Forever for Classic veterans

Played Classic before? Everything that works differently in World of Warcraft: Forever, from the game client and Blizzard's own posts.

Before you start

Pick a ruleset, not a realm: Instead of a realm list you choose Normal, PvP, Roleplaying or Hardcore, and each is one big world for grouping, dungeons and raids. Hardcore arrives some time after launch. Rulesets explained
A new race: the Skyborne: The Skyborne (shen'dorei) can join the Horde or the Alliance and start on Zephras Isle (levels 1 to 12). They come in two kinds, High Order and Windshaper, with 5 racials such as Elemental Insight, Read Leyline, Skysight. They come with the Skyborne packs, not the base game. Races and racials Meet the Skyborne
No flying, no level scaling: Forever keeps Classic's ground rules: no flying mounts and no level scaling. You go to a zone when you're its level. BlizzCon recap
Level 60 is the cap: The level cap is 60, as in Classic. Forever launched on 4 November 2026, and the new raids open on 9 December. The roadmap
The Legacy System: An account-wide progression: finish challenges to earn Legacy Points and spend them on perks. The client has 69 perk ranks in 3 trees (Professions, Adventure, Resourcefulness), and a character can use up to 16 points. Legacy calculator Legacy explained

Most racials changed: 26 of Classic's 32 racials are different in Forever. Weapon racials now help casters too, e.g. Human Sword Specialization: "" Every racial, old and new
Hit and crit are one stat each: Spell, melee and ranged hit chance are one stat, and so are the three critical strike chances. That helps hybrids such as Retribution Paladins and Enhancement Shaman. Stats and itemization
New abilities for every class: 39 class abilities Classic didn't have (Hunter 12, Paladin 7, Priest 6, Shaman 4, Druid 3, Warrior 2, Rogue 2, Mage 2, Warlock 1), among them Frostfire Bolt (Mage), Holy Strike (Paladin), Shadow Word: Death (Priest). 1,257 class spells work differently. Classes Every change by class
Rogues can use one-handed axes: Classic Rogues couldn't. Every weapon skill by class, the racial that goes with it and where the weapon master stands is on the trainers page. Weapons and trainers
Mounts come with the riding skill: Like The Burning Crusade: you pay for riding training and get a mount with it, instead of buying the mount separately. The details
Hunter pets: 2 new pet families (Core Hound, Fox) and new pet abilities, and every tameable beast with where to find it. Hunter pets
Some things didn't change: Shaman totems still need their totem items, and combat keeps Classic's pace: Blizzard says an ordinary monster should take about 10 to 15 seconds to kill. Shaman Combat pace

Thousands of new and changed items: 5,995 items Classic didn't have and 3,529 that changed. Blizzard says unique dungeon boss items are now blue, dungeons drop hundreds of new items, and quest rewards cover more classes. What's new Items Itemization
Gear that works in one place: New "horizontal" rewards: gear that's stronger in one zone or against one kind of enemy, gathers without the profession, or walks on water. 59 so far. Unusual gear
Relics for Paladins, Shaman and Druids: 69 librams, totems and idols, 25 of them new, for their classes' relic slot. Relics
Set bonuses were reworked: 36 new item sets and 75 with new bonuses. Sets
Opt-in transmog: Transmogrifiers in some cities let you set up outfits, or turn the whole system off and see everyone in their real gear. Transmog
New factions: 14 new reputations (Theramore Expeditionary Force, Darkspear Raiders, Powderfuse, Barkskin Burrow, Bolder'ok Clan, Brotherhood of the Horse, Cenarion Scouts, Earthen Ring, Guardians of Hyjal, High Order, Kirin Tor, Nightclaw Druids, The Watchers, Windshapers), and every item tooltip on this site says the reputation it needs. Reputation

Hundreds of new recipes: 928 of the 2,493 recipes are new and 737 changed: different reagents, different amounts (oils and several bombs make more) and reworked skill-ups. Professions
Healing potions moved to First Aid: The plain healing potions, from Minor to Major, and the anti-venoms are First Aid recipes now. Alchemists make Discolored Healing Potions, stronger but with a drawback. First Aid Alchemy
Gathering professions craft: Herbalism has Gardening and Skinning has Tanning, each with its own recipes, and Mining smelts new bars. Herbalism Skinning Mining
Camping: A cook builds a campfire, and every profession can place a camp feature next to it that buffs everyone sitting nearby: Intellect, Spirit, rested experience, a repair bot, a greenhouse. Better features come at skill 140 and 300. How camping works
New consumables: 401 consumables Classic didn't have, and Blizzard says crafted food can give a small experience bonus. Best consumables for your level Professions

New zones: Mount Hyjal, Zephras Isle, Darkspear Islands, Riverglades, Shen'dralas. Blizzard promises over a thousand new quests from 1 to 60, and the starting zones get new ones too. Maps The new zones
New dungeons and raids: New dungeons so far: City of Dalaran (28+), Excavation Site: Wetlands (26+), Ruins of Lordaeron (15+), The Hall of Thanes (13+), Manor Mistmantle. Blizzard's raids are Hyjal Summit (20 players) and the Barrow Deeps (10 players). Dungeons and raids Dungeons and raids
New battlegrounds and an arena: Darkspear Islands, Battle for Gilneas (battlegrounds), and a winter version of Warsong Gulch. What's new
New ways to travel: 20 new flight paths, 7 new flight masters and 5 new boat, zeppelin and airship routes, such as Stormwind to Auberdine and Tanaris to the Riverglades. Travel planner

Cooldown Manager: A built-in display that pulls your important cooldowns and procs together. Blizzard's beta notes said it was still being worked on. Beta development notes
Looks and controls: High- or standard-definition character models, Classic or modern visual presets, the original animations, and gamepad support. BlizzCon recap

Data from the WoW Forever client, build 1.60.1.70938, extracted 2026-11-13.