Undead Racials in WoW Forever
The Undead, or Forsaken, give the Horde Paladins in Forever, the most debated of the six new combinations. Their racials change too: Cannibalize now restores Mana, Touch of the Grave is new, and Shadow Resistance is gone. The October 15 beta build made Touch of the Grave trigger far more often, 20% to 30% of the time, behind a 25-second cooldown.
Blizzard published every race’s classes and racial traits on September 23, 2026. Every racial here, including the Priest race spells, is checked against the beta client (build 1.60.1.70450). Last reviewed: .
Undead racials in WoW Forever vs Classic
| Racial | Forever (beta client) | Classic | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
Will of the Forsaken Will of the Forsaken Instantly removes Charm, Fear and Sleep effects; 2 min cooldown | Instantly removes Charm, Fear and Sleep effects; 2 min cooldown | 5 sec immunity to Charm, Fear and Sleep | A break for the effect instead of a window of immunity. |
Cannibalize Cannibalize Eat a nearby Humanoid or Undead corpse: 7% of your Health and Mana every 2 sec for 10 sec, 35% in all; 2 min cooldown | Eat a nearby Humanoid or Undead corpse: 7% of your Health and Mana every 2 sec for 10 sec, 35% in all; 2 min cooldown | 7% Health every 2 sec for 10 sec | Restores Mana too, so casters recover between fights. |
Touch of the Grave Touch of the Grave Spells and attacks have a 20% chance (Priests, Mages and Warlocks: 30%) to drain Health with Touch of the Dead, up to 5% of your maximum; 15 sec internal cooldown | Spells and attacks have a 20% chance (Priests, Mages and Warlocks: 30%) to drain Health with Touch of the Dead, up to 5% of your maximum; 15 sec internal cooldown | — | A passive health drain on attacks and damaging spells. The October 15 beta build raised the chance from 5% (casters: 10%) and added the 25-second cooldown, so it triggers about as often as before in a long fight but far more reliably; the drain, Touch of the Dead, no longer scales with Shadow damage bonuses and isn’t weaker from low-rank spells. Since the September 24 beta build it only triggers from abilities that deal damage and no longer breaks crowd control: Shadow Word: Pain can trigger it when cast but not from its ticks, and Distract, Pick Pocket and Polymorph never do. Blizzard’s October 27 notes cut the internal cooldown to 15 seconds (was 25). |
Underwater Breathing Underwater Breathing Hold your breath 300% longer | Hold your breath 300% longer | Same | Unchanged. |
Dark Sacrifice Priest Dark Sacrifice Instant, 10 min cooldown: trade Health for Mana over 15 sec; your Spirit adds to the Mana | Instant, 10 min cooldown: trade Health for Mana over 15 sec; your Spirit adds to the Mana | — | An Undead Priest spell for mana, in five ranks. Since the September 24 beta build it no longer breaks crowd control that breaks on damage. |
Touch of Weakness Priest Touch of Weakness The next melee attack against you deals Shadow damage to the attacker and lowers its melee Attack Power for 2 min (56 damage and 204 Attack Power at the top rank) | The next melee attack against you deals Shadow damage to the attacker and lowers its melee Attack Power for 2 min (56 damage and 204 Attack Power at the top rank) | Undead Priest spell: 64 Shadow damage, and the attacker dealt 20 less damage per hit | Still an Undead Priest spell; it now lowers Attack Power instead of damage per hit. |
Devouring Plague Priest Devouring Plague A baseline spell for every Priest | A baseline spell for every Priest | Undead Priest spell: Shadow damage over 24 sec that heals you | The beta client teaches it to every Priest, so Undead Priests no longer have it to themselves. |
Shadow Resistance Shadow Resistance +10 | Not in the beta client | +10 | No longer a racial. |
How these values were checked: every racial, its effect and its cooldown come from the Forever beta client's spell tables (build 1.60.1.70450), and the Classic column from the Classic Era client. Priest spell numbers are the top rank's. Beta values can still change. Classes and the new race and class combinations come from Blizzard's panel recaps. How the data is checked
Classes Undead can play in Forever
Each card opens what changes for that class in Forever. The icons are the Undead racials that apply to the class.
