WoW Forever Launch Checklist & FAQ

Raids follow five weeks later, on December 9: the 10-player Barrow Deeps, the 20-player Hyjal Summit and the 40-player Onyxia's Lair. All three reset weekly.

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   Step 1: Install through the Battle.net app

   Forever is its own game version in the Battle.net app, with its own install folder. Install it as early as you can: the download is large, and you don't want to be fighting a progress bar at 3 p.m.

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   Step 2: Check your subscription

   Forever is included with any active WoW subscription or Game Time. Only the Skyborne race and their starting zone need the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a higher edition.

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   Step 3: Get your addons ready

   Addons work in Forever, but only versions built for it. Our addon guide lists the ones that do, how to install them and what the game already does on its own.

The first time you log in, before you even pick a ruleset, the game asks you to choose an experience preset. It bundles a set of options into one click. Nothing is locked: you can switch later under Options, System, Preset, or change any single option on its own.

Pick Enhanced if you're unsure. It's the friendlier start, and the quest markers alone save hours while you learn the new quests. Pick Classic if you want the 2004 feel and already know your way around.

Model quality is also a per-character choice at creation, and you can change it later in the options or at a barbershop. It only changes how characters look.

Forever ships with several tools that used to need addons. Turn these on in your first session:

• Cooldown Manager. Off by default; enable it under Options, Gameplay Enhancement. It shows your cooldowns and buffs as icons you place anywhere, for every class, your racial abilities and your trinkets, and all ranks of a spell count as one entry.
• Damage meter. Built in. Switch it on in the options to see damage and healing per fight; move it with Edit Mode like any other frame.
• Edit Mode. Open it from the game menu to move and resize the default frames: action bars, unit frames, the minimap, the meter and the Cooldown Manager.
• Combined bags. On with the Enhanced preset; it puts every bag in one window.
• Controller support. The game has a full gamepad interface with its own layouts in Edit Mode. Our controller guide covers turning it on, the default buttons and the settings worth changing.

Forever has no realm list. You choose a ruleset when you create a character: Normal, PvP, Roleplay or Roleplay-PvP. Hardcore comes after launch.

• You group, run dungeons, raid and join guilds only with players on your ruleset and your faction.
• Battlegrounds mix every ruleset.
• You can't move a character to another ruleset; you roll a new one.
• Legacy Points and collections are shared across your whole account.

The ruleset guide explains each one and has a pick-by-player-type table.

Every character has a two-part name: a first name and a second name. The pair has to be unique in your region, so two players can both be "Aria" as long as their second names differ. Both parts are checked against the naming policy together, and Roleplay rulesets apply stricter naming rules.

You can hide your second name from your own nameplate under Options, Nameplates, My Secondary Name. Other players still see it in chat.

Owners of a Forever edition could reserve names early, from October 27 to November 3. That window capped you at three characters across all rulesets; the cap applied only to early reservation, not to the game itself. Names are first come, first served, so if a name matters to you, create the character the minute your region opens.

If the game told you a name was restricted during reservation, try it again. The check was rejecting harmless names and has been fixed.

On the PvP ruleset each account plays one faction. Your first character decides it: create an Alliance character there and you can't create Horde characters on PvP, and the other way round. Normal and Roleplay let you play both factions.

Settle your PvP faction with your friends or guild before launch night.

Nothing from the beta carries over: not characters, not names, not gold. The stress-test characters were wiped too. The 16 free Legacy Points every beta player received were for the beta only; at launch you earn Legacy Points by playing.

The Forever editions include Invite-A-Friend launch codes: one with the Heroic Pack, three with the Epic Pack or the Warcraft Forever Collection. Codes were emailed to buyers, and a friend who redeems one plays Forever from November 4 to November 11 without a subscription.

Send codes before launch, so your friends are installed and in the queue with you. A code gives launch-week access only.

Set Options, System, Languages and Social, Preferred Online Language on your first login. The setting is account-wide and can only be changed once every 24 hours, so get it right the first time.

