Blizzard's new leveling video: the Riverglades, Mount Hyjal and the Barrow Deeps, checked against the client
· ForeverDB
Blizzard's new video tours World of Warcraft: Forever's leveling after 30: the Riverglades, with the Brotherhood of the Horse and the Bolder'ok ogres, and Mount Hyjal, opened for the first time since the Third War, with the 10-player Barrow Deeps raid. We checked every name against the Forever beta client. Nearly all of it is there, including the full boss lists of the Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit raids. Very little can be tested yet, because the beta's level cap of 30 keeps everyone out of both zones.
This is an official World of Warcraft video, posted on 19 October. Every place, faction, raid and boss below is checked against the Forever beta client (build 1.60.1.70450). The video has no class, spell or talent numbers. Nothing in it can be tested in game yet: the beta's level cap is 30, and both zones are for higher levels.
Blizzard has posted a seven-minute video about where World of Warcraft: Forever's leveling goes after level 30. It covers two new zones, the Riverglades in the Eastern Kingdoms and Mount Hyjal in Kalimdor, and closes on a new raid, the Barrow Deeps. Most of the video is story: who lives in these places and why they're fighting. Here is what it says, what the game files already contain, and what nobody can know yet.
World of Warcraft Forever introduces several new areas for players to explore throughout their leveling journey. Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever leveling video (0:07)
The short version
- The Riverglades picks up where old zones like Redridge Mountains ran out. Alliance players meet the Brotherhood of the Horse, knights who broke with Stormwind 20 years ago. Horde players meet the Bolder'ok, ogres who broke with the Twilight's Hammer.
- Both sides fight the Twilight's Hammer, which holds Twilight's Shroud and Krol'dok Stronghold. There's a fighting ring, the Bloodmasters' Ring, deep in ogre territory.
- Mount Hyjal has been sealed by Malfurion and the druids for five years. In Forever its road opens for the first time since the Third War, and players help the Cenarion Circle heal it.
- On Hyjal, a crow uncovers warlocks and something called the Wild King. The client confirms the Wild King as the last boss of the Hyjal Summit raid.
- The Barrow Deeps is a 10-player raid under Hyjal, in a prison that once held "Azeroth's most infamous betrayer". The client lists its 8 bosses and a key item to its inner prison.
- Almost everything named is in the beta client. What's missing: the Curious Crow, Jom-jom (which the video lists among its quests), the Druids of the Talon as a faction, and anything from players. Nobody has reached either zone in the beta.
Claim by claim
| Blizzard says | The Forever client has | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| The Riverglades, a new zone | Its own map (UiMap 2548) and zone, and an exploration achievement that counts it among the Eastern Kingdoms' zones | Confirmed |
| The Brotherhood of the Horse, at Farholde Keep | The faction Brotherhood of the Horse (Alliance), the area Farholde Keep, a Farholde Keep Tabard and Farholde quest items | Confirmed |
| The Bolder'ok ogre clan, former Twilight's Hammer | The faction Bolder'ok Clan (Horde), described as former members of the Twilight's Hammer, and the area Bolder'ok | Confirmed |
| Twilight's Shroud, the old Horde's westernmost stronghold | The area Twilight's Shroud in the Riverglades | Confirmed (the history is the video's) |
| Krol'dok Stronghold, held by the Twilight's Hammer | The area Krol'dok Stronghold, Krol'dok keys, and "Krol'dok Speed" and "Krol'dok Resolve" spells | Confirmed |
| The Bloodmasters' Ring, an ogre fighting ring | A "Champion of the Bloodmaster's Ring" spell (with "Earned the respect of the Bolder'ok") and an item, Bloodmaster's Ring | Confirmed, spelled Bloodmaster's in the client |
| Jom-jom | Nothing by that name | Not in the client's text |
| Mount Hyjal, sealed by the druids, now open | Its own map (UiMap 2482), "Enter Hyjal" spells that "pass through the druidic wards", and the Guardians of Hyjal faction | Confirmed |
| The Druids of the Talon and the Cenarion Circle | The Cenarion Circle and its splinter the Guardians of Hyjal; no Druids of the Talon faction | Partly: the Druids of the Talon aren't a faction in the client |
| A Curious Crow, warlocks and the Wild King | The Wild King: last boss of Hyjal Summit, with his own spells and a Token of the Wild King. A Bloody Parchment that mentions "The Pact" and a "Wild King". No crow. | Wild King confirmed; the crow isn't named in the client |
| The Barrow Deeps, a new 10-player raid | 8 encounters ending with Sonya Darkhallow, and the Brooch of the Wardens, which "grants access to the Vord'anaar Prison within Barrow Deeps" | Confirmed (raid size from Blizzard; the client has no raid map yet) |
The Riverglades
The video opens by placing the Riverglades as the next step after familiar zones that used to lead nowhere.