Instantly removes Charm, Fear and Sleep effects; 2 min cooldown
Spells and attacks have a 20% chance (Priests, Mages and Warlocks: 30%) to drain Health with Touch of the Dead, up to 5% of your maximum; 15 sec internal cooldown
Will of the Forsaken; Touch of the Grave. Warrior class changes → Paladin★ New for UndeadInstantly removes Charm, Fear and Sleep effects; 2 min cooldown
Spells and attacks have a 20% chance (Priests, Mages and Warlocks: 30%) to drain Health with Touch of the Dead, up to 5% of your maximum; 15 sec internal cooldown
Will of the Forsaken; Touch of the Grave. Paladin class changes → RogueInstantly removes Charm, Fear and Sleep effects; 2 min cooldown
Will of the Forsaken. Rogue class changes → PriestInstant, 10 min cooldown: trade Health for Mana over 15 sec; your Spirit adds to the Mana
Dark Sacrifice trades Health for Mana. Priest class changes → MageEat a nearby Humanoid or Undead corpse: 7% of your Health and Mana every 2 sec for 10 sec, 35% in all; 2 min cooldown
Cannibalize restores Mana. Mage class changes → WarlockSpells and attacks have a 20% chance (Priests, Mages and Warlocks: 30%) to drain Health with Touch of the Dead, up to 5% of your maximum; 15 sec internal cooldown
Touch of the Grave. Warlock class changes →Undead in Forever's new content
Ruins of Lordaeron
Dungeon, levels 15–20
Help the Forsaken take back the ruined capital above the Undercity, clear out the Scourge that remain, and track down a necromancer preparing another attack. It leans Horde, though the Alliance may get in.
How players reacted
Undead Paladins are the most argued-about combination on the official forums. A thread titled "Undead Paladin Is Stupid" passed 187 replies, most of it about whether Paladins fit the Forsaken story.
Undead FAQ
Can Undead be Paladins in WoW Forever?
Yes. Undead Paladin is new in Forever and gives the Horde its first Paladin option in Classic-era WoW.
Do Undead Paladins get their own epic mount?
Yes. Blizzard's Found Photos recap says Forsaken paladins get their own epic mount quest at level 60, taken in the name of Retribution rather than Redemption. The client names both of their quests: see WoW Forever mounts.
Does Cannibalize restore Mana now?
Yes. It restores 7% of your Health and 7% of your Mana every 2 seconds for 10 seconds, 35% of each in all. In Classic it only restored Health.
What is Touch of the Grave?
A new Undead racial: your attacks and spells have a 20% chance to drain Health, up to 5% of your maximum, at most once every 25 seconds. For Priests, Mages and Warlocks the chance is 30%. Until the October 15 beta build it was 5% and 10% with no cooldown.
What is Touch of the Dead in WoW Forever?
The health drain Touch of the Grave triggers. Blizzard’s October 15 notes give it a 30% chance for casters and 20% for Paladins, Rogues and Warriors, a 25-second internal cooldown, no scaling with Shadow damage bonuses on you or the target, and no penalty when it comes from a low-rank spell.
Still unconfirmed
- How much Touch of the Dead drains at each level
- Level range of the Forsaken Paladin quests
Sources
- Forever beta client, build 1.60.1.70450: SkillLineAbility table (wago.tools), the racials and Priest race spells
- Blizzard: WoW Forever Beta Development Notes – Updated October 26 (racial changes)
- Blizzard: WoW Forever Beta Development Notes – Updated October 15 (racial changes)
- Blizzard: WoW Forever Beta Development Notes – Updated September 24 (racial changes)
- Wowhead: Gnome racial heavily nerfed in the latest WoW Forever beta build (old and new Eureka! values)
- Blizzard: Create the Hero You Want to Be in World of Warcraft: Forever (September 23, 2026 — every race, its classes and its racial traits)
- Blizzard: WoW: Forever — Meet the New Skyborne (September 23, 2026)
- Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever What's Next panel recap
- Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever Deep Dive panel recap
- Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever Found Photos panel recap
- Wowhead: Racials for Skyborne in Forever and racial changes
- BlizzCon 2026 demo footage (Twitch VOD)
Other races: Human · Dwarf · Night Elf · Gnome · Orc · Tauren · Troll · Skyborne · All races