Worgen are one of the two new playable races that will be available in the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion. They have the outward appearance of werewolves; lupine figures that walk on two legs. Worgen players are in fact former humans that have been infected by an ancient and malignant curse.

History

Long ago the Druids of the Scythe, a faction of the Night Elves, shapeshifted into Worgen. The transformation into these violent beasts eventually caused them to lose their minds and they were locked away by the other Druids. Their curse that transformed anyone that suffered their bite into one of them was locked away with them.

Tal'doren, ancient home of the Druids of the Scythe - Blackwald, Gilneas.

Many years later Velinde Starsong and Archmage Arugal, acting separately, attempted to summon the Worgen into Azeroth and succeeded. Velinde desired an army to fight against the demonic forces in Ashenvale and Felwood as Arugal wished for a force to fight against the Undead Scourge. Both were successful, but could not control the forces that they had summoned. Velinde disappeared, never to be heard from again. Archmage Arugal was driven mad with the guilt over what he had done and adopted the Worgen he had summoned as his children. The former Gilneas native settled in Shadowfang Keep to the North, but the infection has since moved South.

Faction Leadership

King Genn Greymane controls the Worgen faction. He is the King of Gilneas, and was the person who originally led Gilneas into isolationism with the construction of the massive Greymane Wall that blocked off Gilneas from the rest of the world.

King Greymane was one of the human leaders responsible for forming the Alliance of Lordaeron, but he chose to remain aloof during the Second War (the Warcraft II conflict between the Old Horde and the Alliance of Lordaeron). Gilneas did not become a truly active member of the Alliance until the disastrous aftermath of the Cataclysm event and subsequent invasion of Gilneas by the Forsaken.

King Genn Greymane alongside King Varian Wrynn

The Worgen and Gilneas are now strong members of the Alliance. King Genn Greymane can be found in game next to Varian Wrynn in Stormwind City.

Racial Abilities

The transformed Worgen of Gilneas have developed a resistance to the Worgen Curse and are able to maintain a vestige of their humanity. This gives them the enviable ability to channel the strength of their Worgen side without losing control of themselves. This gives Worgen players access to some truly formidable racial abilities:


- Reduces duration of Curses by 15%.

- Increases movement speed by 70% for 10s.

- Skinning skill increased by 15 and allows you to skin faster.

- Increases critical strike chance by 1%.

Two Forms (1.5 Second Cooldown) [Active] - Transforms you between Human and Worgen forms. You will revert to Worgen form in combat.

These are the most powerful racials by far that are currently available to Alliance players. Viciousness and Darkflight especially exemplify the new Cataclysm paradigm of strong, dynamic and, above all, useful racials.

Class Availability

As a Worgen you may select Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior, Druid, Hunter, or Death Knight to play. Due to the Darkflight racial, which is nearly as powerful as the Rogue ability "Sprint" Worgen will be an extremely attractive option for any of the available classes. They have extremely strong racials for both PvP and PvE settings.

Starting Attributes

  Base Mage Priest Rogue Warlock Warrior Druid Hunter DK
Strength 23 23 23 23 23 26 24 23 111
Agility 22 22 22 25 22 22 22 25 75
Stamina 20 20 20 21 21 22 20 21 99
Intellect 16 19 18 16 18 16 18 16 25
Spirit 19 21 22 19 21 19 21 20 41

Appearance

Cataclysm Worgen are highly customizable in terms of appearance. They generally appear as 6-7 foot tall standing wolves. Their skin color can be altered to a variety of different shades of grey and light brown, and their eyes can appear in all colors of the rainbow; red, yellow, orange, blue, purple, and green. The exception to that, of course, is the Worgen Death Knight that has the typical glowing blue eyes of the Death Knights.

The hairstyles available are about what you'd expect for a werewolf. Shaggy lionesque manes of  fur that are anything but well-groomed. The colors available are darkish tones of blue and grey with white and dark red also available.

Now head over to the Worgen starting guide to get a head start on your leveling experience!


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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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