Allied Races Class Options

Battle for Azeroth is shipping with six new playable races that start at level 20 and require a quest chain to unlock. These races are generally variations on existing races, but with different backstories and in some cases belonging to the other faction.

With their own racial abilities, these really qualify as, mechanically, new races, though I'm sure that players would be upset if the Alliance and Horde got one new race each and they were simply variants on existing ones. That's why, I think, we're getting six, with a promise of more to come. The nice thing is that this seems to suggest a more fluid and open set of options for playable races going forward, which is an area of player choice that has big roleplaying potential without a ton of mechanical complication.

Of course, perhaps more important to your race is your class (man, that sounds weird if you think about it in socioeconomic terms rather than within a fantasy role-playing game,) and if you're excited to roll new characters of these races, you'll want to know what classes you can play.

We currently know the class roster of four of the new races, so let's get to it.

Highmountain Tauren:

Druid, Hunter, Monk, Shaman, Warrior

This isn't all too different from vanilla Tauren. The only difference is the addition of the Monk. While the Highmountain revere An'she, they did not go through the cultural transformation led by the Sunwalkers, and so the absence of Paladins and Priests is understandable. Ironically, the most famous Tauren Death Knight is actually a Highmountain Tauren, but Trag Highmountain must be an exception rather than the rule. When the Pandaren got there to teach the ways of the Monk, I don't know. But Druidism seems obvious given that it was Cenarius that gave the Highmountain their antlers (I wonder if they'll have different druid forms than regular Tauren.)

Lightforged Draenei:

Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Warrior

Minus the Shaman, this is the Burning Crusade Draenei. While there are Broken on Argus, the "Darkfallen" (hey, remember how that was the original name for the San'layn?) weren't part of the Army of the Light, and even then, it was specifically Nobundo who taught the Draenei Shamanism. So it makes decent sense that they wouldn't have Shamans. Also, while I like the idea of my Death Knight finding redemption on Argus and becoming Lightforged, it looks like he'd have to become a Paladin or something, and that ain't happening.

Nightborne:

Hunter, Mage, Monk, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior

Less obviously a Night Elf variant, especially given that they will be a Horde race (My alliance characters are going to have words with Thalyssra,) the Nightborne also have a less obviously derived set of class options. Really, the class options just make sense for them, with the exception of Monk. Highmountain I can sort of believe, but Nightborne? I mean, I'm fine with new races playing Monks, but maybe this is just a sort of "eh, let them have it" thing.

Void Elf:

Hunter, Mage, Monk, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior

A Blood Elf (really High Elf) variant, this actually lines up perfectly with the BC Blood Elf, just swapping out Paladins (Void Elf Paladin doesn't make much sense) for Warriors. Actually, in retrospect, that might explain Nightborne, who have the exact same class selection, as the Nightborne presumably would have joined the Highborne after the War of the Ancients rather than sticking around with Malfurion and Tyrande. The Monk thing could also play into the idea that being filled with the Void requires careful discipline of mind and body, which works for both Disc priests and Monks.

As Yet Unknown: Dark Iron Dwarves and Zandalari Trolls

We don't know what classes these guys get yet, but I'll hazard a few guesses:

Dark Iron Dwarves:

I'd say Warrior, Rogue, Priest, Hunter, Mage, and Warlock are all pretty self-explanatory. Shaman is a maybe, given their historical connection to Ragnaros, but on the other hand, it was always the Wildhammer Dwarves who were the shamans.

Zandalari Trolls:

Ok, the gimmes are Warrior, Hunter, Shaman, Rogue, Priest, and Mage. Warlock might also be perfectly reasonable. I'd throw in Druid there as well, given that Trolls have a strong connection to the Loa, which are just Ancients by another name.