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   Step 1: Learn six keys

   Y opens Legacy, P the spellbook, K professions, C your character, L the quest log and M the map.

   The spellbook matters more than you think: spells you learn do not land on your action bars by themselves, so drag each new one onto a bar after every trainer visit.

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   Step 2: Skyborne start on Zephras Isle

   Skyborne begin on Zephras Isle, their own island for levels 1–12, and leave it through a short quest chain. Our Leaving Zephras Isle guide shows the way off.

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   Step 3: Do your class quests

   Every class has new quests in Forever, some of them unlocking abilities. The new class quests guide lists them by class and level so you don't walk past one.

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   Step 4: Pick professions early

   Professions matter from the start: camping features unlock at skill 20, Merchant's Favor crates reward crafting, and reaching 150, 225 and 300 in a crafting profession earns Legacy Points. Train First Aid and Cooking too. See camping and Merchant's Favor.

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   Step 5: Buy bags

   Fill every bag slot as soon as you can afford it; general goods vendors and tailors sell the first ones. A new bag does not equip itself: drag it from your backpack onto an empty bag slot. With combined bags on, everything shows in one window.

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   Step 6: Talents at 10

   Your first talent point arrives at level 10. You reset talents at your class trainer, and Dual Specialization unlocks at level 40. Class trainers teach new ranks at every even level, and riding opens at 40: the trainers guide says where to train and what it costs.

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   Step 7: Legacy switches on at 25

   Your first Legacy Point usually comes when a character reaches level 25. From then on, press Y to spend points (up to 16 per character). The Legacy guide has builds for leveling, gold and endgame, and the Legacy planner lets you try them.

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   Step 8: Your first dungeons

   The ladder starts with the Hall of Thanes (levels 13–18) and the Ruins of Lordaeron (15–20). Quest first and run each dungeon once with its quests: dungeon quests give less XP than before, while dungeon kills give more. The dungeons and raids guide has the full path to 60.

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   Step 9: Battlegrounds from 30

   At level 30 you can queue for Darkspear Islands, the new 15-versus-15 battleground, from a battlemaster in any capital.

Blizzard is watching gold closely in Forever, and honest players can get caught up in someone else's deal. Three rules keep you safe:

• Pay directly. When you buy a carry, a boost or anything else for gold, the gold goes straight from your character to the player who provides the service. Gold that passes through a middleman or a third character looks exactly like bought gold, and accounts have been actioned for it.
• Don't take gold from strangers. The trade window warns you when you deal with someone you don't know. Unexplained gold can be removed, and the account that received it can be suspended or closed.
• Know what an economy hold is. If your account trades in a way that looks like real-money trading, trade, mail, the guild bank and the Auction House can be frozen for a while. If the activity turns out to be legitimate, the hold lifts on its own and leaves nothing on your record. Normal play won't trigger one.

Guilds that sell raid carries should collect payment directly from each buyer, never through one collector character.

When exactly does WoW Forever launch?

November 4, 2026, at 3 p.m. PST, which is 23:00 UTC. Europe, Taiwan, Korea and Oceania open at the same moment, on the morning or night of November 5 locally. See the table above.

Do I need to buy anything?

A WoW subscription or Game Time is enough for every race except the Skyborne. The Skyborne need the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a higher edition.

What is the level cap?

60, from launch. There is no staged level cap.

When do raids open?

December 9, 2026, for all three: Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia's Lair. Onyxia's Lair needs the Drakefire Amulet, the reward of a faction quest chain; keep it in your bags.

Do my beta characters carry over?

No. Every character starts fresh at launch.

Can I change my ruleset later?

No. A character stays on the ruleset it was created on. To play another ruleset, create a new character there. Your Legacy Points and collections follow you.

Can I play with a friend on a different ruleset?

Not in a group, a dungeon, a raid or a guild. You can meet in battlegrounds, which mix every ruleset.

Can I play both factions?

Yes on Normal and Roleplay. On PvP your first character sets your faction for the whole account on that ruleset.

Can I still fight other players on Normal?

