World of Warcraft: Forever
Blizzard's news and blue posts about WoW Forever, each summarised in our own words with a link to the original, then what has changed on this site and in its guides.
71 WoW Forever topics, newest activity first. Only WoW Forever posts are listed; Blizzard's posts about the rest of World of Warcraft are left out.
KaivaxOn 15 October Blizzard took the Beta down at 1:15 p.m. PDT to deploy and test a new build with many changes and fixes. A follow-up on 16 October said realms were back and that players not on client 70425 should update through the Blizzard app.
KaivaxThis is Blizzard's running development notes thread for the WoW Forever beta, with posts on 24 September, 1 October, 8 October and 16 October. Early builds covered class fixes and balance, Cooldown Manager and gamepad work, and quest fixes. Later builds raised the beta level cap to 30, added dungeons, and the 16 October build reworked racial abilities, made several group auras raid-wide, and made UI and Auction House changes.
KaivaxBlizzard announced a WoW Forever Stress Test on 19 October. The Beta goes offline first, then the game opens on the regional hardware it will use at launch. Any player with a WoW account can join without an active subscription. When it ends, all characters, including names, are wiped and the Beta reopens.
Blizzard released a Paladin class deep dive. It covers changes to Seals and Judgements and options for Holy healing and spell damage, Protection tanking and Retribution damage.
KaivaxThis is the forum listing for episode 4 of the official WoW Forever podcast, about PvP, posted 15 October. The post text itself was empty apart from the title and a video link.
KaivaxOn 14 October Blizzard took the Beta offline at 8:00 a.m. PDT for maintenance and internal tests, expected to take a couple of hours. A follow-up said the Beta was coming back online.
KaivaxBlizzard described a new anti-RMT measure, the Temporary Economy Hold. Accounts suspected of selling or receiving illicit gold have trade, mail, guild banks and the Auction House restricted while it investigates. The hold is lifted automatically if the suspicion proves false, and otherwise account actions follow. Blizzard said false positives are possible, a hold alone leaves no permanent strike, and the system may reach all WoW versions if it works.
KaivaxThis is Blizzard's running list of known beta issues, opened 17 September and updated through 8 October. It mixes display problems, class and combat bugs, quest bugs and unfinished systems, and records which issues were fixed in later builds. Items still open as of 8 October include some Skyborne druid and Zephras Isle texture updates, a visual-only Hunter pet crit display bug and broken icons in the Professions window.
KaivaxBlizzard took the Beta down on 8 October at 9:00 a.m. PDT, earlier than previous Thursdays, to deploy behind-the-scenes fixes plus bug fixes and gameplay changes. It said that for a live game, it would expect realms back by 3:00 p.m. PDT. The realm returned later that day, with updated Development Notes and Known Issues to follow.
KaivaxForum listing for episode 3 of the official podcast, on dungeons. A designer added that a bug is being fixed where dungeon XP per kill was based on the highest-level party member. Together with a 20% increase to base kills in dungeons, XP should feel better, though not as high as in the original game. He said dungeon leveling should be close to optimal questing speed, to keep the design pillars balanced.
Blizzard announced episode 3 of the official WoW Forever podcast, with three senior game designers discussing dungeon leveling, questing and related topics, alongside the host and a guest.
Blizzard published a class deep dive on Mage and Shaman, covering new hybrid Mage options such as Frostfire Bolt and Shaman changes to totems and imbues. Follow-up edits on 7 and 8 October added notes that Elemental Mastery and Nature's Guidance were removed, and that Rockbiter Weapon is included in the imbue changes. All weapon imbues now last 60 minutes instead of 5 and can coexist with temporary weapon enchantments.
Blizzard released a class deep dive on Rogue and Warlock. Later edits fixed a wrongly pasted section, a line about Combat and Subtlety supporting all weapon types, and the Puncturing Wounds note, which now also raises Mutilate crit chance by a smaller amount and gives Backstab a chance at an extra Combo Point.
