When a World of Warcraft expansion is announced, one of the first big features fans start asking about is if they will be getting a new playable race. The Draenei and Blood Elves of The Burning Crusade, Worgen and Goblins of Cataclysm, Pandaren of Mists of Pandaria, and Dracthyr of Dragonflight all made for memorable additions to Azeroth. In Legion, World of Warcraft introduced the concept of the allied race, which expanded in Battle for Azeroth, The War Within, and now Midnight will do the same with the Haranir.
However, the more allied races are introduced, the more flaws appear within the system. Limited character customization options throttle their popularity, and prevent them from reaching their full potential. Hopefully, World of Warcraft will address these growing issues with the allied race system after the Haranir come out in World of Warcraft: Midnight.
The Problem With Allied Races in World of Warcraft
And Why the System Should Be Retired After WoW: Midnight
Allied races allowed Blizzard to introduce many new races at once by sharing skeletons and assets with existing ones, while having the factions join the Alliance and Horde in response to the expansion story. In most cases, especially early on, these options were “alternative versions” of existing character options, rather than completely new groups.
While most allied races fit this description, there are a few who do not. Indeed, Kul Tirans have a completely unique skeleton, and the Zandalari feature heavily-modified Night Elf/Troll skeletons. What’s more, Vulpera are completely unrelated to any existing race, despite using the basic Goblin skeleton with unique animations.
Thus, three categories of allied races can be identified: faction-swaps like the Void Elves and Nightborne, alternate skins for existing WoW options like the Lightforged Draenei and Highmountain Tauren, and completely new races like the Vulpera. Fitting all these options under one umbrella makes it hard to define what an allied race is supposed to be – and the problem only gets worse with every subsequent expansion.
All Allied Races in World of Warcraft
Allied Race
Expansion Introduced
Faction
Unique Skeleton
Unique Animations
Category
Void Elves
Legion
Alliance
X
X
Faction Swap
Lightforged Draenei
Legion
Alliance
X
X
Alt Skin
Nightborne
Legion
Horde
X
✔
Faction Swap
Highmountain Tauren
Legion
Horde
X
X
Alt Skin
Dark Iron Dwarves
Battle for Azeroth
Alliance
X
X
Alt Skin
Kul Tirans
Battle for Azeroth
Alliance
✔
✔
Alt Skin/New
Mechagnomes
Battle for Azeroth
Alliance
X
✔
Alt Skin
Mag’har Orcs
Battle for Azeroth
Horde
X
X
Alt Skin
Zandalari Trolls
Battle for Azeroth
Horde
X
✔
Alt Skin/New
Vulpera
Battle for Azeroth
Horde
X
✔
New
Earthen
The War Within
Both
X
✔
New/Faction Swap
Haranir
Midnight
Both
X
?
New
What’s more, the Darkfallen skin tone for Blood, Void, and Night Elves and Eredar skin and eye colors for the Draenei in World of Warcraft feel at least as substantial as an allied race, despite only being customization options unlocked via questlines. The fact that being a demonic Draenei or undead Elf evidently does not qualify as an allied race, while a Lightforged or Void-touched one does, only obfuscates what an allied race actually is even more.
A more elegant approach would be to separate these three categories completely. Alternate skin allied races like the Dark Iron Dwarves and Mag’har Orcs could simply be folded into their parent races, with customization options combined, and racial abilities selected individually. Unlock quests could be tied to their short Heritage Armor questlines, if not preserved as a prerequisite to use customization options, similar to the Eredar or Darkfallen Elves in WoW.
This method would also allow the options to be free to use via the Barber, rather than through a paid Race Change service or making a new character. It would also fill out allied race customization options, which are notoriously lacking.
Meanwhile, faction-swapped races like Void Elves, or original ones like the Haranir, would become normal races. Unlock requirements could still remain for an expansion or two, but would ideally be relaxed eventually as the lore becomes less current, and the races have mingled with the factions for a while.
The character customization overhaul from WoW: Shadowlands was one of the most critically-acclaimed aspects of the otherwise-controversial expansion. If World of Warcraft is willing to take a big swing, killing most of its allied races off in favor of these combined customization options could be a way to hit another home run after Midnight.
