Levels 1–12, Paid With the Race
Zephras Isle is the Skyborne starting experience, levels 1–12, Skywall-inspired (What’s Next). It is one of four named geographic additions at launch — Zephras, Riverglades, Shen’dralas, Mount Hyjal — and the only one that is a paid start. A subscriber who skips the pack starts in the ordinary 1–12 path, not on Zephras.
That matters for anyone selling or buying a Skyborne start. Official policy note: assume the buyer owns Heroic or higher. We will not book Zephras 1–12 for an account that only has a sub.
After 12 you rejoin the shared world. Riverglades is mid-30s to mid-40s (150+ quests official; Found Photos: nearly 200 Horde + Alliance). Shen’dralas sits between Mulgore and Desolace; its level range is unpublished. 
Hyjal is endgame (level 60 on-stage). No flying, no level scaling, 1,000+ new quests across 1–60. Route notes: leveling guide. Delivery of a 1–60: leveling from $259 from November 4, 2026 (shorter brackets cost less on the same slider).
What Each Pack Includes
Battle.net US/EU. EU includes VAT. Beta access is not on Heroic — that detail lives on the beta page.
| Item | Heroic $29.99 / €29.99 | Epic $59.99 / €59.99 | Collection $79.99 / €79.99 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skyborne race + Zephras 1–12 | yes | yes | yes |
| Early Name Reservation (Oct 27–Nov 3, 3 characters) | yes | yes | yes |
| Cerulean Prideclaw ground mount | yes | yes | yes |
| Shen’dorei Skyseer’s Garb / Rucksack / Windwell toy | yes | yes | yes |
| Skyborne Housing decor (modern WoW) | yes | yes | yes |
| Invite-A-Friend launch codes | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Beta (Sep 17–Oct 21 PST official) | no | yes | yes |
| 30 days Game Time from Nov 4 | no | yes | yes |
| Veteran Adventurer’s Loyal Companion + Outdoor Wear | no | yes | yes |
| Zergling, Panda, Diablo, Pachimari pets (Forever-only) | no | yes | yes |
| Lordaeron & Shen’dorei tabards (Forever-only) | no | yes | yes |
| Warcraft III: Reforged + Forsaken Kingdom | no | no | yes |
| Forsaken & Human Figurine Housing (needs Midnight) | no | no | yes |
Collection sale window: through January 11, 2027. Invite codes: emailed from October 20 PST; redeemable November 4–11; invitee plays that week without sub; gift purchases excluded. Physical Collector’s Edition price: unpublished.
Racials and the Prideclaw: What Is Written, What Is Not
Blizzard's Deep Dive: every race gets two active and two passive racials on a similar offensive budget. Examples given are not Skyborne — Dwarf Stoneform becomes physical damage reduction (not Armor); Find Treasure stacks with other tracking; Mace Specialization crit; Big Game Hunter versus Beasts. Undead: Will of the Forsaken no longer grants immunity; Cannibalize restores Mana and Health; Touch of the Grave.
Blizzard's Deep Dive still names no Skyborne racials — it says new racials and stops. Wowhead’s BlizzCon coverage lists a faction split: Alliance High Order — Walk on Air, Read Ley Line, Wind Blessed, Elemental Insight; Horde Windshaper — Walk on Air, Skysight, Wind Blessed, Elemental Insight. Shared press lines: Walk on Air (glide 10s), Wind Blessed (+1% haste), Elemental Insight (+5% damage to Elementals). That is not an official power table. Customization, voices, and dances are confirmed as existing, not itemized.
Cerulean Prideclaw is a ground mount in Heroic and above. Official: riding skill is still bought in-game. Deep Dive riding model is Burning Crusade-style — up-front mount gold moved into training; a mount is granted when you learn riding. Gold at 40 and 60, and whether those remain the unlock levels: unpublished. No flying in Forever. Do not expect to use the Prideclaw on November 4 at level 1.
What players said about the price
BlizzCon-weekend measure, not a slogan: MrGM’s $29.99 Heroic announcement drew 149 quote-tweets and 322,986 views (MrGM on X). Thread titles already ask whether Skyborne is pay-to-win. The factual answer: Heroic unlocks the race and Zephras 1–12 at Blizzard’s shop; it does not include beta; a subscription still plays Forever on a free race. We do not sell the unlock.
The weekend split, from forum and Wowhead threads: content hype on one side, the $29.99 pack as the commercial argument on the other. Counts below are volume, not a poll.
