Alliance · RACE GUIDE
Night Elf
Night Elves combine stationary concealment with a timed critical-chance boost, passive movement and dodge, and faster travel as a Wisp after death. Shadowmeld has different cooldown behavior in combat, so its exact description matters more than assumptions from another version of WoW.
THE RACE BEHIND THE TOOLKIT
Meet Night Elf
An ancient empire's magical catastrophe drove the Night Elves into forest seclusion. The Burning Legion's return brought them back into the wider world.
Their current racials cover different moments of play: Shadowmeld conceals a stationary character, Elune's Light opens a critical-chance window, and Quickness adds dodge and movement. Wisp Spirit applies after death, rather than acting as a defensive cooldown while alive.
What this means while you play
- Shadowmeld ends when you move. The export describes in-combat use as discouraging enemies from attacking and increasing the cooldown to two minutes; it does not establish a guaranteed combat or threat reset.
- Elune's Light adds ten percentage points of spell-and-attack critical chance for 15 seconds. It is a short active window on a three-minute cooldown, not a permanent bonus.
- Quickness provides passive movement and dodge; Rogues and Druids also get its Stealth-detection benefit. Wisp Spirit speeds movement after death, without changing resurrection or recovery rules in its description.
Practical interpretation of the listed abilities; this is not a damage ranking.
THE ABILITIES YOU BRING WITH YOU
Racial abilities
Inspect an icon for its full text. Open History to inspect earlier official changes.
Instant, 10 sec cooldown. Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Lasts until cancelled or upon moving. Using this ability in combat discourages enemies from attacking you, but increases the cooldown to 2 min.
Dodge chance increased by 1% and movement speed increased by 2%. Night Elf Rogues and Druids are harder to detect in Stealth as if they were 1 level higher. The movement speed increase stacks with other movement speed increases.
History
Official update · 2026-10-15 Quickness: Movement speed increase now stacks with other movement speed increases. Source ↗
Earlier export text
Dodge chance increased by 1% and movement speed increased by 2%. Night Elf Rogues and Druids are harder to detect in Stealth as if they were 1 level higher.
Historical snapshot; the official update above takes precedence.
Transform into a wisp upon death, increasing movement speed by 75%.
Instant, 3 min cooldown. Increases your critical strike chance with all spells and attacks by 10% for 15 sec.
BUILD YOUR CHARACTER
Choose a class
The class combinations recorded for Night Elf in the Forever export.
Need help choosing a playstyle? Find your class →
CLASSIC → FOREVER
What changed?
Shadowmeld
Classic reference- Classic reference
- 10 sec cooldown
- Forever
- 10 sec / 2 min in combat
Classic reference Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Lasts until cancelled or upon moving. Night Elf Rogues and Druids with Shadowmeld are more difficult to detect while stealthed or prowling.
Forever Instant, 10 sec cooldown. Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Lasts until cancelled or upon moving. Using this ability in combat discourages enemies from attacking you, but increases the cooldown to 2 min.
Quickness
Classic reference- Classic reference
- Passive
- Forever
- Passive
Classic reference Dodge chance increased by 1%.
Forever Dodge chance increased by 1% and movement speed increased by 2%. Night Elf Rogues and Druids are harder to detect in Stealth as if they were 1 level higher. The movement speed increase stacks with other movement speed increases.
Wisp Spirit
Classic reference- Classic reference
- Passive
- Forever
- Passive
Classic reference Transform into a wisp upon death, increasing speed by 50%.
Forever Transform into a wisp upon death, increasing movement speed by 75%.
Elune's Light
unknown- Classic reference
- Timing not recorded
- Forever
- 3 min cooldown
No Classic starting racial record in this reference.
Forever Instant, 3 min cooldown. Increases your critical strike chance with all spells and attacks by 10% for 15 sec.
PRIEST ONLY
A second racial spellbook
These spells belong to Priests of this race. Other classes do not receive them.
Spell text from the beta client. Which race gets which spell was first seen in the demo.
Elune's Grace
3% of base mana, Instant, 5 min cooldown. Reduces the chance you'll be hit by melee and ranged attacks by 50% for 15 sec or until you are missed 3 times.
Recorded ranks & learning levels
- Class ability · level 203% of base mana · Instant · 5 min cooldown
Reduces the chance you'll be hit by melee and ranged attacks by 50% for 15 sec or until you are missed 3 times.
Reviewed class reference 2026-10-30; server hotfixes through 2026-10-30. Talents Forever, CC BY 4.0.
Starshards
350 Mana, 30 yd range, Channeled, 30 sec cooldown. Rains starshards down on the enemy target's head, causing 1,800 Arcane damage over 6 sec.
Recorded ranks & learning levels
- Rank 1 · level 1050 Mana · 30 yd range · Channeled · 30 sec cooldown
Rains starshards down on the enemy target's head, causing 162 Arcane damage over 6 sec.
Reviewed class reference 2026-10-30; server hotfixes through 2026-10-30. Talents Forever, CC BY 4.0. - Rank 2 · level 1885 Mana · 30 yd range · Channeled · 30 sec cooldown
Rains starshards down on the enemy target's head, causing 300 Arcane damage over 6 sec.
Reviewed class reference 2026-10-30; server hotfixes through 2026-10-30. Talents Forever, CC BY 4.0. - Rank 3 · level 26140 Mana · 30 yd range · Channeled · 30 sec cooldown
Rains starshards down on the enemy target's head, causing 528 Arcane damage over 6 sec.
Reviewed class reference 2026-10-30; server hotfixes through 2026-10-30. Talents Forever, CC BY 4.0. - Rank 4 · level 34190 Mana · 30 yd range · Channeled · 30 sec cooldown
Rains starshards down on the enemy target's head, causing 762 Arcane damage over 6 sec.
Reviewed class reference 2026-10-30; server hotfixes through 2026-10-30. Talents Forever, CC BY 4.0. - Rank 5 · level 42245 Mana · 30 yd range · Channeled · 30 sec cooldown
Rains starshards down on the enemy target's head, causing 1,068 Arcane damage over 6 sec.
Reviewed class reference 2026-10-30; server hotfixes through 2026-10-30. Talents Forever, CC BY 4.0. - Rank 6 · level 50300 Mana · 30 yd range · Channeled · 30 sec cooldown
Rains starshards down on the enemy target's head, causing 1,440 Arcane damage over 6 sec.
Reviewed class reference 2026-10-30; server hotfixes through 2026-10-30. Talents Forever, CC BY 4.0. - Rank 7 · level 58350 Mana · 30 yd range · Channeled · 30 sec cooldown
Rains starshards down on the enemy target's head, causing 1,800 Arcane damage over 6 sec.
Reviewed class reference 2026-10-30; server hotfixes through 2026-10-30. Talents Forever, CC BY 4.0.