Allied Races: How to Unlock, Heritage Armor, & More

world of warcraft allied races overview
allied races overview

Allied Races Overview

Allied Races Legion Introduction Guide

Legion Intro Guide

dark iron dwarf allied race

Dark Iron Dwarves

mechagnome allied race

Mechagnomes

maghar orc allied race

Mag’har Orcs

heart of azeroth

Heart of Azeroth Guide

lightforged draenei allied race

Lightforged Draenei

kul tiran allied race

Kul Tiran Humans

nightborne allied race

Nightborne

zandalari troll allied race 1

Zandalari Trolls

war campaign portal room

BFA Intro Guide

void elves allied race

Void Elves

highmountain tauren allied race

Highmountain Tauren

vulpera allied race

Vulpera

Allied races were introduced in the Battle for Azeroth expansion, allowing for 5 new races for each faction to be chosen when making new characters. While this is a typical addition to the game about every other expansion, in this expansion it was not only the number of races added that got increased, but also their impact on the storyline and cosmetic options, tailored specifically for them.

These races come with their own racial abilities, cosmetic options, and mounts (in the case of the mounts, once these are unlocked they can be used by any character of the same faction). They’re an exciting addition to the retail game even now, far past their initial release, so let’s get into some of the details on what they have to offer and how to start your journey to unlock them!

Unlocking the Races

Unlike other times races have been added to the WoW universe, this time around they must be unlocked through certain prerequisite achievements, and completion of a questline. These prerequisite achievements can be completed by characters of both factions, but the questline unlocked by the said achievements will only be available to characters of the same faction, as the allied race attempting to be unlocked. Level 50 is the minimum required to see these questlines once you have met the pre-reqs.

Note: if you’re having trouble seeing the starting quest for unlocking an allied race, you might be missing a Heart of Azeroth as a requirement — the neckpiece introduced as a main mechanic in Battle for Azeroth.

Take a deep breath and relax, though! Unlocking these races may seem a bit less intuitive with the content not being current, but not to worry, as this guide will help you decide which races you might want to pursue, and how to get started grinding for that sweet new Night Elf Mohawk Void Elf, or what have you!

Unlocking Heritage Armor

heritage armor

If you’ve unlocked one or more allied races already and are curious about why you don’t have the heritage armor available for them — that’d be because you need to make a new character of the allied race you want the armor for, and level them to 50.

There are some pitfalls here, though, that Blizzard aren’t exceptionally clear about. The allied race character must be leveled from 10-50 on your own without the use of a character boost or refer-a-friend bonus levels, and using the faction and/or race change service will not allow you to attain the heritage armor on that character.

Once you have reached level 50 with the allied race character, a questline should pop up that, once completed, will give you the full transmog set for that allied race.

Keep in mind that these are cosmetic items and thus have no stats, but this allows you to transmog these appearances onto any class (cloth, leather, mail, plate) of armor. Heritage armor transmogs, unlike the allied races mounts, are only usable by the race they’re paired with.

Alliance Allied Races

* Death Knights are only available to all races if the Shadowlands expansion was pre-ordered

Void Elf

A race born of the void. Elves transfused with void energy that, with the help of Alleria Windrunner, learned to bend the power of the void to their will rather than the other way around.

void elf female
void elf male

Lightforged Draenei

While the Draenei have always had a special relationship with the otherworldly beings known as the Naaru, select warriors among their ranks chose to follow the prime Naaru, Xe’ra, and change the fight against the Burning Legion from a defensive one to an offensive one. Infused with the power of the Light to give them strength against the Legion, thus, the Lightforged Draenei were born.

lightforged draenei female
lightforged draenei male

Dark Iron Dwarf

A fiery faction of the dwarves, the Dark Iron has a history fraught with conflict and questionable intentions. That being said, they can also be honorable and stalwart allies when all the chips are on the table. When the Sword of Sargeras was plunged into Azeroth and the world’s very soul and lifeblood was in danger, the Dark Iron’s deep connection to their world stoked them into action.

dark iron dwarf female
dark iron dwarf male

Kul Tiran Human

A kingdom of humans that was once a dominant naval asset in the war against the Horde. Through dark influence and geographic isolation they were not considered part of the alliance for quite some time until their own home became the battlefield between the two warring factions. The illustrious Jaina Proudmoore hails from these people, maybe explaining some of her strength and ability to persevere.

kul tiran cat form
kul tiran female
kul tiran male
Kul Tiran get unique Druid class animal forms, as seen left

Mechagnome

Ambition and brilliance can sometimes be a dangerous combination. A faction of gnomes split from their brethren long ago to pursue ancient titan technology to find a way to enhance their bodies. What they learned was that it was both possible, but also exceedingly dangerous. Those who realized that balance was the key between flesh and machine were reasonable enough to see the threats to themselves and Azeroth looming and threw in their lot with the Alliance.

mechagnome female
mechagnome male

Horde Allied Races

* Death Knights are only available to all races if the Shadowlands expansion was pre-ordered.

Nightborne

A mysterious isolated elven people, brought to the forefront of the war against the Burning Legion after centuries. They relied upon a great source of power called the Nightwell, which much like the Sunwell, was also their greatest weakness. Liberated from the control of the demons during the events of Legion, they sought to take down their walls and rejoin the world. They felt a kinship with the Blood Elves, able to relate to their plight, and so joined the Horde.

nightborne female
nightborne male

Highmountain Tauren

Native to the Broken Isles and descended from the hero of the War of the Ancients, Huln, these are a proud people, distinct from their familiar tauren brethren. While distinct, they are still a people that have a strong connection to nature and value honor highly.

highmountain tauren female
highmountain tauren male

Zandalari Troll

Zandalar, the cradle of all trollkind, and the Zandalari, the ancient trollkind that have made their empire in this inhospitable terrain. Powerful, wise, and ruthless with a deep connection to the elements and a fervent worship of wild gods called Loa.

zandalari troll female
zandalari troll male

Mag’har Orcs

Mag’har means “uncorrupted” in the orcish language. A type of orc that was born of the alternate timeline created by Garrosh Hellscream and his Iron Horde. These orcs did not drink the blood of Mannoroth, nor form a pact with the demons, leading to them never having the fel-green coloring of their skin nor demonic taint.

maghar orc female
maghar orc male

Vulpera

Living in harsh conditions forces one to be clever and efficient. The Vulpera might appear to be harmless at first glance, but underestimating them would be a mistake. A people that repay their debts, which led them to join the Horde after being helped against their foe – the Sethrak.

vulpera female
vulpera male

 

About the Author

Shadostruct

I've been playing WoW since beta with some breaks here and there. I'm a semi-hardcore to hardcore raider that focuses on retail mainly. I'm a big fan of giant dragons and am excited for all that Dragonflight will have to offer.
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