Allied race

Allied races are a type of playable race introduced with Battle for Azeroth that can only be unlocked and used after reaching level 40 and completing an associated quest chain.
==Description==
Allied races are, from a design point of view, alternate versions of the main races. They mostly use the skeleton of an existing race but altered and with a different model. They also have their own racial abilities. Allied races get a full character kit including their own emotes, flirts, funnies, exertions, and so on.MMO-Champion: Nov 6 Hotfixes, Dev Interviews, Heroes PTR, Overwatch PTR Build, Blue Posts, DLC #606 All current allied races are variants of a previously playable race, with the exception of vulpera, which are only goblins in build.
===Recruitment===
Allied races can be unlocked after a player has reached level 40 on at least one character on their account. The player must then head to their faction's embassy—the Stormwind Embassy for Alliance players and the Orgrimmar Embassy for Horde players—and complete the quests The Call for Allies and A Choice of Allies, which will unlock individual quest chains to recruit each allied race. Completing each chain grants the ability to create a new character of that race, which will start at level 10. Upon reaching level 50 without using a level boost or Recruit-A-Friend boost, they are rewarded with a heritage armor set.
Allied race recruitment quests can't currently be repeated, but there could be an option to repeat them in the future.Live Developer Q&A with Game Director Ion Hazzikostas
===History===
The first four allied races were recruited as a direct result of the events of Legion, originating from the Broken Isles and Argus. Another four are part of the story in Battle for Azeroth. Allied races are not a Battle for Azeroth-exclusive feature, however.Battle for Azeroth Beta Q&A with Ion Hazzikostas Unlocking each allied race was originally a significantly more involved process, requiring reputation with a faction associated with that race as well as the completion of an associated quest achievement. For example, in order to unlock the A Feast for Our Kin quest chain to unlock Highmountain tauren, players first needed to earn reputation with the Highmountain Tribe and complete Ain't No Mountain High Enough.
Draenor orcs were first announced by Ion Hazzikostas on January 30, 2018.MMO-Champion - Battle for Azeroth Developer Q&A On March 15, they were confirmed to be named "Mag'har orcs".
The Kul Tiran humans were first announced by Ion Hazzikostas on March 15, 2018.Developer Q&A with Ion Hazzikostas - Battle for Azeroth
Mag'har orcs and Dark Iron dwarves are available after completing the Battle for Azeroth War Campaign. The Kul Tiran humans and Zandalari trolls were recruited later in the expansion after they respectively join the Alliance and the Horde.BFA Press Event - Talanji Cinematic, 8.0 Pre-Patch, Mag'har and Dark Iron Unlock Schedule
Vulpera and mechagnomes were announced as allied races with the announcement of patch 8.3 on October 7, 2019.8.3 Developer Content Update Preview
With the release of patch 9.0.1 in October 2020, the reputation requirement for unlocking allied races was removed, leaving only the achievement requirement. In patch 10.1.5 in July 2023, all remaining restrictions except the level requirement were removed.
==List of allied races==
; Alliance
*
*
*
*s
*s
; Horde
*
*
*s
*s
*
==Classes==
Class balance on factions is more linked to lore than equality. It was also stated that there were no plans to give hero classes to allied races in Battle for Azeroth, but in the future the door would be open to it.Battle for Azeroth Live Developer Q&A – April 26, 2018, 48:25 All allied races received access to death knights in Shadowlands.
==Future allied races==
*There are no immediate plans for Wildhammer dwarves, but it is possible in the future.
**In Shadowlands, playable dwarves are able to apply Wildhammer tattoos.
*Murlocs and blood trolls are not planned as allied races.
*High elves are not planned as an allied race. At BlizzCon 2017, when asked if they could be a future allied race, Ion Hazzikostas said that "blood elves are pretty much high elves, and void elves are pretty much another flavor of high elves". He also stated that there was no obvious population center for them to come from, as they had been assimilated in other cultures.Ion Hazzikostas and Jesse Cox: BlizzCon 2018 (17:58) In a Developer Q&A, when asked why they had thus decided to give the Alliance void elves instead of high elves, Hazzikostas elaborated that the fantasy of the "fair-skinned, blonde-haired, majestic elf" kind was already fulfilled by blood elves. Giving that race to the Alliance would also have blurred the lines between factions. Void elves allowed them to give a unique and distinct "flavor of blood elves" to the Alliance.Ion Hazzikostas: High Elves and Void Elves (46:20)
:*Since then, Blizzard have added blue-eyed high elf customization options to both void elves and blood elves, and gave more varied skin colors to void elves including all blood elf skin color options.New Customization Options for Blood Elves and Void Elves They've then also added more varied hair color options to void elves.Linxy on the US Forums
==Notes and trivia==
*An allied race character can be boosted with the Character Boost service but will not receive their heritage armor set. Using the Race Change service to turn a character into an allied race will prevent the obtention of the armor as well.
