News
Forever news
Blue posts, patch notes, datamining and interviews. Short, sourced, and tagged by how confirmed each item is.
- Blizzard: no plans for a WoW Token or boosts in Forever In a BlizzCon interview, Blizzard says it has no plans for a WoW Token or character boosts in Forever, and lays out beta's level cap ramp. Confirmed interviewsystemsbeta
- Beta opt-in is open now on Battle.net, ahead of Thursday's start Players can opt in for a chance at World of Warcraft: Forever beta access on the game's Battle.net page now. Beta begins September 17; buying the Skyborne Epic Pack also grants access. Confirmed betalaunch
- Forever goes realmless: four rulesets replace realm selection Instead of picking a realm, Forever players choose a ruleset — Normal, PvP, Roleplaying or (after launch) Hardcore. Rulesets can't group together, and every character gets a two-part name. Confirmed panelsystemslaunch
- Forsaken Paladins get an epic charger and a story rooted in Forsaken Kingdom Blizzard's Found Photos panel showed the Forsaken Paladin's epic charger and tied their story to the Warcraft III campaign Forsaken Kingdom. Confirmed panelclassesraces
- World of Warcraft: Forever will have full controller support Blizzard confirmed Forever ships with full controller support, the first time a World of Warcraft game has been built with a gamepad in mind. Attendees tried it on the Skyborne starting zone. Confirmed panelsystems
- Hardcore won't be ready for launch, and dying lets you switch rulesets Blizzard confirmed Hardcore arrives after Forever's November 4 launch, not on day one. When a Hardcore character dies, players can now transfer it to another ruleset, including PvP. Confirmed panelsystemslaunch
- Forever reworks Classic's stats: hit and crit merge, new stats arrive Spell, melee and ranged hit chance combine into one stat, as do the three crit chances. Weapon skill matters less per item, and bonus healing gear now grants some bonus damage too. Confirmed panelsystemsclasses
- New sea routes link the continents, and Riverglades gets a named port Blizzard's Found Photos panel added three new ship routes, two linking the continents and a third to the Riverglades, and named the zone's port, Powderfuse Port, along with its factions. Confirmed panelzones
- Protection Paladins get a taunt: the new Seal of Fury A new Seal of Fury gives Classic-era Protection Paladins their first true taunt: Judgment of Fury, with a 10-yard range longer than Druid or Warrior taunts. Confirmed panelclasses
- Dungeon drops of Uncommon or Rare quality unlock the look for the whole group Bind-on-pickup Uncommon and Rare items from dungeon bosses now grant their transmog appearance to everyone eligible when looted, not just whoever wins the roll. Raids and Epic drops stay as before. Confirmed panelsystems
- Forever's first raids, Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit, arrive in December The roadmap shown at BlizzCon places the two new raids a month after the November 4 launch: Barrow Deeps for 10 players and Hyjal Summit for 20. New dungeons were revealed through achievement screenshots. Confirmed panelraidsdungeons
- Camping: a new outdoor system for shared campfires and buffs Blizzard's panel recap reveals Camping, a system letting players craft outdoor campfires that others can join, contribute to through professions, and get a shared buff from. Confirmed panelsystems
- New PvP battleground revealed: Darkspear Islands, a 15v15 fight off Kalimdor Blizzard's panel recap confirms a new 15-versus-15 battleground, the Darkspear Islands, mixing strategic control points with Arathi Basin-style flag captures. Confirmed panelsystems
- Forever's new zones: Mount Hyjal, Shen'dralas, the Riverglades and Zephras Isle Blizzard's What's Next panel named the new and reworked regions, with level bands for two of them: the Riverglades in the mid-30s to mid-40s, Zephras Isle at 1 to 12. Confirmed panelzones
- Forever's nine new dungeons, named: Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron and more Blizzard's panel recap names all nine new dungeons for the first time, after an earlier report pieced together an incomplete list from achievement screenshots. Confirmed paneldungeons
- Hardcore is coming to Forever, and the roadmap runs past launch Blizzard's panel confirmed a Hardcore mode for Forever, with details promised at the Hardcore panel on September 13. The launch roadmap shown alongside it staggers content, with the first raids in December. Confirmed panellaunchsystems
- Forever adds HD/SD model toggle, restored Classic animations and gamepad support Blizzard's panel recap confirms High-Definition and Standard-Definition character model options, Classic animations restored for HD models, and official gamepad support. Confirmed panelsystems
- The Legacy system: account-wide perks earned by playing, not by raiding Forever's Legacy Challenges award one point each for exploring, leveling, tradeskills, PvP ranks, reputations and instances. Points buy passive, non-combat perks for every character on the account. Confirmed panelsystems
- Every Forever character gets a two-part name Character creation asks for a Full Name made of a Main Name and a Secondary Name. Both are required; whether the second shows is a settings toggle. Confirmed panelsystems
- Skyborne pick a faction at creation, and it decides Shaman or Mage All Skyborne can be Warriors, Hunters, Rogues or Druids with new sky-blue forms. Choosing the Horde adds Shaman; choosing the Alliance adds Mage. Customization is described as deep. Confirmed panelracesclasses
- Skyborne racials revealed, and Gnomes, Orcs and Tauren get changes Both Skyborne variants glide with Walk on Air and share a 1 percent Haste passive; the Alliance High Order get a regeneration ley line, the Horde Windshapers a 10 percent run-speed blessing. Four existing racials change. Confirmed panelracesclasses
- Transmog exists in Forever, and you can switch it off for everyone Forever includes transmogrification, with a setting that shows either other players' transmogs or the base look of their gear. Off means off for every player you see. Confirmed panelsystems
- Undead can be Paladins in World of Warcraft: Forever, cinematic reveals Blizzard's cinematic launch trailer for Forever revealed that Undead characters can play Paladin, a race and class combination that has never existed in World of Warcraft before. Confirmed classesraces
- Blizzard announces World of Warcraft: Forever, a Classic+ branch launching November 4 Revealed at the BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony: a third version of WoW built on the original game at level 60, with new zones, dungeons, raids and a new race. Beta September 17, launch November 4 at 3 p.m. PST, included with a subscription. Confirmed blue-postlaunchbeta