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Racials
This page covers racial abilities and passive traits relevant to Hunters in World of Warcraft: Forever.
Hunter races in Forever:
- Human
- Dwarf
- Night Elf
- High Order Skyborne
- Orc
- Tauren
- Troll
- Windshaper Skyborne
Human Hunters and both Skyborne factions can be Hunters.
Gnomes and Undead cannot currently be Hunters.
| Race | Racial | Hunter Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Human | Ruthless | +1% Crit |
| Dwarf | Artisan's Precision | +1% Hit |
| Dwarf | Big Game Hunter | +5% damage vs Beasts |
| Night Elf | Elune's Light | +10% Crit for 15 sec |
| High Order Skyborne | Wind Blessed | +2% Haste |
| High Order Skyborne | Elemental Insight | +5% damage vs Elementals |
| Orc | Command | +5% Hunter pet damage |
| Orc | Blood Fury | +10% Attack Power and Spell Power for 15 sec |
| Troll | Berserking | +10% attack and casting speed for 15 sec |
| Troll | Beast Slaying | +5% damage vs Beasts |
| Windshaper Skyborne | Wind Blessed | +2% Haste |
| Windshaper Skyborne | Elemental Insight | +5% damage vs Elementals |
| Race | Racial | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Human | Will to Survive | Removes all Stuns |
| Dwarf | Stoneform | Removes Bleed, Poison, Disease; -10% Physical damage |
| Night Elf | Quickness | +2% movement speed, +1% Dodge |
| Night Elf | Shadowmeld | Combat threat-disruption utility |
| Tauren | Plainsrunning | Ramping movement speed up to +60% |
| Tauren | Endurance | +5% Health |
| Tauren | War Stomp | 2 sec AoE Stun |
| Troll | Rapid Regeneration | Restores 50% Health over 6 sec |
| Windshaper Skyborne | Skysight | +15% movement speed, or +30% while Charged |
Critical Strike Chance = +1%
Ruthless increases critical strike chance with all spells and attacks by 1%.
This applies to Hunter ranged and melee attacks.
Spirit = +10%
Increases Spirit by 10%.
For Hunters, Spirit primarily affects regeneration rather than direct damage.
Instantly removes all Stun effects.
Cooldown:
3 minutes
This removes Stuns only and is not a general crowd-control removal.
Dramatically increases Stealth detection.
Duration:
20 sec
Cooldown:
3 minutes
Primarily useful against:
- Rogues
- Druids
- Shadowmeld
- other Stealth effects
Hit Chance = +1%
Increases chance to hit with all spells and attacks by 1%.
For Hunters, this directly reduces the amount of Hit required from gear.
See Ranged Attack Table.
Damage vs Beasts = +5%
Increases damage dealt against Beast-type targets by 5%.
The value of this racial depends on the target's creature type.
Stoneform immediately removes:
- Bleeds
- Poisons
- Diseases
It also grants immunity to those effects and reduces Physical damage taken by:
10%
Duration:
8 sec
Cooldown:
3 minutes
Allows nearby treasure to appear on the minimap.
Duration:
Until cancelled
Dwarves also have a chance to find additional items in many treasure chests.
Whether Find Treasure can remain active simultaneously with Hunter tracking should be verified before documenting it as a confirmed mechanic.
Critical Strike Chance = +10%
Duration:
15 sec
Cooldown:
3 minutes
Elune's Light increases critical strike chance with all spells and attacks.
For Hunters, this is a direct offensive cooldown affecting ranged and melee attacks.
Dodge Chance = +1%
Movement Speed = +2%
The movement-speed increase stacks with other movement-speed bonuses.
For Hunters, this benefits:
- melee weaving
- dead-zone traversal
- kiting
- repositioning
See Melee Weaving and Anatomy of Range Checks.
Shadowmeld allows the Night Elf to enter a stealth-like state while stationary.
Moving cancels the effect.
Normal cooldown:
10 sec
Shadowmeld can also be used during combat.
When used during combat:
enemies are discouraged from attacking the Hunter
and its cooldown becomes:
2 minutes
Shadowmeld is not Feign Death and should not be assumed to use the same threat or combat-reset mechanics.
After death:
Ghost Movement Speed = +75%
This has no direct combat benefit but significantly shortens corpse runs.
High Order Skyborne are the Alliance Skyborne faction.
Hunter-relevant racials:
- Wind Blessed
- Elemental Insight
- Read Leyline
- Walk on Air
Melee, Ranged, and Spell Haste = +2%
This is a permanent passive Haste bonus.
For Hunters, ranged Haste affects:
- Auto Shot cast time
- ranged weapon cooldown
- applicable ranged cast times
See Shot Mechanics.
Damage vs Elementals = +5%
Increases damage dealt against Elemental-type targets by 5%.
Its value is encounter-dependent.
Cooldown:
2 minutes
Cast time:
2 sec
Read Leyline increases:
- Health regeneration
- Mana regeneration
Normal effect:
+50% regeneration for 15 sec
If used at a Ley Line, the Skyborne also becomes:
Attuned
Attuned lasts:
1 hour
While Attuned:
Read Leyline regeneration bonus = +100%
Attuned:
- persists through death
- is removed when entering a raid
Read Leyline cannot be used while Innervate is active.
Allows the Skyborne to glide downward while controlling movement direction.
Duration:
10 sec
Cooldown:
90 sec
This is primarily a traversal and mobility racial rather than a direct damage effect.