Blizzard's developers discussed plans to refine the Skyborne visual style, revisit High-Definition Druid forms, and add Standard-Definition character models to widen player choice.
Blizzard introduced the Darkspear Islands, a new 15v15 battleground in WoW Forever. Teams fight over strategic points and capture the flag, earning reputation with the Darkspear Raiders or the Theramore Expeditionary Force.
Blizzard described how PvP progression works in WoW Forever. It is built on Honor, Rank Points, seasonal goals and the original ranks. Rewards come from battlegrounds, PvP quests, weekly journey tasks and gear upgrades, leading to titles such as High Warlord and Grand Marshal.
KaivaxOn 6 October Blizzard restarted Beta realms at 3:00 p.m. PDT to deploy priority fixes. These included a fix for quests where restocked chest items had gone missing, a fix for disconnects while riding elevators or transports, and a fix for an error when joining or leaving a guild.
KaivaxOn 5 October Blizzard announced brief realm restarts to apply fixes for service quality. Players in game would see countdown messages, and the Beta would reopen a few minutes after going offline.
KaivaxOn 4 October Blizzard said an issue affecting Gnomeregan had been fixed that afternoon.
KaivaxBlizzard acknowledged a bug in the new Beta build that showed Australian testers a login dialog saying social features were locked down, which was incorrect. It was reported fixed on 3 October.
Blizzard's WoW Weekly for early October highlighted WoW Forever class spotlights on Hunter, Druid, Priest and Warrior, and episode 2 of the official podcast. It also previewed the Midnight 12.1.5 content update.
KaivaxBlizzard added further Warrior changes to the 2 October Beta build's development notes. Rage from critical strikes rose to 100% extra, a Dual Wield Specialization bug was fixed, and Fury and Protection trees were reworked. Fury gained new talents and several were removed or moved, and Protection talents were rearranged to open a path for non-shield users.
KaivaxOn 2 October Blizzard said it knew of an issue preventing testers from logging into the Beta and was working on a fix.
KaivaxIn a thread about the podcast, Blizzard pointed players to where the first two episodes of the official WoW Forever podcast can be found, with links to the forum posts for episodes 1 and 2.
KaivaxBlizzard said many Beta testers were pushing to earn Legacy points. In a future Beta week it plans to grant every tester 16 Legacy points so the system can be tested without heavy leveling. The grant is expected to stay until the Beta ends.
KaivaxBlizzard said it has been continuously acting on accounts that botted for gold in the Beta and on accounts that bought or knowingly received illicit gold. A warning will soon appear in game when trading with strangers, pointing to a Blizzard support article. Blizzard's stated policy is that anyone generating, selling, buying or receiving illicit gold may have the gold removed, be suspended or be permanently closed.
KaivaxOn 1 October Blizzard said the Beta would go offline the next morning PDT for maintenance. It would return several hours later with a new build, fixes and the level cap raised to 30. A later post said the shutdown was about 45 minutes away.
KaivaxThis topic is the forum listing for episode 2 of the official WoW Forever podcast, posted 1 October, about speedrunning classes. The post text itself was empty apart from the title and a video link.
Blizzard announced episode 2 of the official WoW Forever podcast, about speedrunning classes. It features the host, three Blizzard game designers and a guest content creator.
Blizzard released a class deep dive on Priest and Warrior. It covers new and adjusted baseline abilities, refreshed racial Priest spells, Rage and stance updates for Warriors, and talent changes across Discipline, Holy, Shadow, Arms, Fury and Protection.
Blizzard published a class deep dive on Hunter and Druid, covering talent updates, class-defining abilities and new ways to play. In the comments, a staff member corrected the article: the new Sniper Shot talent hits harder than Aimed Shot, not Sniper Shot, and it has a 45-yard base range and boosts the next 3 shots' range by 10 yards. She said other classes will be covered in time, though things may still change during the Beta.
