The Haranir are one of the most visually striking Allied Races to hit World of Warcraft. These ancient hunters hail from a hidden land, and their glowing bioluminescent features immediately set them apart from every other playable race in the game. Like the Earthen before them, the Haranir are a neutral race. You can pick Horde or Alliance when you create your character.
This guide covers everything about the Haranir: how to unlock them, their racial abilities, available classes, and the huge range of customization options waiting for you.
How to Unlock the Haranir
Campaign Requirements
You'll need to play through the Midnight expansion's main story to unlock the Haranir. The specific requirement is completing the Harandar questline, which runs through a core section of the Midnight campaign.
The unlock chain includes ten quests:
- The Frenzied March
- Cull and Burn
- Stem the Tides
- Expeditious Retreat
- A Last Resort
- Survive
- The Gift of Aln'hara
- Light Finds a Way
- Quelling the Frenzy
- Rise of the Haranir
Finishing "Rise of the Haranir" awards the achievement "Allied Race: Haranir," which permanently unlocks the race on your account.
Haranir Homeland: Harandar
The Haranir come from Harandar, a primordial fungal jungle that grew around the roots of the World Trees. Everything in this zone traces back to plant matter in some form. You'll find towering fungal structures, moss bridges spanning the terrain, and bioluminescent wildlife lighting up the underground landscape. The whole aesthetic reflects the deep bond between the Haranir and their fungal, root-bound home.
Instanced Content
Harandar isn't just a questing zone. It also houses the Den of Echoes delve for smaller group content and the Blinding Vale dungeon for standard five-player runs.
Available Classes and Roles
The Haranir can play nine different classes, giving you plenty of options for roles and playstyles.
Full Class Breakdown
Roles: Tank, Healer, Melee DPS, Ranged DPS
Druid gives you maximum flexibility since you can fill any role in the game. It's a great pick if you want to swap between tanking, healing, and damage without rolling alts.
Roles: Melee DPS, Ranged DPS
Hunters bring solid damage options with the choice between melee Survival or ranged Beast Mastery and Marksmanship. Haranir Hunters also start with a unique pet: a Saptor that matches the wildlife of their homeland.
Roles: Ranged DPS
Pure ranged magical damage across three specs. Pick this if you want to focus entirely on casting from a distance.
Roles: Tank, Healer, Melee DPS
Monks offer great versatility with tanking, healing, and melee damage all in one class. A strong choice if you like switching roles but prefer staying in melee range.
Roles: Healer, Ranged DPS
You can heal through Holy or Discipline, or deal ranged damage as Shadow. Good coverage for players who want support or caster damage options.
Roles: Melee DPS
Rogues focus purely on melee damage with three distinct specs. No tanking or healing here, just different approaches to stabbing things.
Roles: Healer, Melee DPS, Ranged DPS
Shamans cover healing, melee, and ranged damage. Haranir Shamans also get unique root-themed totems that look different from every other race.
Roles: Ranged DPS
Ranged damage with demonic themes across three specs focused on different flavors of dark magic and pet management.
Roles: Tank, Melee DPS
Tank through Protection or deal melee damage with Arms and Fury. This is the only plate class available to Haranir.
Racial Abilities Explained
The Haranir have a mix of active and passive racials that provide both utility and combat bonuses.
Active Abilities
This ability lets you perform a ritualistic dance that teleports you to a location called the Cradle. The real value comes when you're near World Tree roots within Harandar. Casting Rootwalking in these spots teleports you directly to that World Tree instead. Think of it like the Dark Iron Dwarf's Mole Machine, but themed around the Haranir's connection to roots. You can unlock additional travel destinations as you explore.
A combat ability that targets an area and does two things at once: it damages up to 8 enemies while healing up to 8 allies within 10 yards of the target location. The dual-purpose design makes Haranir solid in group content where enemies and allies are stacked up.
Passive Abilities
One With Nature provides two gathering bonuses wrapped into one passive. Your Herbalism skill goes up by 5, and you get 10 extra Finesse (which increases your chance to gather bonus materials). Players who spend a lot of time picking herbs will get steady value from this.
Lash Out is a straight combat buff: 1% extra critical strike damage and 1% extra critical strike healing. The numbers look small, but crits happen often enough that this adds up over time for both damage dealers and healers.
Subterranean Predator offers two bonuses when fighting Aberrations, Beasts, and Elementals: 1% more damage against them, and 10% more experience from killing them. The experience bonus is especially useful while leveling since Beasts are everywhere in the game world.
Haranir Druid Forms
Haranir Druids get unique shapeshift forms inspired by Harandar's fungal, bioluminescent environment. These forms set you apart visually from Druids of other races.