Hunter Pet Damage = +5%
Command increases damage dealt by Hunter and Warlock pets by 5%.
Attack Power and Spell Power = +10%
Duration:
15 sec
Cooldown:
2 minutes
Blood Fury is a direct offensive cooldown for Hunter attacks that scale with Attack Power.
Stun Duration = -20%
Hardiness reduces the duration of Stun effects.
Immediately removes:
- Curses
- Banes
It also reduces Magical damage taken by:
5%
Duration:
8 sec
Cooldown:
3 minutes
Plainsrunning increases movement speed while the Tauren continues moving.
+2% Movement Speed every 5 sec spent moving
Maximum:
+60% Movement Speed
Taking damage or standing still reduces the effect.
Plainsrunning does not increase mounted movement speed.
For Hunters, this can strongly affect:
- long repositioning
- kiting
- entering melee range
- exiting melee range
- dead-zone traversal
Because the effect ramps over time, it should not be treated as a permanent 60% movement-speed bonus.
Maximum Health = +5%
War Stomp stuns up to:
5 nearby enemies
Range:
8 yd
Stun duration:
2 sec
Cast time:
0.5 sec
Cooldown:
90 sec
For Hunters, the short-range AoE stun can create space to return to ranged distance.
Cultivation allows the Tauren to duplicate a nearby herb and gather the copy without requiring Herbalism skill.
Each herb can only be Cultivated once.
Cultivation also has a player-level requirement based on the Herbalism requirement of the herb.
Cooldown should be verified in-game before documenting it as confirmed reference data.
Cultivation has no direct combat effect.
Attack and Casting Speed = +10%
Duration:
15 sec
Cooldown:
3 minutes
Berserking provides a consistent 10% speed increase.
For Hunters, this directly increases attack speed.
Damage vs Beasts = +5%
Increases all damage dealt against Beast-type targets by 5%.
Restores:
50% of Maximum Health over 6 sec
Cooldown:
3 minutes
The effect is cancelled by:
- movement
- taking an action
- taking damage
This makes it primarily a controlled recovery tool rather than a normal combat heal.
Health Regeneration = +20%
Additionally:
20% of normal Health regeneration continues during combat
Windshaper Skyborne are the Horde Skyborne faction.
Hunter-relevant racials:
- Wind Blessed
- Elemental Insight
- Skysight
- Walk on Air
Melee, Ranged, and Spell Haste = +2%
This is a permanent passive Haste bonus.
For Hunters, ranged Haste directly affects the timing systems described in Shot Mechanics.
Damage vs Elementals = +5%
Increases damage dealt against Elemental-type targets by 5%.
Cooldown:
2 minutes
Cast time:
0.5 sec
Skysight increases movement speed by:
15%
Duration:
15 sec
If used at an Elemental Convergence, the Skyborne also becomes:
Charged
Charged lasts:
1 hour
While Charged:
Skysight Movement Speed = +30%
Charged:
- persists through death
- is removed when entering a raid
Allows the Skyborne to glide downward while controlling movement direction.
Duration:
10 sec
Cooldown:
90 sec
Both Skyborne factions share this racial.
Ruthless = +1% Crit
Artisan's Precision = +1% Hit
Big Game Hunter = +5% damage vs Beasts
Elune's Light = +10% Crit for 15 sec
Wind Blessed = +2% Haste
Elemental Insight = +5% damage vs Elementals
Command = +5% Hunter pet damage
Blood Fury = +10% Attack Power and Spell Power for 15 sec
Berserking = +10% attack and casting speed for 15 sec
Beast Slaying = +5% damage vs Beasts
Wind Blessed = +2% Haste
Elemental Insight = +5% damage vs Elementals
Movement speed is particularly valuable to Hunters because distance determines whether ranged or melee attacks are available.
Quickness = +2% Movement Speed
Permanent.
Plainsrunning = up to +60% Movement Speed
Builds over time while moving.
Skysight = +15% Movement Speed
or:
+30% while Charged
Temporary active effect.
Walk on Air
Provides controlled aerial movement.
Movement racials can reduce the travel portion of a melee weave.
See:
The benefit depends on whether the movement bonus is active during the inbound and outbound portions of the weave.
Current general offensive stat racials include:
+1% Crit
+1% Hit
These bonuses are not tied to a specific weapon type.
Several races gain damage against specific creature types.
Dwarf:
Big Game Hunter = +5% damage
Troll:
Beast Slaying = +5% damage
High Order Skyborne:
Elemental Insight = +5% damage
Windshaper Skyborne:
Elemental Insight = +5% damage
These bonuses are powerful when applicable but provide no benefit against other creature types.
Therefore:
Creature-Type Racial Value = Encounter Dependent
They should not be treated as universal damage modifiers.
When testing a racial, isolate the specific effect being measured.
Compare large attack samples:
Without Racial vs With Racial
Test against a target with a known Defense and level difference.
See Ranged Attack Table.
Measure:
- Auto Shot cast time
- ranged weapon cooldown
- applicable ability cast time
before and after the modifier.
See Shot Mechanics.
Use the same attack against targets with:
- identical or known Armor
- different creature types
Compare originalDamage where available.
See Hunter Testing Methodology.
Measure position over time using:
UnitPosition
Movement testing should distinguish between:
- permanent movement speed
- temporary movement speed
- ramping movement speed such as Plainsrunning