KaivaxA player asked for the Kyle questline to return to Mulgore. Blizzard replied on 28 September that it is working on it and to stay tuned.
Blizzard announced that WoW Forever will have a presence at PAX Aus, from 9 to 11 October (AEDT). The post links to keynote presentations from the event.
KaivaxBlizzard restated that real money transactions are not acceptable and that it is acting against them in the Beta and at launch. It said it will increasingly act against accounts that buy gold, not only sellers, by removing the gold and possibly closing accounts. Players are asked to be careful with gifts and one-sided trades from strangers.
KaivaxOn 27 September Blizzard replied to a report of players getting a login queue after a disconnect. It found and fixed the problem that was filling the queue.
KaivaxOn 25 September Blizzard announced it would shut down and restart the Beta within minutes to apply stability fixes. The maintenance was expected to be short.
Blizzard said the first official WoW Forever podcast episode was well received. Episode 2 was announced to focus on class design with systems designers. The team asked players which other topics they want developers to discuss in later episodes.
Blizzard's weekly roundup for 25 September put WoW Forever first. It pointed to new articles on rulesets, character naming, class and race options, the Skyborne race and the Legacy System, plus episode 1 of the official podcast. It also covered October's Trading Post and Brewfest.
Blizzard announced a WoW Forever Escape Together event in Toronto, where visitors can watch and take part in an Alliance versus Horde adventure. The forum post only links to the full article.
KaivaxBlizzard said on 25 September it was tracking server problems affecting some beta testers and that the fix would almost certainly mean restarting servers that day.
Blizzard is forcing name changes for beta characters that broke naming policy and has removed beta access from some players whose names were far outside the Code of Conduct. The actions were reviewed individually by the development team, Customer Service cannot assist with appeals, and testers were asked not to test the upcoming automatic enforcement system.
KaivaxBlizzard posted the development notes for the 24 September beta build after maintenance. The excerpt visible here lists bug fixes such as caster precast animations, Campfire buff behavior and a Mac water display issue, and the thread is continued in a later running notes post.
KaivaxBlizzard took the beta offline on 24 September for maintenance and to deploy a new build, expecting at least a couple of hours of downtime. Development notes and an updated known issues list were promised afterwards.
Blizzard is selling the WoW Forever Collector's Edition for pre-purchase through its Gear Store and some retailers in North America, the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. A 24 September update added more stock, but orders from that restock are expected to ship and arrive in February 2027, after launch. The Gear Store limits purchases to one copy per household.
Blizzard released episode 1 of the official WoW Forever podcast on 24 September, featuring Senior Game Designer Josh Greenfield and Lead Classic Designer Tim Jones along with guests.
KaivaxThis topic is the forum listing for episode 1 of the official WoW Forever podcast, posted 24 September, about the Beta launch. The post text itself was empty apart from the title and a video link.
KaivaxBlizzard said on 23 September that increased weather effects were coming soon to the beta.
Blizzard published an overview of the Legacy System, an account-wide progression system. Players complete challenges to earn Legacy Points, unlock character-specific perks and collect cosmetic rewards. The forum post links to the full article.
KaivaxBlizzard acknowledged a beta bug where the 0.5-second cast before a Hunter's Auto Shot or a wand shot was much shorter than intended, so players did not need to stand still as long. A fix was expected in an upcoming beta build, hopefully the following week.
KaivaxBlizzard released a new beta client, WoW Forever 1.60.1 build 69977, on 23 September. It improves Mac display and stability, controller navigation on the character select screen, and gamepad interaction with quest-starting items. The next full weekly update was planned for 24 September.
The Skyborne, also called the shen'dorei or hidden people, are a new playable race in WoW Forever. They start on Zephras Isle, a level 1 to 12 area with classic Warcraft looks, elemental architecture and a story about wind and ancestry. At character creation players choose whether a Skyborne joins the Horde or the Alliance.