Where paths may have ended previously in areas like Redridge Mountains. New journeys await in zones like the Riverglades. Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever leveling video (0:44)
The Brotherhood of the Horse (Alliance)
The Alliance faction goes all the way back to Warcraft II. After the battle for Blackrock Mountain, Turalyon marched the Alliance through the Dark Portal to Draenor. These knights refused to leave the Horde's remnants free to attack undefended lands, so they disobeyed their orders and stayed to hunt them.
Some would view this as oath breaking others would view this as choosing the path of greater honor by staying to defend those that could not defend themselves. Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever leveling video (1:41)
Twenty years later they hold Farholde Keep and fight on against the old Horde's remnants, the Twilight's Hammer and the Bolder'ok ogres. The client's faction text agrees in its own words: outcast riders of Stormwind's cavalry who started again on the eastern coast. See the Brotherhood of the Horse reputation page.
For them, the second war never truly ended. Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever leveling video (2:17)
The Bolder'ok (Horde)
Like Stranglethorn Vale, the Riverglades is for both factions. Horde players side with the Bolder'ok, an ogre clan that left the Twilight's Hammer after watching their kin go mad. They live between the cult's fortress at Krol'dok Stronghold and the humans of Farholde, competing with both for the open plains. The client's Bolder'ok Clan faction says the same: former Twilight's Hammer members exiled for betraying their false prophets.
This adversity has made these ogres grow strong independent, and formidable indeed. Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever leveling video (3:11)
The Twilight's Hammer
Both factions fight the cult, which holds two fortresses in the zone.
Having seized the westernmost stronghold of the old Horde now called Twilight's Shroud as well as the fortress of Krol'dok Stronghold, Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever leveling video (3:34)
Both are areas in the client. Krol'dok Stronghold also has keys (Krol'dok Compound Key, Krol'dok Ogre Key) and two spells named after it. One, Krol'dok Speed, raises movement speed in Stranglethorn Vale and the Riverglades, which suggests a reward that works in both zones.
Quests and the Bloodmasters' Ring
The video names a few quests (wrecking a pirate operation, rescuing a horse, and something called Jom-jom) and a fighting ring in ogre territory.
Deeper in ogre territory is the Bloodmasters' Ring, a fighting ring where players will prove their strength against the ogres' best brawlers. Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever leveling video (4:10)
The client spells it Bloodmaster's Ring. It has a spell, "Champion of the Bloodmaster's Ring", that says you "Earned the respect of the Bolder'ok", and an item of the same name (its stats aren't in the client yet). So the ring looks like a Bolder'ok challenge with its own reward.
Mount Hyjal
For five years, Malfurion Stormrage and the druids have kept Hyjal sealed. Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever leveling video (4:42)
The client matches this closely. Its spells to enter and leave Hyjal "pass through the druidic wards to enter Mount Hyjal". Players work with the Druids of the Talon and the Cenarion Circle to heal the land after the Battle of Mount Hyjal. The client has the Guardians of Hyjal, the Cenarion Circle's splinter that guards the mountain, but no Druids of the Talon faction.
Blizzard also says the old truce between Horde and Alliance on the mountain is wearing thin now that it's open again. Then comes a crow.
