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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBlizzCon 2009: Cataclysm race-class combo matrix online
by Michael Sacco 
Aug 21st 2009 at 4:30PM
With official word that there will be new race-class combinations in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Blizzard has posted the official matrix of what races will have what classes available to them. Big surprises so far include Worgen Druid and Goblin Shaman!
The full matrix is above, and the text list below. All of our previous speculation was correct, so this should give rerollers plenty of opportunity to experience the new, shattered realm of Azeroth!
- Human Hunter
- Orc Mage
- Night Elf Mage
- Blood Elf Warrior
- Dwarf Shaman
- Dwarf Mage
- Undead Hunter
- Tauren Paladin
- Tauren Priest
- Gnome Priest
- Troll Druid
BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!Filed under: Human, Night Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Orcs, Tauren, Undead, Trolls, Draenei, Blood Elves, BlizzCon, Cataclysm, Worgen, Goblin
Reader Comments (Page 8 of 9)
Bob Aug 22nd 2009 3:56PM
How bovines Batman! Tauren pallies & priests!
Amaxe Aug 22nd 2009 1:15AM
Looking this over, its basically WoW: The Next Generation. Blizz wants to shore up their customer base and this will do it, with the LoL Lore being covered over with "everything was changed by the cataclysm."
So they're reworking the world so you can fly, redoing the quests, changing the races around. We'll probably have all new balance issues, with classes and races going through OP and nerf stages.
It may be a good game. Time will tell. However it won't be the WoW we've had a love-hate relationship with. I think the resemblances will be superficial to the old WoW
I know LK turned out to be better than it was originally described as and I hope this will be the case here too... as it really doesn't sound good so far.
I'll give it a try of course, but for once I feel ambivalent about a new expansion instead of excited.
I sure hope I'm wrong about my fears it will suck.
hellraisor03 Aug 22nd 2009 2:27AM
Is blizzard going to make like a race change? like pay 30 bucks and change from tauren hunter to undead hunter? I'm willing to pay any amount, I love undead a hunter :( and I'm a tauren :(
yoshinori Aug 22nd 2009 8:02AM
omg i does this mean i have to reroll and play a be warrior? can i switch from my orc?
Ilnara Aug 22nd 2009 11:06AM
They were the high elves, or the Highborne before the NE's took the stage however - Night Elf lore has them swearing off the arcane because of what the Highborne did with the power, The Highborne then became the Blood Elves. If you'll notice the various Elven Races around the Alliance associated with the Magus are all 'high elves' former members of the Highborne or Blood Elven defectors. Not true Night Elves.
But I get it.. this was simply a consolation move that little to do with Lore, and more to do with player choice. Because frankly, If I could have rolled an Elven Mage back in Vanilla, I would have.
Cambell Aug 22nd 2009 8:13PM
This is VERY cool. Some things that dont make sense in the lore is the tauren pally and nelf mage. Part from that, all good. :)
ingridgilbert Aug 22nd 2009 9:56PM
..
Fer Aug 24th 2009 12:17PM
All classes can be picked as Goblin, exept for paladin and druid.
All classes can be picked as Worgen, exept for paladin and shaman.
cv Aug 24th 2009 11:18AM
I'm surprised I'm the first one to mention this, but has anyone else noticed that with the new expansion, Taurens are now the only race in the game with all four healing classes AND all four tanking classes?
Weird? Unbalanced? Awesome?
LostOne Aug 24th 2009 12:20PM
Picture needs to be bigger, or clickable to go to a bigger version.
Fer Aug 25th 2009 2:19AM
All racials will be revamped aswell;
Tauren Paladin with Warstomp and Hammer of justice? NO WAY
Check out for all details at: @$^%^**&^%
Nathanael Aug 24th 2009 3:50PM
Something for all to note:
Pre-Linked Recruit-a-Friend accounts + Heirloom plate shoulders, chest and 2H weap + Expansion + Mass quantities of Red Bull = Server First Goblin Warrior
EPIC.
