Want to unlock the Nightborne Allied Race in World of Warcraft Dragonflight? You’re probably thinking, “This is going to be a walk in the park, right?” Well… sort of. It’s more like a walk through Suramar, which can feel like a park if that park is crawling with demons and everything wants to kill you. But don’t worry, this guide has got you covered.
Who are the Nightborne in World of Warcraft?
The Nightborne started as the Night Elves of Suramar—pretty ordinary Elves until they decided to do something spectacularly dangerous: they started drinking from the Nightwell. The Nightwell, by the way, is like the magical equivalent of a double espresso shot—only instead of keeping you awake, it slowly changes you into something entirely different.
They became so reliant on it that after 10,000 years behind a magical barrier, they turned into the Nightborne. Think Night Elves but with arcane energy running through their veins. And much fancier outfits. Their story involves betrayals, the Burning Legion, and eventually breaking free to join the Horde.
How to Unlock Nightborne in WoW Dragonflight
There is a series of tasks involved to unlock any Allied Race in World of Warcraft including achievements, questlines, and reputations and so this Nightborne demands the same. Here’s how to get this race:
Getting to Suramar (aka Dalaran First)
Let’s start from the top before you get too excited about leveling your Nightborne character. You need to get yourself to New Dalaran in the Broken Isles. If you’re a seasoned player, teleport over using your Dalaran Hearthstone. But if you playing it for the first time, or perhaps just a little rusty, go to the portal room in Orgrimmar, get through the portal to Azsuna, and fly your way to Dalaran from there.
Once you’ve made your entrance into Dalaran, there’s something important: you need to be at least level 45 to continue the next steps. If you are still getting behind at the lower level, there is progress involved before you can start this challenge to unlock the Nightborne.
Triggering Uniting the Isles
The next involves picking up the “Uniting the Isles” quest from Khadgar. It requires you to have a Friendly reputation with the major Legion factions, and here’s a pro tip: if you’ve already done this on another character, it’s account-bound, so you can turn it in immediately. If not, it’s time to make some new friends.
You’ll need to roam the Broken Isles, complete quests in each zone, and unlock World Quests. While this isn’t directly tied to unlocking the Nightborne, it will help later when Suramar starts demanding more from you. Moreover, you’ll be hanging out in Suramar often, and who wouldn’t want to knock out some World Quests while they’re there?
Completing Nightfallen, But Not Forgotten Achievement
To unlock the Nightborne, you’ll need to get cozy with the Nightfallen faction in Suramar, starting with Thalyssra. She’s like that friend who offers you tea and conspiracy theories about magical corruption—it’s a vibe.
You need to work your way through the “Nightfallen, But Not Forgotten” storyline; it is a mandatory step. Just keep chugging along with the quests. Suramar’s beautiful but tricky to navigate—like a high-level escape room, except the puzzles involve dealing with a bunch of withered Elves.
Good Suramaritan Achievement
Before you can start the Insurrection achievement, you’ve got to be a “Good Suramaritan.” This is the achievement you need to complete to move forward. The quests are divided into multiple story arcs, and it’s necessary to finish up through “A Change of Seasons” to unlock Insurrection.
Not all quests here are strictly necessary to unlock the Nightborne, but you can complete them if you don’t mind spending more time here—and let’s be honest, if you’re still here, you probably are—you might as well finish the whole thing.
Insurrection (Finally Taking Back Suramar)
The Insurrection progression is your way to unlocking the World of Warcraft Nightborne Allied Race, and it involves helping Thalyssra and her crew kick the Burning Legion out of Suramar. There’s a lot of fighting, a lot of planning, and a whole lot of finally finishing what you started.
This part of the storyline takes you all over Suramar City, but don’t let the demons or lengthy questline wear you down—you’re almost there. You’ll finish with an achievement and head back to Orgrimmar for the recruitment process.
Unlocking the Nightborne
After completing the Insurrection part, it’s time to return to the Horde Embassy in Orgrimmar. Here, you’ll pick up the final series of recruitment missions. There is nothing too serious going to happen here, mostly are cutscenes and dialogues that tie up the storyline. There’s a small encounter, but nothing you can’t handle at this point.
After finishing the required tasks, the Nightborne will be added to your inventory. You can now build characters in this race of WoW and creating the first characters will give you Shal’dorei Tabard.
What’s in It for You?
Unlocking the Nightborne isn’t only about having another nice race to play. You also get the Nightborne Manasaber mount—because who wouldn’t want to ride around on a glowing cat that looks like it could vaporize someone?
And if you level your Nightborne from 20 to 50 without boosts, you’ll receive a Heritage Armor set. It’s all the grace and elegance of Suramar wrapped up in one stylish outfit. Fashion in WoW is an endgame, after all.
Racial Traits and Class Options
- Cantrips: Need to mail something? No need to run to a mailbox. Nightborne can conjure Eldritch Grimoire up for 1.5 minutes.
- Arcane Pulse: Deals Arcane damage and slows down enemies’ pace by 50% for 12 seconds. Useful in a pinch!
- Magical Affinity: Deal 1% more magical damage. It may sound small, but over time, that’s going to add up.
- Ancient History: Your inscription skill gets a 15% boost. So, if writing mystical scrolls is your thing, you’re all set.
When it comes to classes, Nightborne has several. You can pick from Death Knight, Hunter, Mage, Monk, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, and Warrior. It is quite a versatile lineup that will definitely make you a powerful force to deal with the opponents.
