[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":279},["ShallowReactive",2],{"site-settings":3,"article:\u002Fresources\u002Fbriefings\u002Fforever-beta-census-race-class-combos":16},{"id":4,"description":5,"email":6,"extension":7,"footerNote":8,"legalNotice":9,"locale":10,"meta":11,"name":12,"stem":13,"url":14,"__hash__":15},"settings\u002Fsettings.yml","Compare World of Warcraft realms by expansion, region, population and play style.","listings@realmlist.org","yml","An independent realm directory.","Not affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment.","en",{},"RealmList","settings","https:\u002F\u002Frealmlist.org","QXaYspLUSxnrVumL6oFir6PInhNsRw-yJchxEYSe1AU",{"id":17,"title":18,"author":19,"body":20,"category":247,"description":248,"draft":249,"extension":250,"featured":249,"meta":251,"navigation":252,"path":253,"publishedAt":254,"seo":255,"sitemap":256,"sources":261,"stem":271,"tags":272,"updatedAt":277,"__hash__":278},"articles\u002Fresources\u002Fbriefings\u002Fforever-beta-census-race-class-combos.md","Forever Beta Census: 63% Of Undead Are Paladins And Shamans Own 46% Of Dwarves","RealmList Editorial",{"type":21,"value":22,"toc":238},"minimark",[23,34,40,60,63,68,74,83,86,90,96,99,103,106,146,149,153,156,162,168,174,184,188,199,221,232],[24,25,26],"p",{},[27,28],"img",{"alt":29,"height":30,"loading":31,"src":32,"width":33},"Editorial illustration: a stone census chamber where an oversized crowd of undead paladins in tarnished plate faces a small cluster of dwarves with totems planted at their feet, a surveyor comparing them from a counting table",1024,"lazy","https:\u002F\u002Fs3.nanosnail.com\u002Frealmlist\u002Farticles\u002Fbriefings\u002Fforever-beta-census-race-class-combos.png",1536,[24,35,36],{},[37,38,39],"em",{},"Original editorial illustration by RealmList, generated for this article. This is artwork, not game footage or official promotional material.",[24,41,42,43,46,47,51,52,55,56,59],{},"A player-run census of the ",[37,44,45],{},"World of Warcraft: Forever"," beta PvE realm, taken on ",[48,49,50],"strong",{},"September 20"," by Reddit user ",[48,53,54],{},"booclarke",", is the first hard data anyone has on what the beta population actually rolled. It counted ",[48,57,58],{},"level 20 characters only"," — the cap at the time — on the PvE ruleset, and the result is about as lopsided as the race reveals suggested it would be.",[24,61,62],{},"Three findings, in order of how badly they skew:",[64,65,67],"h2",{"id":66},"undead-paladins-are-a-population-not-a-novelty","Undead Paladins are a population, not a novelty",[24,69,70,71],{},"The census counted ",[48,72,73],{},"1,173 Undead characters on the PvE realm, and roughly 63% of them are Paladins.",[24,75,76,77,82],{},"That single line is the story. Undead Paladins are the most-discussed new combination in Forever — the one players have been asking for since 2005, and the one with an actual lore problem attached, since Holy Light is supposed to burn the Undead. It is also the combination that has been kept front and centre in every piece of marketing, from the BlizzCon reveal to the ",[78,79,81],"a",{"href":80},"\u002Fresources\u002Fbriefings\u002Fforever-races-class-combos-racial-traits","September 22 official breakdown of races, classes and racial traits",".",[24,84,85],{},"The consequence is that in the beta, \"Undead\" is now largely a synonym for \"Paladin.\" Any balance signal drawn from the Undead racial set is, in practice, being drawn from one class.",[64,87,89],{"id":88},"shamans-are-46-of-all-dwarves","Shamans are 46% of all Dwarves",[24,91,92,93],{},"The second novel combination in the reveal was Dwarf Shaman, and it shows the same shape: ",[48,94,95],{},"Shamans account for 46% of every Dwarf on the realm.",[24,97,98],{},"Just under half of an entire race's population sitting in a class it could never previously be is a very strong number for a combination that was announced eleven days before the census was taken.",[64,100,102],{"id":101},"the-skyborne-are-already-top-two-in-both-factions","The Skyborne are already top-two in both factions",[24,104,105],{},"The new playable race is doing what a new playable race is supposed to do:",[107,108,109,122],"table",{},[110,111,112],"thead",{},[113,114,115,119],"tr",{},[116,117,118],"th",{},"Faction",[116,120,121],{},"Ranking",[123,124,125,136],"tbody",{},[113,126,127,131],{},[128,129,130],"td",{},"Alliance",[128,132,133],{},[48,134,135],{},"High Order Skyborne are the second most popular Alliance race",[113,137,138,141],{},[128,139,140],{},"Horde",[128,142,143],{},[48,144,145],{},"Windshaper Skyborne are the second most popular Horde race",[24,147,148],{},"Being second rather than first is worth a moment's thought. A paid-access race arrived with weeks of buildup is not the most-played choice on either side, which suggests the Skyborne's cost and its split class identity (Windshaper on Horde as a Shaman, High Order on Alliance as a Mage) are both acting as filters. It is a real population, and not yet a dominant one.",[64,150,152],{"id":151},"what-this-data-can-and-cannot-tell-you","What this data can and cannot tell you",[24,154,155],{},"The census is a good measurement, and it is measuring the wrong thing if you read it as a preference poll.",[24,157,158,161],{},[48,159,160],{},"It measures novelty."," Every one