Night Elf

Night elves remember an empire that fell ten thousand years ago. They lived apart in the forests for a very long time, until the return of an old enemy drew them out again.

Faction: Alliance
Class choices: 5 in the client
Home in lore: Teldrassil, Darnassus, Darkshore
Forever start: Not yet published by Blizzard

First choices

Class choices

From the published client snapshot, build 1.60.1.69977. A class marked new is one Blizzard names as a new combination for Forever.

Client build 1.60.1.69977 matches Blizzard’s 22 September class table for this race.

Racial traits

What the night elves bring

Names and descriptions are read from the client build 1.60.1.69977. Blizzard says some traits were updated for Forever, and its own wording from 22 September is shown underneath where the names match. Neither has been checked in game.

ShadowmeldClient and announcement
Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Lasts until cancelled or upon moving. Using this ability in combat discourages enemies from attacking you, but increases the cooldown to 2 min.
Blizzard, 22 September: “Gain Stealth while immobile.”
QuicknessClient and announcement
Dodge chance increased by 1% and movement speed increased by 2%. Night Elf Rogues and Druids are harder to detect in Stealth as if they were 1 level higher.
Blizzard, 22 September: “1% increased Dodge chance and 2% increased run speed.”
Wisp SpiritClient and announcement
Transform into a wisp upon death, increasing movement speed by 75%.
Blizzard, 22 September: “75% increased run speed while dead.”
Quickness PassiveClient record only
The client description did not resolve in build 1.60.1.69977.
Elune's LightClient and announcement
Increases your critical strike chance with all spells and attacks by 10% for 15 sec.
Blizzard, 22 September: “Increases critical chance by 10% for 15 seconds.”

Place and people

Who the night elves are

“With no other choice, the night elves emerged at last from their seclusion to fight for their place in the new world.”
Blizzard, 22 September 2026

Blizzard’s Forever introduction describes a vast night elf empire, founded ten thousand years ago and brought to ruin by the reckless use of primal magic. In grief, the survivors withdrew to the forests and stayed isolated there until the Burning Legion returned.

In long-standing lore, the city of Darnassus rests in the boughs of Teldrassil, a great tree off the coast of northern Kalimdor. Night elves revere nature and the moon goddess Elune, and ride the nightsabers of Kalimdor’s forests.

Blizzard’s modern race page also describes much later events, including an attack on Teldrassil. Those belong to a different era of the story and are left out here.

Sources: Create the Hero You Want to Be in World of Warcraft: Forever (opens in a new tab), 22 September 2026; Blizzard's Night Elf race page (undated, read 29 September 2026) (opens in a new tab); Taking Your First Steps in World of Warcraft Classic (opens in a new tab), 27 February 2020.

Their story

Ten thousand years of memory

Blizzard’s race page says many night elves still remember the War of the Ancients, more than ten thousand years ago, when they halted the Burning Legion’s first invasion of Azeroth.

Few races carry their own ancient history so personally. A night elf character belongs to a people who were there at the beginning, who paid for their mistakes, and who have chosen to step back into a younger world.

Blizzard’s Forever page includes updated pictures of Darkshore and Ashenvale, two forests long tied to the night elves. The pictures show how the places look; they do not describe any change to night elf starting areas.

Sources: Blizzard's Night Elf race page (undated, read 29 September 2026) (opens in a new tab); Create the Hero You Want to Be in World of Warcraft: Forever (opens in a new tab), 22 September 2026.

Darkshore’s coast and forest under Forever’s new lighting — © Blizzard Entertainment, from the Forever game page · Forever page (opens in a new tab)

Beginning

Where the story begins

Starting area in Forever

Blizzard has not named a Forever starting area for the night elves in the sources we follow, so we do not name one. The maps below show the homeland in lore, not a confirmed first step.