In WoW: Forever, Dwarves keep Stoneform, but it now reduces Physical damage taken while still purging Bleeds, Poisons and Diseases; Mace Specialization turns into critical strike chance for all spells and abilities while a mace is equipped; Find Treasure stacks with other tracking; and a new passive, Big Game Hunter, adds damage against Beasts. Dwarves can also roll Shaman for the first time. That is everything Blizzard has confirmed as of the BlizzCon Deep Dive on September 13, 2026.
Dwarf racials in Forever at a glance
| Racial | What it does in Forever | Change vs. original |
| Stoneform | Reduces Physical damage taken; removes Bleed, Poison and Disease effects | Was armor plus immunity to those effects; now a flat Physical mitigation window instead |
| Mace Specialization | Critical strike chance with all spells and abilities while a mace is equipped | Was melee-only weapon skill; now benefits casters and healers holding a mace |
| Find Treasure | Shows nearby treasure chests and stacks with other tracking | No longer overwrites Track Beasts, Find Herbs, Find Minerals and the like |
| Big Game Hunter | New passive: increased damage against Beasts | Brand new to Forever |
Blizzard's stated design rule is that every race gets two active and two passive racials. For Dwarves the actives are Stoneform and Find Treasure; the passives are Mace Specialization and Big Game Hunter. Exact percentages, durations and cooldowns were not published, so treat any specific number you see elsewhere as a guess until Blizzard prints it.
Skyborne Start: Zephras Isle 1–12The new Skyborne starting experience completed on your character.from 15 EURGet it doneHow does the new Stoneform actually change Dwarf play?
The old version was a niche button: a full immunity to Bleeds, Poisons and Diseases plus a small armor bump for a few seconds, mostly worth pressing against Rogues or a Warrior's Rend. The Forever version keeps the cleanse but replaces the immunity with a reduction to Physical damage taken. That makes it a genuine defensive cooldown for every Dwarf, not just a PvP trick — a Dwarf Warrior or Paladin tank gets a short damage-reduction window on a boss cleave, and a Dwarf Hunter or Rogue gets a pocket survival tool for pulls that go sideways.
One caveat: since the immunity is gone, a Rogue can reapply Poison the moment Stoneform ends. It cleanses, it does not prevent.
Why is Mace Specialization suddenly good for casters?
In the original game, Mace Specialization only raised weapon skill for melee swings, so a Dwarf Priest or Paladin healer got nothing from it. In Forever it grants critical strike chance with all spells and abilities as long as a mace is equipped. Priests, healing Paladins and now Dwarf Shamans all have plenty of mace options, so this quietly becomes one of the better throughput racials in the game for Alliance healers and hybrid casters. Melee Dwarves still benefit, but the bigger winner is anyone casting.
This lines up with the itemization overhaul: Forever merges spell, melee and ranged crit into one stat and gives caster weapons spell damage and healing, so a mace-wielding caster is a fully supported build rather than an oddity.
What is Big Game Hunter and who should care?
Big Game Hunter is the new Dwarf passive and it increases damage against Beasts. Beasts are everywhere in the leveling zones: Loch Modan bears, Wetlands crocolisks, Stranglethorn tigers, raptors and gorillas, Un'Goro devilsaurs. It is also relevant in the endgame — plenty of raid and dungeon trash carries the Beast tag. Dwarf Hunters are the thematic fit (the race's original cinematic hero was a Dwarf Hunter with a bear), but the bonus applies to every Dwarf class. The exact multiplier has not been announced.
Can Dwarves be Shamans in Forever, and what racials do they use?
Yes. Dwarf Shaman is one of the six new race/class combos alongside Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Orc Mage, Troll Warlock and Undead Paladin. A Dwarf Shaman uses the same four racials as any other Dwarf, and Mace Specialization is the standout — Shaman healers and casters commonly carry a mace, so the crit bonus is always live. Blizzard has not published Shaman class details for Forever, only the Paladin rework, so how the spec plays beyond the classic toolkit is still unknown.
Is Dwarf the best Alliance race in Forever now?
Nobody can rank races yet because the numbers behind each racial are not out, and every class was revamped. What can be said: Dwarves lost the hard immunity but gained a real defensive cooldown, a caster-friendly crit passive and a bonus against the single most common creature type in the game. For a Priest, Paladin or Shaman who plans to wield a mace, the case for Dwarf is stronger than it has ever been. Compare against Skyborne High Order (Read Ley Line: +100% health and mana regeneration) and Gnome (Expansive Mind raises maximum resource; Eureka! discounts and buffs the next three spells) before you lock in a name during reservation week, October 27 to November 3.
If you would rather spend launch week playing your Dwarf at 60 than grinding Loch Modan again, PewPewShop's vetted human players offer Forever leveling (1–30 from EUR 13) and a Launch-Ready Pack with 1–60, pre-raid gear and 500g from EUR 219 — pre-orders are open until November 4, with a full 1–60 quoted at two to three weeks.