Unlocking allied races feels like a daunting task in Shadowlands. Part of why it feels so hard is because each one requires you to revisit old content that you might not have even played. In this quick overview guide, I want to help you start by listing the unlock requirements, prerequisites, and starting point for each allied race.
If you get stuck on a particular race, I have also provided links to my complete guide for each allied race. I tried to cover every detail you need to get started in those guides, especially if you didn’t play in Legion or Battle for Azeroth.
Okay, without further ado, let’s look at each of the 10 allied races and how to unlock them in Shadowlands!
Dark Iron Dwarf
Faction
Alliance
Expansion
Battle for Azeroth
Unlock Requirements
- Complete the first part of the Alliance war campaign to earn Ready for War
- Do the recruitment questline that starts at the Stormwind Embassy
Prerequisites
You will need to reach level 35 to start the war campaign. After setting up a few footholds, you will need to level to 50 to continue and accept the dark iron dwarf recruitment quest.
Where to start
Pick up the war campaign quest on the boat in Boralus Harbor (70, 27) after reaching level 35+. It should be marked with an orange exclamation point to make it easier to find.
My Full Guide: Unlock Dark Iron Dwarves Fast in Shadowlands
Highmountain Tauren
Faction
Horde
Expansion
Legion
Unlock Requirements
- Earn the Ain’t No Mountain High Enough achievement by finishing the Highmountain storyline.
- Accept and complete the recruitment questline from the Orgrimmar Embassy
Prerequisites
You need to be level 10 to start the Highmountain story and level 45 for the recruitment quests.
Where to start
Accept The Lone Mountain from your Legion class hall. Suppose you haven’t unlocked the Legion class hall in Dalaran. In that case, you will need to accept the mission to “Fight the Legion” and visit the Broken Shore from the command board in Stormwind or Orgrimmar.
If you are brand new to World of Warcraft, you will need to reach level 50 on one character before playing through the Legion content.
My Full Guide: Unlock Highmountain Tauren Fast in Shadowlands
Kul Tiran Human
Faction
Alliance
Expansion
Battle for Azeroth
Unlock Requirements
- Complete the storyline in each Kul Tiras zone to earn Loremaster of Kul Tiras.
- Do part 1 of the Alliance War Campaign to earn Ready for War.
- Reach level 50+ on an Alliance character if you haven’t yet.
- Do The Pride of Kul Tiras storyline.
- Complete the A Nation United quest.
- Earn Tides of Vengeance by finishing the second part of the War Campaign.
- Do the recruitment quests that start at the Stormwind Embassy.
Prerequisites
You need to be level 10 to start questing in Kul Tiras and then level 50 for the whole war campaign & recruitment quest chain.
Where to start
Pick up The Tides of War from the hero’s call board in Stormwind. This will take you on a chain to start questing in Tiragarde Sound. You can begin questing in Drustvar at level 25 and Stormsong Valley at 35. If you want a complete walkthrough for each step in the process, make sure to check out the link to my guide below.
My Full Guide: Unlock Kul Tiran Humans Fast in Shadowlands
Lightforged Draenei
Faction
Alliance
Expansion
Legion
Unlock Requirements
- Get the You Are Now Prepared! achievement by finishing the Argus storyline
- Complete the 3 recruitment quests starting at the Stormwind Embassy
Prerequisites
Level 45+
Where to start
Reach level 45+ and accept the Uniting the Isles quest from Khadgar in Legion Dalaran. You can find him in the large round building called the Violet Citadel. This will take you on a chain to begin the Argus storyline.
If you played in Legion, you may have already unlocked Argus and won’t need to do the chain again. You can check if you have been to Argus by looking for a Lightforged Beacon at Krasus’ Landing in Dalaran (should show on your map).
My complete guide also walks through the process of getting to Dalaran if you are lost.
My Full Guide: Unlock Lightforged Draenei Fast in Shadowlands
Mag’har Orc
Faction
Horde
Expansion
Battle for Azeroth
Unlock Requirements
- Earn the Ready for War achievement by finishing the 1st part of the war campaign.
- Complete a series of recruitment quests starting at the Orgrimmar Embassy.
Prerequisites
You need to be level 35 to start the war campaign but level 50 to finish it and the Mag’har recruitment quests.
Where to start
Pick up the first war campaign quest from the boat in the Port of Zandalar (51, 100) after reaching level 35. After setting up 2 footholds, you will need to reach level 40 to move on. Once you have the 3rd foothold established, you need to level to 50 to continue.
