Coming to WoW Forever from Classic Era

New ship routes

A ship from Stormwind Harbor to Auberdine links the continents early, a second route runs through Menethil, Southshore and Auberdine, and a Steamwheedle Cartel ship sails from Tanaris to the Riverglades.

More in the zones you know

Every starting area gets new characters, quests and recipes. The Wetlands gains quests, and Desolace’s centaur factions get more quests and rewards.

A new race: the Skyborne

Elves bound to the wind. Play them as Windshapers for the Horde or as the High Order for the Alliance, starting on Zephras Isle. They come with the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a bigger edition; everything else in Forever is included with your subscription or game time.

New race and class pairings

Orc Mage, Troll Warlock, Undead Paladin, Human Hunter, Gnome Priest and Dwarf Shaman are now playable.

See every race and class combination

Every class on both factions

Paladins and Shamans are no longer tied to one side. Undead Paladins give the Horde Paladins, and Dwarf Shamans give the Alliance Shamans, so all nine classes are now on both factions. Undead Paladins get their own story from Bandarion Keep in Tirisfal Glades, and their own epic mount at 60.

Read about the PaladinRead about the Shaman

Reworked racial abilities

Every race now has two active and two passive racial abilities. Blizzard’s final pass put each race’s identity ahead of perfect balance, so some races are slightly better at certain roles. Stoneform now cuts Physical damage instead of adding Armor, and Will of the Forsaken still breaks Charm, Fear and Sleep but no longer makes you immune.

Talent trees with a new milestone

The trees keep their rows. Next to the milestone talents at 11, 21 and 31 points there is a new one at 16. Divine Spirit, Blessing of Kings and Improved Mark of the Wild are now part of the class, so they no longer cost talent points. You change talents at a class trainer in a major city, and Dual Specialization comes at level 40.

Every class gets new tools

Each class keeps its Classic toolkit and gains new spells and reworked talents. Paladins get Holy Strike and a tanking seal, Shamans summon all four totems with one cast, Mages learn Frostfire Bolt, Rogues can Sap without leaving stealth, and Hunters can set traps in combat.

See what’s new for each class

Simpler stats

Spell, melee and ranged hit are one stat now, and so are spell, melee and ranged critical strike. Weapon skill on gear is smaller, so it’s no longer the obvious pick.

Healing gear helps you deal damage

Bonus healing also gives a third as much bonus damage.

New stats and trinkets

Some items lower the chance your attacks are parried or dodged, and caster weapons now give spell damage and healing. More trinkets have situational effects, some only in certain terrain or against certain creatures.

Better loot while leveling

Every dungeon drop was looked at again, with hundreds of new drops, and unique dungeon bosses now drop blue items. Set bonuses are stronger, and quest rewards cover more classes: Mor’ladim’s quest in Duskwood now also offers a ring for casters. World epics and rare creatures got better and new items too. Dungeon quests give bonus experience too.

Over 600 new recipes

New recipes across every profession and level range. Crafted food also gives a small experience bonus and stat boosts.

See every profession

Camping

The Cooking Fire becomes a Basic Campfire. It makes a campsite where you can rest, repair, visit vendors, use profession tools and pick up one-hour buffs, and other crafters can add their own objects to it.

Your mount comes with riding

As in The Burning Crusade, learning to ride gives you a mount, so you don’t buy one separately.

Legacy

A new account-wide system. Challenges such as leveling a class or a profession earn Legacy points, and each character spends them on its own perks, like more rested experience or more gathered materials. At launch a character can spend up to 16 points.

How Legacy works

Rulesets instead of realms

You don’t pick a realm. You pick a ruleset, Normal, PvP, Roleplay or Roleplay PvP, and each one is a single large world. Hardcore comes later. On the PvP ruleset all your characters are on one faction, with systems like those in Season of Discovery to keep the factions balanced. You can also set a language preference.

PvP ranks with a weekly cap

The ranks up to High Warlord and Grand Marshal return. Honor buys a blue and an epic PvP set, and Rank Points raise your rank with a weekly cap.

How PvP ranks work

A first name and a surname

Every character has two names, and the full name has to be unique in your region instead of on one realm. You can hide the surname above your character in the Nameplates options, though it still shows in chat.

Find a first name and surname that fit

Optional transmog

You can change how your gear looks, or switch transmog off completely, as the Classic preset does. You still collect appearances while it’s off.

The Classic preset

The first time you log in, you pick a preset. Classic is closest to what you know: standard-definition models, the original interface layout, camera-turning keys and no quest markers on the map. Enhanced switches on HD models, quest markers, a single bag and transmog. You can change any setting later, and play with a gamepad if you like. HD models get their Classic animations back, and rivers now flow through Elwynn Forest.

A modern interface

Edit Mode lets you move almost any part of your interface and save layouts. A built-in Damage Meter shows your group’s damage and healing without an addon, an optional Cooldown Manager tracks your key cooldowns and buffs, and Meeting Stones open a Group Finder instead of summoning.

See what else is new