Unlocking Allied Races

Unlocking Allied Races is a progression action associated with Battle for Azeroth. Rather than introducing an entirely new class or a wholly unprecedented race, the system makes variant forms of existing races available, giving character creation a new threshold: players first gain access to an allied race, then begin developing a character whose identity is marked by that race’s particular abilities and potential rewards.

Definition and Expansion Context

The allied-race system appears alongside the expansion’s broader changes to World of Warcraft. Battle for Azeroth was presented as a major expansion scheduled for August 14, with new features, raids, dungeons, zones, and an increased level cap of about 120. Its central story focus is the conflict between the Horde and the Alliance rather than an immediately defined single “big bad,” making questions of factional identity especially important to the way the expansion frames new playable peoples.

The system is explicitly distinguished from a new class. The expansion adds no new class and does not initially present one wholly new race specific to the expansion. Instead, allied races are variants of races that already exist in the game. The examples given include Void Elves as a version of Night Elves and Highmountain Tauren as a version of Tauren. This structure makes the feature an extension and differentiation of established identities rather than a complete break with the game’s existing racial framework.

Availability and Distinctive Identities

At the point described in the guide, four allied races are said to be present, while Battle for Azeroth is expected to add two more: Mag’har Orcs and Dark Iron Dwarves. The resulting total is described as six allied races, although the text stresses that Blizzard’s longer-term plans remain unclear and that additional allied races may eventually be added. The system therefore has a deliberately open horizon: its immediate roster can be counted, but its final scope is left uncertain.

Each allied race is presented as having its own specific or unique abilities. Unlocking an allied race consequently affects more than appearance or character selection; it creates another route into a character with a distinct mechanical profile. The feature also links racial access to a visible status reward. Leveling an allied-race character to the expected level cap can make it possible to unlock a Heritage Armor set, so the initial act of access leads into a longer progression cycle in which the character’s advancement confirms and displays the significance of that identity.

Starting Level and Progression Thresholds

Once unlocked, an allied-race character normally begins at level 20. This starting point contrasts sharply with the opening levels of most World of Warcraft classes, which generally begin at level one. It also differs from the elevated starting positions of the Demon Hunter and Death Knight, which begin at levels 98 and 55 respectively. The guide treats that level-20 start as a reason to select an allied race deliberately, particularly after the race has become available, because the player enters the leveling route with a substantial early-game segment already completed.

The requirement to level the character toward the cap gives unlocking a temporal structure. Access is not the endpoint: the player must continue through questing, combat, travel, and the expansion’s broader leveling systems. The guide recommends minimizing unnecessary travel by choosing zones and remaining in them until their quests are complete. In this sense, the allied-race action sits inside a larger sequence of thresholds, from obtaining access to beginning at level 20 and eventually pursuing the level-based condition associated with Heritage Armor.

Relations to Other Progression Systems

The action is surrounded by systems designed to accelerate or organize character development. Recruit-a-Friend can provide about a 50 percent bonus to experience from quests and kills when the recruiter and recruit are in the same party or within about 100 yards of each other, provided their characters are within roughly four levels and below level 90. Heirlooms offer another route to faster progression: armor for the legs, chest, shoulders, head, and back can provide an overall experience bonus of about 45 percent, with a possible additional five percent from a ring obtained through a fishing contest.

Heirlooms are especially relevant to allied-race development because they are bind on account. Once purchased, they can be accessed by the player’s characters, including alternate characters on another server, in the opposite faction, or both. Their ordinary level range may require upgrading, and a fully upgraded set is said to cost about 30,000 gold. These rules turn the allied-race character into part of an account-wide progression economy: earlier characters and accumulated resources can prepare the equipment and funds needed for later characters.

The wider expansion also replaces Artifact weapons with the Heart of Azeroth, a medallion upgraded through Azerite. Upgrading the Heart of Azeroth unlocks traits on other armor pieces and provides customization options that were previously unavailable. Although this system is not identical to allied-race access, both features organize character identity through staged unlocks: one changes which variant race can be played, while the other changes how equipment traits and customization develop.

Significance of the Action

Unlocking Allied Races transforms racial choice into a progression achievement rather than a simple opening selection. It extends the game’s established peoples through variant forms, assigns those forms unique abilities, starts their characters at level 20, and connects continued leveling to Heritage Armor. At the same time, its uncertain roster and expected additions show the system as an evolving framework rather than a closed list.

The action also reveals how Battle for Azeroth combines factional identity, account-wide resources, and repeated advancement. Players move through a chain of practical decisions—unlock the race, choose efficient zones, use experience bonuses and heirlooms, manage travel with the Hearthstone, and continue toward the level cap—until a newly available identity becomes a developed and visibly rewarded character. Allied-race access is therefore both a content addition and a threshold ritual within the expansion’s larger economy of choice, investment, and belonging.