WoW Forever racials, final pass before launch: Command returns, Dwarves get hit, Tauren run faster

On 26 October 2026, at 20:35 UTC, Kaivax, Community Manager at Blizzard, added a new post to the official WoW Forever development notes, now titled "Updated October 26". It is not about a new build: the beta closed on 23 October. It is the final pass on racial abilities before the launch on 4 November. The next day a second post added three changes that had been left out. The previous round, from 15 October, is in our article on the 15 October notes.

Why Blizzard changed them again

Blizzard explains that it heard two complaints about the racials introduced in October: some felt "too generic", others were objectively stronger than the rest. In this final pass the team put racial identity first. That means some races will be slightly better than others at certain roles, and where role- or class-focused racials had been replaced by generic bonuses, those changes are rolled back.

There is one exception: the weapon specializations (the Humans' Sword Specialization, the Orcs' Axe Specialization and the Dwarves' Mace Specialization) do not return. Blizzard writes that they have a strong fantasy component, but in the long run raid and dungeon loot would end up judged by which weapon type a race "requires". The remaining passive bonuses also get a tuning pass.

Alliance

• Human: Ruthless now gives 1% critical strike chance (was 2%); The Human Spirit gives 10% more Spirit (was 5%).
• Dwarf: Earth Fury (2% increased critical damage and healing) is removed. In its place comes a new passive, Artisan's Precision: 1% increased hit chance with spells and attacks.
• Night Elf and Gnome: no changes.

Horde

• Orc: Savage (1% critical strike chance) is removed and Command comes back: Hunter and Warlock pets deal 5% more damage. Blood Fury has a 2-minute cooldown again (it had gone up to 3 minutes on 15 October).
• Tauren: Plainsrunning gives 2% movement speed per stack (was 1%), up to 60% (was 30%), but no longer works while mounted. Endurance goes back to 5% increased health only, with no hit chance or critical damage bonus.
• Troll: Berserking lasts 15 seconds (was 10).
• Undead: the internal cooldown of Touch of the Grave drops to 15 seconds (was 25).

Skyborne

• Both factions: Wind-Blessed gives 2% haste (was 3%).
• High Order (Alliance): Read Leyline increases health and mana regeneration by 50% (was 100%) for 15 seconds, and cannot be used while Innervate is active, which replaces it as the stronger effect. Used at a ley line, it also grants Attuned for one hour: while Attuned, the bonus goes back to 100%.
• Windshaper (Horde): Skysight increases movement speed by 15% (was 10%) for 15 seconds. Used at an elemental convergence, it also grants Charged for one hour: while Charged, the bonus is 30%.
• Attuned and Charged persist through death and are removed when you enter a raid.

Update of 27 October

On 27 October at 15:37 UTC Kaivax added a second post with "additions that were intended to be listed" and edited the first one: Blood Fury back to 2 minutes, Berserking at 15 seconds and Touch of the Grave at 15 seconds come from this update. Articles written before then may still describe these three racials as unchanged.

Our talent builder already shows the new values, and every change is listed in the change history.

What we don't know yet

• When we will see them in game: the beta closed on 23 October, so no test build has these values. Blizzard calls this a final pass before launch; we will check every racial in game from 4 November.
• Plainsrunning: Blizzard gives the maximum (60%) but not how many stacks it takes or how fast they build up.
• Command: the notes mention Hunter and Warlock pets; they do not say whether other summoned creatures, such as an Orc Mage's Water Elemental, benefit too.
• Names: Artisan's Precision, Attuned and Charged have no official Italian or Spanish name yet. Blizzard now writes "Wind-Blessed" and "Read Leyline", while the 22 September article had "Wind Blessed" and "Read Ley Line".