Wowhead’s Skyborne-price thread, official forums, and a ShaneTheGamer weekend roundup treat the $29.99 Heroic pack as the commercial argument: the game is in a normal subscription; the new race and Zephras 1–12 are not. PC Gamer the same day wrote that a paid elf race cooled some of the launch hype. Insult lines stay off this write-up. r/wow’s Skyborne-price thread was already more than 700 comments deep in that roundup — heat, not a vote.
The other half of the same weekend is still buying in. Eastcoast on the official forums listed new zones, Undead Paladins, Dwarf Shamans, new races, and 10/20-player raids as the reason they were in love. Homesteader called it Classic+ after watching the presentation. Celestial, on a Skyborne complaint thread, bet they would be the most played race from day 1. That is an opinion, not a measurement — Skyborne share of day-one characters is unpublished.
The Free Alternatives: Six New Combos at Launch
Deep Dive, official: six new race/class combinations ship at launch, with more planned. You do not need a pack for these.
Gnome PriestAlliance · freeHuman HunterAlliance · freeDwarf ShamanAlliance · freeOrc MageHorde · free
Troll WarlockHorde · free
Undead PaladinHorde · free| Race | Class | Faction | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gnome | Priest | Alliance | Combo only; no kit published |
| Human | Hunter | Alliance | Combo only; Hunter kit not published |
| Dwarf | Shaman | Alliance | Combo only; Shaman kit not published |
| Orc | Mage | Horde | Combo only; Mage kit not published |
| Troll | Warlock | Horde | Combo only; Warlock kit not published |
| Undead | Paladin | Horde | Published Paladin kit + Retribution charger quest |
If the thing you wanted was a new identity on a clean 1–60, those six are in the subscription. If the thing you wanted was Zephras, Skyborne forms, or a Shen’dorei name on October 27, they are not a substitute. Class picks: classes. Coaching $29/hour and leveling from $259 from November 4 apply to either path.
BlizzCon update
The $29.99 Heroic paywall was the weekend’s loud commercial question — MrGM’s announcement post drew 149 quote-tweets. Thread titles ask whether Skyborne is pay-to-win. Factually: Heroic unlocks the race and Zephras 1–12 at Blizzard’s shop; it does not include beta (Epic or Collection only); a subscription still plays Forever on a free race. We do not sell the unlock. Skyborne still choose Horde or Alliance at create, with the same class split (Warrior / Hunter / Rogue / Druid shared; Horde Shaman; Alliance Mage). Racials above are from BlizzCon coverage, not yet in Blizzard's written articles.
Read next.
Is the Heroic Pack Worth $29.99? Trade-offs, Not a Slogan
This is a judgment on published contents, not a promise that Skyborne will be the most played race.
The pack is worth the $29.99 if you want Zephras 1–12, a Skyborne Druid/Shaman/Mage identity that does not exist on another race, Early Name Reservation in late October, or the Prideclaw plus the listed transmog and toy. It is also the cheapest way onto the reservation list. It is not the cheapest way onto beta — that is Epic at $59.99, which includes everything in Heroic.
Skip Heroic if you are playing Forever for 
Undead Paladin, 
Dwarf Shaman, or any of the other four free combos; if you will not spend gold on riding before you use the mount; or if the only reason to pay is the new elves and you have not seen a racial list. Official Deep Dive still prints no Skyborne racial stats; BlizzCon coverage lists High Order vs Windshaper. A racial-first buyer is paying before an official table.
Buy Epic or Collection instead of Heroic if you need beta (September 17–October 21 PST official) or the three invite codes and 30 days of Game Time from November 4. Collection additionally buys Warcraft III: Reforged and Forsaken Kingdom — relevant if you care about the Undead Paladin story and Housing figurines, not if you only want the race.
Launch delivery: leveling from $259, dungeons $9 / $29, gold from $19 per 100g, professions $89 from November 4, 2026. Raids from $149 from December 9. 
Hardcore $349 when that ruleset opens. Custom scope: custom order from $10. Calendar: release date. We do not sell the Skyborne unlock.
Blizzard has not published a Forever-specific boosting rule in this week’s articles. Older Anniversary forum policy is a different product. Company-wide real-money rules still exist as company policy.
Sources
- Blizzard News — announcement, pre-purchase, What’s Next, Deep Dive
- Battle.net shop — World of Warcraft: Forever
- Wowhead Forever news (Skyborne price thread; High Order / Windshaper from BlizzCon coverage)
- MrGM — $29.99 Heroic announcement
Official forum launch-thread quotes attributed by name. PC Gamer Skyborne price piece; ShaneTheGamer community-reaction roundup. Racial examples from Deep Dive are game-wide; Skyborne High Order / Windshaper lists are from BlizzCon coverage.