Haranir Allied Race in WoW Midnight

So, The Midnight expansion will open up to us a new and bright Allied Race unlike anything World of Warcraft has ever added: the Haranir. These bioluminescent guardians of Harandar step out of legend and into our rosters, bringing a mix of wild aesthetics, unique racial abilities, and an origin story tied deeply to Azeroth’s roots.

Players are excited not just because the Haranir look amazing, but because they tie directly into the ongoing The War Within saga. Unlocking them means experiencing a lore-rich campaign that explores their culture, their connection to the World Trees, and the mysterious Lightbearer Orweyna who first introduced them. So they will definitely be interesting to see.

Who Are the Haranir in WoW?

The Haranir are an ancient race of hunters and guardians who live deep beneath the roots of Azeroth’s World Trees, in the glowing fungal jungles of Harandar. Unlike traditional city-building cultures, the Haranir grow and shape their world, living in harmony with massive fungi, moss bridges, and bioluminescent wildlife.

In Midnight, we finally met them properly! Their role is clear: protect the rootways, living networks of magical passageways tied to the lifeblood of Azeroth. For centuries, they’ve watched over this domain, guided by faith in a long-absent goddess. Now, as new threats emerge, some Haranir choose to step beyond their isolation, joining either Horde or Alliance to defend Azeroth’s future.

A key figure here is Orweyna, first introduced in The War Within. She’s a young Haranir with an unusually strong bond to her goddess, and her journey brings players into contact with her people. Through her, we see both the devotion and the internal conflict of a race torn between tradition and change.

Haranir culture revolves around vigilance, survival, and their bond with Harandar itself. Their glowing patterns, connection to rootways, and primal druidic ties make them something new, both visually and thematically, in the Warcraft universe.

How to Unlock the Haranir Allied Race

Just like the Earthen in The War Within, you’ll need to play through Midnight’s main campaign to gain their trust. And more details will be revealed to us with the expansion.

• Campaign Requirement: Completing the Midnight story chapters that introduce Harandar and the Haranir people.
• Progression Path: Unlocking them is tied to finishing major campaign arcs rather than side grinds, though expect a dedicated racial introduction questline after the main story (similar to how other Allied Races were unlocked).
• Availability: Based on Blizzard’s track record, the Haranir may not be playable immediately on launch day. They’ll likely unlock a few weeks into Midnight, once players progress far enough in the campaign to meet them properly.
• Faction Choice: Like the Earthen, the Haranir can join either Horde or Alliance, giving both sides access to their racials and classes.

WoW Haranir Playable Classes

Blizzard gave the Haranir a generous class spread, but with some lore-driven limits.

Available Classes:

• Druid
• Hunter
• Mage
• Monk
• Priest
• Rogue
• Shaman
• Warlock
• Warrior

Unavailable Classes: Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Paladin, Evoker.

Haranir Racials & Abilities

Blizzard hasn’t finalized all tooltips yet, but they’ve already outlined the core racials. Here’s what we know, and why it matters in actual gameplay:

Blizzard has now clarified the Haranir racial toolkit, and it’s built around consistent value. Every racial contributes to at least one of three areas that matter in Midnight: combat reliability, leveling efficiency, or long-term quality of life.

Active Racial Abilities

Thorn Bloom — Area Damage & Group Healing

Gameplay impact

• PvE: Very effective in stacked pulls (dungeons, raid add phases, open-world events). The healing component reduces pressure on healers during sustained AoE damage.
• PvP: Strong in battlegrounds and large fights where teams naturally stack. Adds pressure while keeping allies stable.
• This is not a replacement for a major healing cooldown, but it smooths incoming damage while contributing real DPS.
• Thorn Bloom rewards positioning and timing rather than reactionary use.

Rootwalking — Racial Fast Travel

Gameplay impact

• Functionally similar to the Dark Iron Dwarf Mole Machine
• Cuts down travel time while questing, gathering, or moving between content hubs
• Especially useful early in Midnight when flight paths and routing aren’t optimized
• Rootwalking is pure efficiency: less downtime, more time playing.

Passive Racial Bonuses

Lash Out — Critical Scaling Bonus

Gameplay impact

• DPS specs with high crit uptime
• Healers whose throughput scales directly with critical heals
• PvP builds that rely on short burst windows

The numbers look small, but they’re always active and stack naturally with gear.

Subterranean Predator — Enemy-Type Advantage

Gameplay impact

• Aberrations and Elementals are common enemy types in Harandar
• The XP bonus noticeably speeds up leveling and alt progression
• The damage bonus remains useful in outdoor content and select PvE encounters

This passive is strongest while leveling but never fully loses value.

One With Nature — Gathering Efficiency

Gameplay impact

• Higher chance to gather bonus materials
• Pays off throughout the entire expansion, not just at launch

This makes Haranir a strong choice for players who gather consistently.

Haranir Druid Forms in WoW Midnight

For many players, the first question after "what classes can they be?" is "what do their druid forms look like?" Since the Haranir are deeply tied to nature and the rootways of Harandar, it’s no surprise Blizzard gave them unique druid forms.

Confirmed & Spotted Forms

Feral Form (Bat):
Shown in the Midnight trailer, the Haranir feral form takes on a bat-like appearance with glowing accents. This fits their connection to Harandar’s nocturnal ecosystem and offers a refreshing change from the usual cat form. Expect bioluminescent wings and natural root-like textures.

Flight Form (Bat Variation):
During The War Within, Orweyna herself was seen transforming into a bat-like flight form. This strongly suggests Haranir druids will use bat variants for aerial travel, keeping their theme consistent across both ground and sky.

Speculated Forms

Guardian (Tank) Form Pangolin:
A pangolin creature was spotted during Blizzard’s Systems Panel, leading the community to speculate it may serve as the Haranir’s guardian form.

Haranir Customization & Heritage Armor

Customization Options

Haranir customization leans heavily into bioluminescence, natural growth, and modular details rather than simple recolors.

Model Differences

Even without armor, Haranir remains recognizable at a distance due to spines, posture, and glow effects. This is especially noticeable in PvP and large-scale PvE.

Heritage Armor

Haranir Heritage Armor follows the standard Allied Race structure, but the visual theme is much stronger than most previous sets.

Heritage Armor Variants

Visual Design Direction

The armor avoids traditional plate or cloth aesthetics. Instead, it looks grown rather than built, reinforcing Haranir identity even when fully geared.

Visual polish may still happen before release, but the fungal + root theme appears locked in.

Harandar: The Home of the Haranir

Harandar is the zone that defines the Haranir. A fungal jungle glowing with bioluminescence, sprawling beneath the roots of the World Trees.

Expect towering fungal spires, moss bridges, and glowing wildlife. The zone shifts between dense root canopies and open caverns, creating a layered, vertical map design. Harandar represents the ancient connection between Azeroth’s roots and the Haranir people. It’s where they’ve kept their vigil for ages, hoping for the return of their goddess.

Content:

• Delve - Den of Echoes: A space where players uncover ancient murals and myths.
• Dungeon - Blinding Vale: A full 5-man instance featuring facsimiles of Harandar’s deadliest creatures.
• Gameplay: This zone acts as both a leveling path and an endgame hub, much like Suramar or Nazjatar did in earlier expansions.

Final Thoughts

The Haranir bring a whole new identity into Azeroth. Their fungal, bioluminescent look is instantly recognizable, their lore ties them directly to the World Trees and Orweyna’s story, and their racials are practical enough to matter in real gameplay.

Gameplay-wise, they’re not fluff either. Their racials look strong in practice, especially the crit bonus and root ability, and druids finally get some of the most unique forms we’ve seen in years.