Xues Aug 24th 2009 4:22PM
I was going to say something about the 4 shammys for the horde(Orc, Troll, Cow, Goblin) and only two(Dwarf and Goat) for the alliance, but it is almost the same as paladins. The alliance has three races that can be paladins (human, dwarf, goats) and the horde has two(Belfs and now Cows).
If anything, I can see Blizz adding another Paladin race for the Alliance (Worgen maybe? Paladins that were affected by the curse?) to make it 45 combos for each side.
Alex S Aug 25th 2009 7:22AM
I might be against the current here and by all mean am no RP player, but having some D&D past I cannot be untouched by the paradox of some race/class combos. Of course I understand it's all for the sake of what is, after all, just a game.
Orc mages i understand, but I never liked the rogues. I mean, just the Orc smell should be enough to break stealth, not taking into account their wild and frenzy behaviour...
Tauren should not be pallys! Or priests! they have a unique culture and belief system that can't be brought to the same lvl as the human one. Its just different, should have left it like this. Priesthood and Paladins (holy knights essentially) originate from human civillization from where Taurens could never be influenced from.
Ahh Trolls... I might be able to get the druid since they r so much into natural world, and i like the shamans, but i never understood how the small minded bold Trolls became Mages and how they got to study the arcana...
Blood Elfs have a very diverse origin and may be the best excused race for having so many classes. Warrior is not bad but was it really necessary, since they r so much based in spiritualism?
Goblins! Grrr, another stupid small-minded Mage!
Humans get many classes and rightfully. Hunter should exist for humans as well...
Dwarfs used to be my favourite race in D&D, but I never got their affiliation with hunting... They always lived underground to really get to know the wild and never had good relationships with the animal world. I always rember 'Flintlocke' when thinking of a dwarf hunter. Mages?! Really? The dumbest Allie race a Mage? And I also think Shamanistic is too element/nature oriented for the technocratic dwarves...
Gnomes and draenei have all they can have but I agree with some other comments here that they shouldn't be locks...
Worgen are supposed to be ex-mindless beasts that got their sanity but kept their beastial appearance. But is this sanity enough to make them a studied Intelligent Mage, a spiritual Priest or a dark arts oriented Warlock??!!
All these are just my opinion and I mean to offend nothing, I just believe sometimes realism could help the game and wouldn't harm so much to make some race/class combos impossible.
Nawaf Sep 6th 2009 12:58AM
I have to disagree with you Alex. First of all, Orc mages don't make any sense at all.
As for Tauren Priests and Paladins, have you heard about the new quest in Thunder Bluff? two Taurens talk about how unbalanced the druids are for relating only to Mi'sha (Moon), while they should also relate to A'she (Sun). Who can find the relationship between the sun and the light?
As for BE warriors, they had warriors already, but it's just that blizz thought they had too many classes, so they covered it by saying that they all became Blood Knights, but we know not ALL of them went on that path. Good thing they raised the class variety from 7 to 8. By the way, BEs aren't based on spiritualism, they're magic obsessed.
Goblins aren't stupid and small minded! they're one of the smartest races in Azeroth.
going on to Dwarves, they make total sense as hunters, haven't you seen the Explorers League? Mages can make sense too, dark iron dwarves have mages, actually, their leader is a mage. If you can't see how dwarf shamans don't fit, than you really should go to The Hinterlands, Wildhammer Dwarves are mostly shamans. even without the Wildhammers, dwarves already have connections with the earth, they're transformed earthen.
As for the Worgens, I guess what you said about them was a question, so I will answer you: Yes. When they where cured from the curse, they got back their memory, so they remember all their knowledge from the time when they where Gilneas humans.
Westirotha Aug 29th 2009 1:13PM
I still want to see a Troll Warlock. They're already mages and they're dark and evil, perfect
Bren Aug 28th 2009 1:08PM
The expansion is called "Cataclysm" - anyone taken the time to look it up?
1. any violent upheaval, esp. one of a social or political nature.
2. Physical Geography. a sudden and violent physical action producing changes in the earth's surface.
Violent social upheaval - in light of this, none of the new race/class combos are strange in the slightest. The societies, which have been in contact with each other for some time now have learned from and changed each other:
BE warriors, who were excluded because all BEs were magic addicts (and warriors don't use mana or focus - both considered "magical" by blizz), are now beacons of hope for their race - the addiction to the arcane can be beaten!