*NPCs that call the player by their race originally referred to allied races using their full allied race name, such as "Highmountain tauren" or "Lightforged draenei". This was later changed so they use only the race name, such as "Tauren" or "Draenei".
*Before the introduction of the allied race system in patch 7.3.5, the term had occasionally been used in various other contexts:
**In a 1995 interview, Bill Roper used "allied races" to refer to the various new races introduced in Warcraft II as allies of the humans and orcs (elves, dwarves, gnomes, goblins, ogres, and trolls).
**The patch 1.5 notes used the term to refer to other races in a player's faction.
**In a Mists of Pandaria promotional video, Chris Metzen used the phrase "allied races" to refer to the Alliance's allies on Kalimdor.
*With the addition of the four first allied races in patch 7.3.5, the number of available character slots per realm was increased from 12 to 16. In patch 8.0 it was increased again from 16 to 18 to make room for Mag'har and Dark Irons. With patch 8.1.5, the character slot limit per realm was removed entirely, though the total account limit remained at 50 characters.
*According to game director Ion Hazzikostas, allied races will always come out in pairs to begin with so that both factions have an equal number of available races, but in the long run the developers are open to the possibility of adding one-off allied races if it makes sense for the story.
*In 2013, MMO-Champion user "shoc" created a forum thread in which they showcased various mockups for "subraces", including several ideas that later became playable as allied races (Mag'har orcs, Dark Iron dwarves, humanoid mechagnomes). They also introduced the idea of slim humans based on the Forsaken rig and beefier humans, two concepts that were eventually realized with the nation of Kul Tiras.
*There were no new allied races planned for the launch of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands or World of Warcraft: Dragonflight.WoW Dragonflight Alpha Interview with Game Director Ion Hazzikostas
*Allied races won't be able to start in Exile's Reach as they already have their own starting areas and begin at level 10.Shadowlands: Adventure Awaits in the New Starting Experience
*Kul Tirans are the only allied race to use a completely unique animation skeleton. The next closest race, Zandalari, have many unique animations but are still ultimately a modified night elf skeleton.
*Due to not being introduced until after Wrath of the Lich King and lacking their own representation in the Argent Tournament, the allied races use their respective core race choice after completing The Aspirant's Challenge. For example, after finishing the quest, Zandalari trolls continue with A Valiant Of Sen'jin.
==Gallery==
Void elves Heritage Armor.jpg|Void elves
Lightforged draenei Heritage Armor.jpg|Lightforged draenei
Dark dwarves Heritage Armor.jpg|Dark Iron dwarves
Kul Tiran Heritage Armor.jpg|Kul Tirans
Mechagnome Heritage Armor.jpg|Mechagnomes
Nightborne Heritage Armor.jpg|Nightborne
Highmountain tauren Heritage Armor.jpg|Highmountain tauren
Mag'har orc Allied Race.jpg|Mag'har orcs
Zandalari troll Heritage Armor.jpg|Zandalari trolls
Vulpera Heritage Armor.jpg|Vulpera
;Official art
Blizzcon - Kul Tiran 1.jpg|Kul Tirans as shown at BlizzCon 2017
Nayoung Wooh.jpg|Void elf, Lightforged, nightborne, and Highmountain
Welcome Back Weekend.jpg|Highmountain Tauren vs. Void Elf
New Allied Races Ready to Recruit.jpg|Dark Iron vs. Mag'har
Welcome Back Weekend 2.jpg|Zandalari vs. Kul Tiran
Zandalari and Kul Tiran by Frenone.jpg|Kul Tiran vs. Zandalari
Vulpera vs Mechagnome.jpg|Vulpera vs. mechagnome
Battle for Azeroth - Concepts - Feral Druids.jpg|Concept art for Zandalari and Kul Tiran cat forms
==Patch changes==
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*
*
*
*
==References==
 
Category:Game terms
Category:Legion
Category:Battle for Azeroth
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