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The Allied Races
How To Unlock The Allied Races
Horde
Alliance
Part of the wide appeal that draws players to World of Warcraft is the amount of character customization, and the adventure starts with choosing a race. The new Dragonflight expansion has introduced players to the winged Dracthyr race, which starts at a high enough level to unlock the Allied Races.
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The Allied Races were added in the World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth expansion. Not all of them are available as soon as you sign on to your account. They have to be unlocked before they can be part of the character creation process, and doing so requires that you complete a series of quests and achievements, plus have a character of at least level 45 or 50 to start the relevant quest chains.
Once one of your characters has completed the requirements to unlock a race, the benefit is account-wide, which means you can roll a character of that race on any realm.
Races that were introduced in the Legion expansion require level 45, and those from later expansions are for slightly more advanced players at level 50.
The Allied Races
Each faction in WoW, Horde, and Alliance, has five Allied Races each. Most of them are located in the Broken Isles, a zone introduced in earlier expansions. There are exceptions, like the Mag'har Orcs, who have been with us since The Burning Crusade in Outland. Once the race is unlocked, you also get perks like access to their Heritage Armor sets and mounts.
For more information on each of these races in the game, including basic stats, starting quests for their zones, and other useful information, visit the Embassy next to Olivia's Pond in Stormwind or the Valley of Spirits in Orgrimmar.
Horde
Name | Location | Heritage Armor Set | Mount |
Highmountain Tauren | Highmountain, Broken Isles | Highmountain | Highmountain Thunderhoof |
Mag'har Orc | Durotar, Kalimdor | Warsong Clan | Mag'har Direwolf |
Nightborne | Suramar, Broken Isles | Shal'dorei | Nightborne Manasaber |
Zandalari Troll | Zuldazar, Zandalar | Zandalari | Zandalari Direhorn |
Vulpera | Vol'dun, Zandalar | Vulpura | Caravan Hyena |
Alliance
Name | Location | Heritage Armor Set | Mount |
Dark Iron Dwarf | Blackrock Depths, Searing Gorge | Dark Iron | Dark Iron Core Hound |
Kul'Tiras Human | Islands of Kul Tiras | Kul Tiran | Kul Tiran Charger |
Lightforged Draenei | The Vindicaar | Lightforged | Lightforged Felcrusher |
Mechagnome | Mechagon, Mechagon Island | Mechagnome | Mechagon Mechanostrider |
Void Elf | Telogrus Rift, Ghostlands | Ren'dorei | Starcursed Voidstrider |
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How To Unlock The Allied Races
Each of the Allied Races requires that you complete a series of quests, likely a chain that follows a storyline, which is also part of an Achievement that appears under the Feats of Strength tab. In addition, there are minimum-level requirements that your character has to meet before proceeding.
Before the "level squish" that was part of the Shadowlands pre-patch, the minimum level to start these quests was 110. Characters at 120, which was the max level, were squished to level 50.
The release of Shadowlands raised the cap to 60, and the Dragonflight expansion raised it to 70. The current level needed to unlock Allied Races is either 45 or 50.
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Horde
Highmountain Tauren
- Reach level 45 on a Horde character.
- Go via a portal from Orgrimmar to Thunder Totem in High Mountain.
- Take the quest "Spray and Prey" from Jale Rivermane. This starts the quest for the Rivermane Tribe storyline, and once you're in Highmountain find the others and continue the questline.
- Finish the seven meta-Achievements to complete "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." These are all a part of the Highmountain storyline, and each one concerns a local tribe.
- Complete the scenario, "Allied Races: Highmountain Tauren" which provides more backstory regarding Horde recruitment efforts, available in the Horde Embassy.
Mag'har Orc
- Reach level 50 on a Horde character.
- Complete the eight meta-Achievements for the "Ready for War" campaign. You can start this process as early as level 35 by visiting Thanos Blightcaller and starting a quest called "The War Campaign."
- This detailed process takes you through 15 levels and several other quests. Once you hit level 50, the rest of the storyline unlocks along with the required Achievements.
- Complete the recruitment scenario "Allied Races: Mag'har Orcs" which provides more backstory regarding the Mag'Har, available in the Horde Embassy.
Nightborne
- Reach level 45 on a Horde character.
- Get a Revered reputation with the Nighfallen, the only faction in Suramar that has a rep grind.
- Start the quest "A Change of Seasons" available from Valewalker Farodin near Meredil, Suramar.
- Once you complete that questline, the quests required for the meta-Achievements that make up "Insurrection" are unlocked.
- Complete the eight chapters that make up the Suramar quest storyline, which are also the meta-Achievements for "Insurrection."
Zandalari Troll
- Reach level 45 on a Horde character.
- Finish the Achievement "Tides of Vengeance" which is part of the same "War Campaign" Achievement needed for the Mag'har Orcs.
- Complete the five meta-Achievements for "Zandalar Forever."
- Finish the quest chain that starts with "A Royal Occasion" and completes the "Allied Races: Zandalari Troll" Achievement.
Vulpera
- Reach level 50 on a Horde character.
- Visit Warguard Rakera in the Temple of Akunda in Vol'dun to start the Vol'dun storyline.
- Finish the "Secrets in the Sands" questline, which consists of seven meta-Achievements.
- Complete the "Allied Races: Vulpera" questline that expands on the existing lore. Available in the Stormwind Embassy.
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Alliance
Dark Iron Dwarf
- Reach level 50 on an Alliance character.
- Complete the "Ready for War" campaign Achievements. This is the same storyline for Horde players unlocking the Zandari Trolls or Mag'har Orcs.
- Alliance players can start "The War Campaign" quest chain as early as level 35 by speaking to Genn Greymane in Boralus. This unlocks "Ready for War" and is also one of the requirements for unlocking the Kul' Tiras Human race.
- Finish the recruitment scenario, "Allied Races: Dark Iron Dwarf" which tells the story of how the Dark Iron Dwarves joined the Alliance. Available in the Stormwind Embassy.
Kul'Tiras Human
- Players can visit Kul'Tiras as early as level 10 to work on finishing the "A Nation United" Achievement, one of two Achievements required to unlock this race.
- Reach level 50 on an Alliance character.
- Finish the "Tides of Vengenace" war campaign, which is included in the "Ready for War" questline that's also part of the Achievement to unlock Dark Iron Dwarves.
Lightforged Draenei
- Reach level 45 on an Alliance character.
- Go to Dalaran, speak to Archmage Khadgar in the Violet Citadel, and take his quest, "Uniting the Isles."
- Complete the following quest chain and teleport to Argus.
- Complete the three meta-Achievements that make up "The Argus Campaign." Some of the requirements for this campaign are also required to unlock the Void Elf race.
Mechagnome
- Reach level 50 on an Alliance character.
- Visit the trade district of Boralus and speak to Tinkmaster Overspark to start the "Expedition to Mechagon" quest line.
- Finish this questline to unlock Mechagon and get access to the zone.
- Complete the 16 meta-Achievements required to finish "The Mechagon Threat" Achievement. Some of these are included in the introductory quests.
- Finish the recruitment scenario, "Allied Races: Mechagnome" which tells the story of what this race brings to the Alliance table. Available in the Stormwind Embassy.
Void Elf
- Reach level 45 on an Alliance character.
- Complete "The Argus Campaign" which is also part of the Lightforged Draenei race prerequisites.
- Finish the "Allied Races: Void Elf" campaign that gives more details regarding the Void Elf's decision to join the Alliance. Available at the Stormwind Embassy.
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