Available Forms
All standard Druid forms are available with Haranir-specific designs and multiple color variants:
- Bear Form (Guardian tank form)
- Cat Form (Feral melee form)
- Moonkin Form (Balance caster form)
- Flight Form (aerial travel)
- Travel Form (ground travel)
- Aquatic Form (underwater travel)
- Treant Form (Restoration tree form)
Each form has color options you can pick to match your character's overall look.
Haranir Shaman Totems
Haranir Shamans get totems with a root-based design that fits their connection to the fungal root systems of Harandar. This visual distinction applies to all your totem spells.
Heritage Armor
The Haranir Heritage Armor set includes both a main version and a recolor. Male and female characters have separate designs, and each can access both the standard look and the alternate color scheme.
Character Customization Options
The Haranir offer tons of customization options at character creation, and you can change everything later at any Barber Shop.
Female Haranir Customization
| Category | Available Options |
|---|---|
| Body | Skin Color, Body Fur Pattern, Fur Color, Body Paint Pattern, Body Paint Color, Feet, Underclothes Color |
| Face | Face shape, Face Paint, Ears, Earrings, Eye Color, Eyelashes, Eyebrows, Face Fur Pattern, Eyesight, Nose, Tusk |
| Hair | Hairstyle, Hair Color, Hair Highlight Color, Hair Spines, Hair Spine Color |
| Accessories | Necklace, Shoulder Spine, Shoulder Spine Color |
Male Haranir Customization
| Category | Available Options |
|---|---|
| Body | Skin Color, Body Fur Pattern, Body Fur Color, Body Paint, Paint Color, Feet, Underclothes Color |
| Face | Face shape, Face Paint, Ears, Earrings, Eye Color, Eyesight, Eyebrows, Face Fur Pattern, Beard, Moustache, Sideburns, Nose, Tusks |
| Hair | Hairstyle, Hair Color, Hair Highlight Color, Hair Spines, Hair Spine Colors |
| Accessories | Necklace, Piercings, Jewelry Color, Shoulder Spines, Shoulder Spine Colors |
Standout Features
A few customization options really set the Haranir apart from other races:
- Hair Spines: Both genders get Hair Spines with independent color options, adding unique silhouette elements you won't find on most races.
- Shoulder Spines: Decorative shoulder spines give you extra visual flair beyond your armor.
- Tusks: Both male and female Haranir can customize their tusks, adding to the race's distinctive facial structure.
- Fur Options: Multiple fur patterns and colors let you create a lot of variety in your overall appearance.
Faction Choice: Horde or Alliance
As a neutral Allied Race, the Haranir let you pick your faction during character creation. This works just like Pandaren, Earthen, and Dracthyr.
When you make a Haranir, you'll choose whether that character joins the Horde or Alliance. The choice is permanent for that character and determines which cities, questlines, and group content you can access.
A few things to consider:
- Which faction are your friends and existing characters on?
- Are there faction-specific story elements you want to see?
- What's the faction balance like on your server?
Since you choose per character, you can always make Haranir on both factions if you want to see content from both sides.
Recommendations by Playstyle
Maximum Role Flexibility
Druid is your best bet if you want one character that can do everything. You get tank, healer, melee DPS, and ranged DPS options, so you can adapt to whatever your group needs. The unique Haranir Druid forms are a nice bonus.
Gathering Focus
One With Nature makes Haranir a solid pick for players who spend a lot of time gathering herbs. The Herbalism skill bonus and extra Finesse add up over time.
Faster Leveling
Subterranean Predator's 10% experience bonus against Aberrations, Beasts, and Elementals speeds up your leveling. Beasts show up constantly throughout the game, so this bonus kicks in more often than you might expect.
Group Play
Thorn Bloom gives you a unique group-focused racial. The ability to heal allies and damage enemies in the same 10-yard area makes Haranir valuable when your group is fighting stacked enemies.
Travel Convenience
Rootwalking provides a teleportation system that grows as you unlock new locations. If you value quick travel, especially back to Harandar and the Cradle, this ability will serve you well.
Quick Reference
Here's what you need to know at a glance:
- Complete the ten-quest Harandar questline during the Midnight campaign to unlock the race
- Not available during Early Access periods
- Nine classes available; Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Evoker, and Paladin are restricted
- Neutral race: pick Horde or Alliance at character creation
- Rootwalking teleportation with unlockable destinations
- Thorn Bloom hits enemies and heals allies simultaneously
- Passive bonuses to critical strikes, Herbalism, and combat against Beasts, Aberrations, and Elementals
- Unique Druid forms and Shaman totems
- Hunters start with a unique Saptor pet
- Huge customization options including Hair Spines and Shoulder Spines
The Haranir bring a fresh visual identity to WoW alongside practical racial benefits that work across multiple playstyles. If you're looking for something that stands out from the existing race options, they're worth the unlock grind.