My Full Guide: Unlock Mag’Har Orcs Fast in Shadowlands
Mechagnome
Faction
Alliance
Expansion
Battle for Azeroth
Unlock Requirements
- Complete the Mechagon storyline to earn The Mechagonian Threat.
- Do the Mechagnome recruitment quests that you get from the Stormwind Embassy.
Prerequisites
You need to be level 50 to unlock Mechagon Island and begin the required quests.
Where to start
Accept Fame Waits for Gnome One from Gila Crosswires in the Stormwind Embassy after level 50. This will allow you to unlock Mechagon Island and its storyline.
My Full Guide: Unlock Mechagnomes Fast in Shadowlands
Nightborne
Faction
Horde
Expansion
Legion
Unlock Requirements
- Earn the Insurrection achievement by finishing the Suramar storyline
- Complete 4 recruitment quests, which start at the Orgrimmar Embassy
Prerequisites
You need to be level 45 to begin questing in Suramar.
Where to start
The Insurrection storyline makes Nightborne one of the most confusing races to unlock. There are many branching questlines, and the Insurrection story doesn’t happen until you are knee-deep in Suramar’s story.
To begin, you will want to reach level 45 and then pick up Khadgar’s Discovery from the Violet Citadel in Legion Dalaran. This will take you through the introduction to Suramar.
While you are picking up Khadgar’s Discovery, you’ll also want to pick up Uniting the Isles from Khadgar. This will unlock world quests in Suramar which will be required for one of the Insurrection quest chains.
As an extra tip, I would highly recommend that you download the BtwQuests and BtwQuests: Legion addons. These are lifesavers because they add a book minimap icon that you can click to get a dungeon journal-style window for your quests.
It is really easy to use as well. For example, you can click on the Insurrection storyline under Suramar and then hover over each chapter to see the prerequisites. If you click through to a specific chapter, you will see a tree of each quest. You can then click on one to add a map pin showing where to pick it up.
Pretty neat, eh?
My Full Guide: Unlock Nightborne Fast in Shadowlands
Void Elf
Faction
Alliance
Expansion
Legion
Unlock Requirements
- Complete the Argus zone storyline, which awards the You Are Now Prepared! achievement.
- Do the recruitment quest chain starting at the Stormwind Embassy.
Prerequisites
You need to be level 45 to begin questing on Argus.
Where to start
Reach level 45+ and accept the Uniting the Isles quest from Khadgar in Legion Dalaran. You can find him in the large round building called the Violet Citadel. This will take you on a chain to begin the Argus storyline.
After unlocking Argus, you can return by taking the Lightforged Beacon that appears at Krasus’ Landing on the east side of Dalaran.
My Full Guide: Unlock Void Elves Fast in Shadowlands
Vulpera
Faction
Horde
Expansion
Battle for Azeroth
Unlock Requirements
- Finish the main Vul’dun zone storyline, which awards the Secrets in the Sands achievement.
- Complete the recruitment quest chain starting at the Orgrimmar Embassy.
Prerequisites
You need to be level 35 to begin the Vul’dun storyline.
Where to start
If your character is level 35+, you can check the scouting map up the west stairs in the main chamber of the Great Seal. This will give you the option to select Vol’dun as your questing zone and unlock a flight path for you.
My Full Guide: Unlock Vulpera Fast in Shadowlands
Zandalari Troll
Faction
Horde
Expansion
Battle for Azeroth
Unlock Requirements
- Finish the main storyline in all 3 Zandalar zones and 2 other story quests — The Blood Gate and A Bargain of Blood — to earn Zandalar Forever.
- Complete parts 1 and 2 of the Horde War Campaign to earn Ready for War and Tides of Vengeance.
- Doing the Zandalari Troll recruitment quests that start at the Orgrimmar Embassy.
Prerequisites
You need to be level 10 to begin questing in Zandalar and level 50 to complete the war campaign and recruitment quests.
Where to start
If you’ve never been to Zandalar, pick up Battle for Azeroth: Mission Statement from Sylvanas in Orgrimmar (Grommash Hold). This will take you on a short quest chain through Stormwind and eventually to Zandalar.
If you have been to Zandalar before and don’t remember how to get there, you can find a portal in the Orgrimmar portal room.
My Full Guide: Unlock Zandalari Troll Fast in Shadowlands
Final Thoughts
Unlocking allied races can be difficult and time-consuming. However, once you boil it down and use addons like BtwQuests, things get a little easier. In a future article, I am going to go over some of the most frequently asked questions players have about allied races, so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading!
Wow, this is an amazing guide! I’m definitely going to be trying out all of the Allied Races in Shadowlands!