of the three top results is a combination that did not exist in Classic. Players in a five-week beta are disproportionately rolling the things they came to test — a Forsaken Paladin at level 20 is a data point about curiosity, not about what someone will main for two years.",[24,163,164,167],{},[48,165,166],{},"It is capped and dated."," Level 20, on one ruleset, on one day. The cap rises to 30 later in the test (roughly the second week of October), and everything above level 20 — including whether these characters survive into the level 30 band — is invisible here.",[24,169,170,173],{},[48,171,172],{},"It cannot see the launch population."," Beta entry requires an upgrade purchase or an invite, so the sample is self-selected toward the committed. The November 4 population includes every subscriber, and subscription-funded players historically pick differently from pre-order buyers.",[24,175,176,179,180,183],{},[48,177,178],{},"It is already at risk of being overtaken."," As Icy Veins notes, the results could shift if the Mage's speculated ",[48,181,182],{},"Battle Mage"," direction turns into a real option. Any new playstyle has an outsized effect on a population this small and this new.",[64,185,187],{"id":186},"the-number-to-watch-next","The number to watch next",[24,189,190,191,194,195,198],{},"The interesting question is not ",[37,192,193],{},"which combination is biggest"," — that is answered — but ",[48,196,197],{},"whether 63% holds",". Three censuses would settle it:",[200,201,202,209,215],"ol",{},[203,204,205,208],"li",{},[48,206,207],{},"A level 30 census"," after the cap rises in October. Novelty characters that were abandoned before 30 will simply not appear, because the census only counts capped characters. That makes an above-cap census a filter for \"I actually committed to this.\"",[203,210,211,214],{},[48,212,213],{},"A realm-wide census on all three rulesets."," This one covers PvE only. The PvP ruleset has a different incentive structure and, if the reveal's racial-trait changes land the way they read on paper, a different racial-value ranking entirely.",[203,216,217,220],{},[48,218,219],{},"A launch-week census."," If Undead Paladins are still around 63% of Undead at launch, then a combination that did not exist before BlizzCon has become the default Undead experience inside two months — and the racial trait set attached to it becomes a live balance question rather than a flavour one.",[24,222,223,224,227,228,82],{},"For context on the reveal itself — the seven new combinations, the nine classes the Skyborne can be, and the full racial trait numbers — see our ",[78,225,226],{"href":80},"breakdown of the September 22 race and class article",". For what the beta population means for the live launch economy, see the ",[78,229,231],{"href":230},"\u002Fresources\u002Fguides\u002Fwow-forever-beta-access-guide","beta access guide",[233,234,235],"note",{},[24,236,237],{},"Accurate as of September 24, 2026. All population figures come from a player-organised census of level 20 characters on the Forever beta PvE ruleset taken on September 20, 2026, as reported by the census author on r\u002Fwowforever and summarised by Icy Veins. It is not an official Blizzard measurement, it covers one ruleset out of the available rulesets, and it counts capped characters only. Percentages are as reported by those sources and have not been independently reproduced. The beta ends October 21, 2026, all beta progress is wiped, and nothing in this data predicts the November 4, 2026 launch population.",{"title":239,"searchDepth":240,"depth":240,"links":241},"",2,[242,243,244,245,246],{"id":66,"depth":240,"text":67},{"id":88,"depth":240,"text":89},{"id":101,"depth":240,"text":102},{"id":151,"depth":240,"text":152},{"id":186,"depth":240,"text":187},"briefings","A player-run census of the Forever beta PvE realm on September 20 counted 1,173 Undead characters, about 63% of them Paladins, and found Shamans accounting for 46% of all Dwarves. It is the first hard data on which of the new race and class combinations players are actually rolling — and it is a measurement of novelty, not of preference.",false,"md",{},true,"\u002Fresources\u002Fbriefings\u002Fforever-beta-census-race-class-combos","2026-09-24",{"title":18,"description":248},{"loc":253,"images":257,"changefreq":259,"priority":260},[258],{"loc":32},"daily",0.7,[262,265,268],{"label":263,"url":264},"Icy Veins — WoW Forever's Beta Population Is Already Showing Some Clear Favorite Race\u002FClass Combos","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.icy-veins.com\u002Fwow-forever\u002Fnews\u002Fwow-forevers-beta-population-is-already-showing-some-clear-favorite-race-class-combos",{"label":266,"url":267},"Reddit r\u002Fwowforever — Beta PVE Census taken 20 Sep (by u\u002Fbooclarke)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.reddit.com\u002Fr\u002Fwowforever\u002Fcomments\u002F1wmk7ua\u002Fbeta_pve_census_taken_20_sep\u002F",{"label":269,"url":270},"Blizzard — Create the Hero You Want to Be in World of Warcraft: Forever","https:\u002F\u002Fworldofwarcraft.blizzard.com\u002Fen-us\u002Fnews\u002F24304075","resources\u002Fbriefings\u002Fforever-beta-census-race-class-combos",[273,274,275,276],"WoW Forever","Beta","Data","Race Class Combos",null,"O1flHgaW8gI4n0pcIEznXXhnr1FajFibS63Gv_a7dqg",1790212674800]