Taurens - who have worked so hard for the Argents, have learned new belief systems and brought a new "religion" back to Thunder Bluff - instant pallies and priests.
Undead hunters: The reason for not having them before - too stinky - was moronic anyway. But in lore terms, they have re-discovered their human thirst for the hunt! Perhaps this is the beginning of their path to redemption.
Changes in the Earth's surface - hence the re-vamp of the old world.
If anything, I think they are being too conservative - Allow more race/class combos! Undead Paladin would not only be cool, it's be easily justified in game. Maybe he was a paladin before he died. Fought as a warrior, until the cataclysm, then re-discovered his connection to the light. With that in mind, I'd even support the calls for gnome pallies - and I hate gnomes!
To those who say this would simply make the game more homogeneous, I disagree - More choices will make the game more varied, not less. Seeing a dwarf start casting, and actually have to think about whether you're about to hit a priest or a mage will be a fun new challenge in PvP too.
Finally, to Alex S above me, I feel I must correct you on several points:
First: "Smell" is not a reason someone cannot sneak up on you. Besides, the orcs are not so barbaric that they can't wash. They were mindless under Sargeras, not anymore.
Second: Trolls are nothing close to small-minded. They are perhaps the most ancient race on the face of Azeroth, and are cunning and witty. Don't let the accent fool you into thinking that they are slow. Don't sweat it mon, we gots da mages!
Third: Goblins aren't stupid or small-minded either! They are highly intelligent and crafty merchants. In fact, they are probably the most sophisticated and canny merchants in the world! Mages aren't a big step from there.
Fourth: Why do you think everyone is dumb?!? Dwarves are craftsmen, who take pride in their work. Stubborn, maybe, but not stupid! The mages are a stretch for dwarves, lore-wise. But as I have already said, the cataclysm is CHANGING things.
Fifth: Worgen used to be humans. If anything, when they recovered their minds from Arugal, they would have resumed their old (human) occupations, within the limits the curse imposed on them. Hence, no pallies, but the druids crop up instead.
Sixth: None of the playable races are stupid! If they were, they'd be non-playable races like quillboars or raptors.
kellie_ltoag Sep 1st 2009 9:11PM
So, why doesn't the Draenei get any new classes? The Blood Elf got a new one and they were introduced at the same time as the Draenei. WTF?!?! A Draenei Rogue would be awesome! Or even a Draenei Druid!
Eilethen Sep 5th 2009 5:57AM
I don't really get the QQing about Draenei not getting another class. They are already one of the most versatile races out there. Excluding DK's, because I hate them, Draenei could be 3 different types of healers and 2 different types of tanks. Blood Elves could only be 2 healers and ONE tank. I love the warrior addition to Blood Elves. Another thing, who really cares if the Alliance only have 44 combinations and the Horde have one piddly more combination than them? Are you telling me you're really going to go out and make all 44 of those combinations and then feel gypped because you can't make one more? If so, I really pity you =/ It's nice to see the Horde get even a slight, really inconsequential leg up considering the Alliance are going to outnumber us even more now because of the Worgen.
The combination that still boggles me the most is dwarf shaman...I don't really see them in tune with the elements.
One thing I'd like to see added with the e-pac is the return of off-tank shamans!
Alex S Sep 8th 2009 9:32AM
If people like the idea that everybody is justified to be anything thats fine. I just like the game to be more race oriented. When i say dumb i dont mean Ogre-dumb! I just mean they have less intelligence than the other races. Goblins aren't though, this is my bad, probably affected by D&D s... However, as u can see from their base stats when u create a character, Tauren and Trolls are the less intelligent ones, followed by Orcs and Dwarves are the less intelligent Alliance race! I just hate to reach a point where races will just be there for cosmetic reasons instead of affecting the gameplay. I used to be a hunter in the old days and this already happened with the pets. Now a bear is as fast as a cat and a crab as strong as a gorilla! I guess since noone minds its a matter of time before it happens with the players too.