Cultivation is the Tauren herb racial, and WoW Forever turned it into something new. In Classic it was a flat bonus of 15 Herbalism skill that did nothing for a Tauren without the profession. In Forever it is an active ability: you cast it next to a herb, and a duplicate grows that you can pick without knowing Herbalism at all.
Two beta builds shaped how it plays. The September 24 build tied every herb to a character level, so a low-level Tauren cannot cultivate endgame herbs. The October 15 build cut the cooldown from 60 minutes to 15, which answered the main complaint about the racial. Below you will find exactly how Cultivation works, the level you need for every common herb, who gets the most out of it and the rest of the Tauren racial kit after the October changes.
Cultivation is an instant cast with no cost. Stand next to a herb node, use the ability, and a second copy of that herb grows beside it. You can harvest the copy whether or not your character knows Herbalism.
Three rules shape when you can use it.
With Herbalism the racial becomes a second pick from every good node you cultivate: you gather the original herb with your profession and the copy with the racial. Without Herbalism it still gives you one herb every 15 minutes from any node your level allows.
Because the level requirement follows the Herbalism skill of each herb, a leveling Tauren unlocks herbs in roughly the same order a herbalist does. The table lists the common herbs with the skill they need and the character level that Cultivation asks for.
| Herb | Herbalism skill | Tauren level for Cultivation |
|---|---|---|
| Peacebloom, Silverleaf | 1 | 1 |
| Earthroot | 15 | 3 |
| Mageroyal | 50 | 10 |
| Briarthorn | 70 | 14 |
| Stranglekelp | 85 | 17 |
| Bruiseweed | 100 | 20 |
| Wild Steelbloom | 115 | 23 |
| Grave Moss | 120 | 24 |
| Kingsblood | 125 | 25 |
| Liferoot | 150 | 30 |
| Fadeleaf | 160 | 32 |
| Goldthorn | 170 | 34 |
| Khadgar's Whisker | 185 | 37 |
| Wintersbite | 195 | 39 |
| Firebloom | 205 | 41 |
| Purple Lotus | 210 | 42 |
| Arthas' Tears | 220 | 44 |
| Sungrass | 230 | 46 |
| Blindweed | 235 | 47 |
| Ghost Mushroom | 245 | 49 |
| Gromsblood | 250 | 50 |
| Golden Sansam | 260 | 52 |
| Dreamfoil | 270 | 54 |
| Mountain Silversage | 280 | 56 |
| Plaguebloom | 285 | 57 |
| Icecap | 290 | 58 |
| Black Lotus | 300 | 60 |
Forever also adds three new endgame herbs, Marefoil, Demonsage and Death Lotus. Their skill requirements are not known yet, but anything above 300 skill falls under the level 60 rule.
Cultivation has no combat value, so it never decides a fight. What it decides is how much gold and how many herbs a Tauren collects on the way to 60, and after the October 15 change that adds up.
At the old 60 minute cooldown the racial gave one bonus herb an hour, which beta testers dismissed as useless outside of Auction House flipping. A 15 minute cooldown means up to four extra herbs an hour while questing, and the value climbs with your level: from about level 54 on, every cultivated node is a Dreamfoil, a Mountain Silversage or better, and at 60 a cultivated Black Lotus is a second Black Lotus.
It also changes profession choice for Tauren. Because the copy needs no Herbalism, a Tauren can take two crafting professions and still bring in herbs for Alchemy or for camp objects like the Incense Candle, which needs one Peacebloom and one Silverleaf. Our WoW Forever camping guide explains what each camp object does, and if you need the gold faster than herbs can bring it in, you can also buy WoW Forever gold.
A few habits turn the racial into a steady trickle of herbs instead of something you forget on your bars.
The same beta build reworked the other Tauren racials, and Cultivation now sits in a stronger kit than it did at the start of the beta.
| Racial | Effect as of October 15 | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Cultivation | Grows a harvestable copy of a nearby herb | Cooldown 15 minutes (was 60) |
| Endurance | 5% more Health and 2% increased critical damage and healing | Replaced the old 1% hit chance |
| Plainsrunning | Movement bonus that now also gives 3% mounted speed | You must keep moving a minimum distance per second to keep it |
| War Stomp | Area stun | Cooldown 90 seconds (was 2 minutes) |
For how these racials rank against every other race, see our WoW Forever race tier list.
These are the questions players ask most about the racial.
No. The duplicate herb it grows can be picked without Herbalism. With the profession you also pick the original node.
15 minutes as of the October 15 beta build. It was 60 minutes before that.
No. Each herb node can be cultivated only once.
Level 60. Black Lotus needs 300 Herbalism skill, and Cultivation requires the herb's skill divided by 5.
Yes. In Classic it was a passive bonus of 15 Herbalism skill. In Forever it is an active ability that grows a second herb.
These guides cover the professions, camps and race choices around the racial.