KaivaxReplying to a detailed player report of eight Mac graphics bugs, each tied to one setting, Blizzard thanked the reporter and said several analyses and possible fixes for Mac issues were already in progress.
Blizzard published an overview of the playable races, class combinations and updated racial traits in WoW Forever, including the new Skyborne race. The forum post only links to the full article.
KaivaxBlizzard asked players locked out of a beta character with a 'name already exists' message to report the character name and the last time they played it successfully, to help narrow log searches. A Senior Game Producer wanted to restart beta realms that day, and Blizzard said it was gathering information to be sure of the cause and fix.
KaivaxBlizzard confirmed a fix for a stuck event in the quest A Firm Response, which blocked Windshaper Skyborne on Zephras Isle after Lorthuna spawned near the Shrine of Akir. An earlier fix did not work, but the 21 September fix did, and testers were seen completing the quest.
KaivaxBlizzard keeps a running thread of official WoW Forever material from the BlizzCon 2026 reveal. Between 12 and 21 September it added the cinematic and gameplay trailers, the Warcraft Forever Collection trailer and recordings of the What's Next, Creator Showcase, Deep Dive, Evolving a Timeless World, Found Photographs and Hardcore panels, plus a developer Q&A.
Characters in WoW Forever have two names. A full two-name combination is unique within a region, but a single first name can still be shared with other characters.
In WoW Forever players pick a ruleset instead of a realm: Normal, PvP, Roleplaying or Hardcore. Each ruleset is its own large community for grouping, dungeons and raids. Hardcore will be added some time after launch.
KaivaxIn a thread about being unable to launch WoW Forever, Blizzard pointed out that the WoW Forever discussion forum is open to everyone with an active WoW subscription, not only beta testers.
KaivaxFor players told their operating system does not meet the minimum specs to install WoW Forever, Blizzard pointed to its GPU requirements article. At launch, GPUs based on certain older architectures far below the minimum hardware requirements will no longer be supported.
KaivaxA player reported that two WoW accounts under one Blizzard account could not both log in: the second login disconnects the first and no account selector appears. Blizzard asked whether adding a separate test-region account would bring up a choice of account at login.
Blizzard's WoW Weekly roundup for 18 September covers BlizzCon 2026, the WoW Forever beta, answers from the live Q&A for modern WoW and WoW Forever, and the Midnight Season 3 dungeon pool. This is a duplicate of another post of the same title.
The WoW Forever beta started on 17 September and runs through 21 October. Players can opt in for a chance to be invited, or get access by buying eligible WoW Forever bundles. Launch is set for 4 November at 3:00 p.m. PST.
KaivaxBlizzard opened a separate forum for WoW Forever beta discussion on 17 September.
KaivaxOn 17 September Blizzard said many players were waiting to get into the beta and that a few last issues remained before opening. A second post said the opening was happening gradually rather than all at once.
KaivaxBlizzard corrected the level range shown for the Krol'dok Stronghold dungeon, which is for levels 40 to 45. It also published the full list of nine new dungeons in WoW Forever with their level ranges.
Blizzard posted a recap of the Found Photographs panel, where two designers described how forgotten corners and unfinished stories of original Azeroth inspired WoW Forever. The team is expanding the level 1 to 60 experience with reimagined regions, quests, characters and locations.
Blizzard published a roundup of everything announced for WoW Forever at BlizzCon, including a first look at what comes next for Azeroth. The forum post only links to the full article.
Blizzard posted a placeholder entry for its recap of the WoW Forever What's Next panel from BlizzCon. The forum post itself contains no details.
KaivaxA forum was opened on 12 September for players to post about their communities in WoW Forever and to look for friends and former guildmates.
KaivaxBlizzard opened the General Discussion forum for WoW Forever on 12 September and asked posters to follow the Code of Conduct and a set of courtesy guidelines. Off-topic threads, misleading titles, thread bumping and petition or vote-style threads can be removed. Feedback about Blizzard staff posts goes by email rather than the forum.