Yes. On Normal and Roleplay you fight players when you choose to: flag yourself for PvP, duel, or queue for battlegrounds, which mix every ruleset. On PvP and Roleplay-PvP the other faction can attack you in every contested zone, whatever your level: nothing stops a level 60 from hunting a level 25.

My new character shows up under the wrong ruleset. What do I do?

The ruleset's name sits above your character list. Check it every time you create a character, before you play: a character never moves to another ruleset later. If it's wrong, delete the character, select the ruleset you want again, return to the menu and log back in, then create it. On Oceanic servers, create your Roleplay and Roleplay-PvP characters before any Normal or PvP ones.

Is Hardcore available at launch?

No. Hardcore arrives after launch, with its own Legacy challenges. Progress flows one way: Hardcore achievements count on your other characters, but nothing from other rulesets counts on Hardcore.

Can my friend try Forever for free?

With an Invite-A-Friend launch code from a Forever edition, from November 4 to November 11. After that they need a subscription or Game Time.

How many characters can I make?

The three-character cap was for early name reservation only. At launch you create characters as usual.

Someone took my name. What now?

The full two-part name has to be unique, so keep your first name and change the second part.

There's a login queue. Should I restart the game?

No. Closing the game or the Battle.net app puts you at the back of the queue. Leave it running; the estimate jumps around in the first minutes and settles once the rush evens out.

My friend is in the same zone, but I can't see them. Why?

You're on different layers: busy zones run as several copies, each with its own players. Join the same group and the game moves you onto the leader's layer after a short wait, as long as neither of you is in combat. Layering stays in place after launch week too, so a group is the reliable way to meet up.

I keep getting disconnected or can't log in. Is it just me?

Check server status and the blue tracker, where Blizzard posts restarts, known issues and fixes. If the servers are up, restart the Battle.net app before reinstalling anything.

Do addons work?

Yes, as long as they have a Forever version. Many jobs, such as damage meters, cooldown tracking, frame moving and combined bags, are built in. See addons.

Will my beta addons and settings carry over?

No. The launch game has its own install folder, _forever_, and doesn't read the beta's. Install the Forever versions of your addons into its Interface\AddOns folder. To keep your beta options, copy Config.wtf from the beta install's WTF folder into the WTF folder of the new one before you log in.

The starting zone is packed. Will I get my quest kills?

Yes. Mobs and quest objects respawn faster in the low-level zones while the launch crowd passes through, fastest of all in the starting zones, and the rate eases off as you level into quieter areas. Once the rush settles, low-level respawns slow to their usual pace. Grouping up with players on the same quest still saves the most time.

Can I play with a controller?

Yes. The game has a complete gamepad interface; see the controller guide.

Which class is easiest to level?

Hunters level fastest and most safely. Warlocks and Paladins are close behind for sustain, and Mages are best at pulling and killing groups. Each class has a leveling guide.

Can I start in another race's starting area?

Yes. Any character of your faction can walk to another starting area and quest there from level 1. You skip your own race's first quests, including the one that sends you to your class trainer at level 2, and not every starting area has a trainer for every class, so check before you settle in. Your race also decides which weapons you can use at first; the weapon masters in the capitals teach the rest.

How early can an alt level a crafting profession?

Apprentice, up to skill 75, has no level requirement. Journeyman (150) needs level 10, Expert (225) level 20 and Artisan (300) level 35. Each crafting profession earns its Legacy Points once per account, at 150, 225 and 300.

Does day and night follow my time zone?

No. The game world runs on one real-time clock, so if you always play at the same hour you mostly see the same light. The developers have asked Oceanic players which change they would like; for now the clock is unchanged.

Is it faster to level in dungeons?

No. Questing is fastest. Dungeon quests give less XP and dungeon kills give more, which makes one run of each dungeon alongside its quests the efficient route, not repeated runs. Experience and rested XP covers the rest of the leveling bonuses.

Where can I see what changed from Classic?

What's new in WoW Forever covers the big picture, and patch notes lists every change by class and system. For gear, stats and attributes has the hit cap and what each spec stacks.