She may look like just a crow but she's uncovered sinister warlocks and activity involving the Wild King. Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever leveling video (5:28)
The Wild King is in the client as the last of Hyjal Summit's 13 bosses. His spells summon Wild Spirits and draw on "the power of Nordrassil", and one says he is "overwhelmed by his own powers". A quest item, the Bloody Parchment, mentions "The Pact" and a "Wild King", which fits the warlocks the crow finds. A Token of the Wild King jokes that it looks like a "Steaglebear".
The Barrow Deeps
Looming deep within Mount Hyjal, World of Warcraft Forever's new 10-player raid, Barrow Deeps, lies in wait. Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever leveling video (5:46)
Here, a prison that once held Azeroth's most infamous betrayer beckons heroes to explore its depths. Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever leveling video (5:55)
The client lists the Barrow Deeps' 8 encounters in order: Chillhowl, Elder Tangleclaw, Khalith the Dreadspinner, Well of Sorrow, Amethrax, Del'lynar Songwood, Ravus and Darlissa, and Sonya Darkhallow. It also has the Brooch of the Wardens, which "grants access to the Vord'anaar Prison within Barrow Deeps". So a key item opens a deeper part of the raid.
Speculation: Blizzard doesn't name the betrayer. Warcraft players will think of Illidan Stormrage, whom the night elves locked in the barrow dens beneath Hyjal for ten thousand years under the watch of the Wardens. The Brooch of the Wardens points the same way. It is our reading, not something the client or the video states.
Hyjal Summit's 13 encounters in the client are Bandalar, Ancient of Decay, Time-Lost Battalion, Sylvestris Dusksong, Old Gloomlurker, Gharalis the Abyssal, Kathris the Haunted, Anara Chillwind, Elder Minderel, Tracker Stillwind, Council of Thorns, Nythus the Dreambound and the Wild King. Both raids count toward the Legacy system's raid challenge. Gear from both disenchants into Malleable Essence of Nature, a crafting material.
What we have, and what we don't
Most of what the video says is already in the game files, and we've checked it above. What we can't show yet, and why:
- Level ranges. The client has no zone levels. Blizzard has said the Riverglades covers "much of the mid-30s to mid-40s"; Hyjal is later (the video calls it "the climax" of leveling). Our level estimates come from players' quests and kills, and nobody has any here yet.
- Quests, NPCs and drops. Blizzard has promised "more than 150 new quests" in the Riverglades alone, but Forever keeps creatures, quest givers and loot on its servers. The video's quests (the pirates, the horse, Jom-jom) and the Curious Crow will only appear once ForeverDB addon users quest there.
- The raids. The client has both boss lists and some items, but no raid maps or encounter data yet. We don't have their loot tables, raid entrances or difficulty. Blizzard has said the Barrow Deeps is a maximum-level 10-player raid and Hyjal Summit a 20-player one.
- Why it's empty: the level cap. The beta's cap is 30. Both zones are for higher levels, so no tester can reach them. Our addon users' data covers Elwynn to the Barrens and has nothing from either zone. When the cap goes up, we'll fill these pages from what players see.
Want to help? Install the ForeverDB addon. When the cap rises, your quests and kills in the Riverglades and on Hyjal fill in the gaps, stamped Not confirmed until a second player sees the same.
Where the client and Blizzard differ
- The video's captions say "Bloodmasters' Ring". The client's spell and item say "Bloodmaster's Ring".
- The video names the Druids of the Talon as Hyjal allies. The client has the Guardians of Hyjal and the Cenarion Circle, but no Druids of the Talon faction.
More on both zones' history and who's there for roleplayers: Riverglades and Mount Hyjal, now updated with the video.
Sources
- World of Warcraft: Forever leveling zones video (World of Warcraft, YouTube, 19 October 2026)
- World of Warcraft: Forever official site
- Riverglades lore (ForeverDB)
- Mount Hyjal lore (ForeverDB)
- The Legacy system explained, with both raids' boss lists (ForeverDB)