Undead Paladin is the most played of the race and class pairs that are new in WoW Forever. It has 63,492 characters, or 35.2% of all Undead. Dwarf Shaman is second with 45,633 characters, but it is first when you compare each pair with its own race. Shamans make up 52.6% of all Dwarf characters, which means more than half of Dwarf characters are Shamans. These figures come from the census snapshot of October 20, 2026. That snapshot counts 1,072,409 characters in total, 49.8% Alliance and 50.2% Horde.
The two classic races with a new class at the top
Undead Paladin has the larger count. When you measure by share of race, the order flips: Dwarf Shaman takes 52.6% of Dwarves and Undead Paladin takes 35.2% of Undead. No other new pair comes close to half of its race.
The other new pairs on the classic races take smaller shares. Gnome Priest has 19,718 characters, or 24.4% of Gnomes. Troll Warlock has 13,937, or 19.2% of Trolls. Human Hunter has more characters than either, at 26,229, but that is only 15.2% of Humans. Orc Mage has the smallest share of the classic-race pairs: 11,278 characters, or 11.0% of Orcs.
Skyborne: Druid first on both factions
Both Skyborne races appear on the list several times, and on each side the Druid is the top pick. Skyborne (A) Druid has 32,845 characters, or 32.9% of its race. Skyborne (H) Druid has 30,917, or 30.6%.
The second pick differs by faction. On the Alliance side, Skyborne go to Mage next, with 25,859 characters (25.9%). On the Horde side they go to Shaman, with 25,324 (25.1%). Further down the list, the shares on the two factions are close:
| Class | Skyborne (A) characters | Share of race | Skyborne (H) characters | Share of race |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Druid | 32,845 | 32.9% | 30,917 | 30.6% |
| Mage | 25,859 | 25.9% | n/a | n/a |
| Shaman | n/a | n/a | 25,324 | 25.1% |
| Hunter | 21,306 | 21.4% | 23,497 | 23.3% |
| Rogue | 9,548 | 9.6% | 12,116 | 12.0% |
| Warrior | 10,134 | 10.2% | 9,043 | 9.0% |
Horde Skyborne have more Hunters and Rogues than Alliance Skyborne. Alliance Skyborne have more Warriors. Rogue and Warrior each take about a tenth of each Skyborne race. Skyborne (H) Warrior has the smallest share of any new pair, at 9.0%.
Count and share tell different stories
By characters, the list starts with Undead Paladin, Dwarf Shaman and the two Skyborne Druids. By share of race, Dwarf Shaman comes first, then Undead Paladin and the two Skyborne Druids. Human Hunter shows how far the two rankings can split: it has the fifth-largest count, but its 15.2% share puts it in the lower part of the list. A pair's count depends partly on how big its race is. Share of race shows how often characters of that race take the class.
What these numbers measure
All figures count characters, not players. One player can have several characters. A character made to try a new pair counts the same as one played every day. The totals include every character recorded since the beta opened, at every level, as of October 20, 2026. A pair's share of race is its character count divided by all characters of that race. It shows how common a class is within a race. It does not tell you how many people play that pair.