WoW: Forever - All Announced Content at BlizzCon

Blizzard used this year's BlizzCon to lay out World of Warcraft: Forever in
full — a permanent Classic-era game that begins where Vanilla began and, by
design, never leaves. Across a weekend of panels the studio walked through new
zones, a new playable race, nine new dungeon-scale adventures, two raids, an
account-wide progression system, and a long list of quality-of-life options that
mostly exist to let players turn the modern stuff off.

This is a roundup of what those panels actually said. Everything here comes from
the presentations themselves, and as with any pre-release feature list, details
can still move.

A level 60 world that stays at 60

The headline commitment is that Forever has no plans for level-cap increases.

Level 60 stays the destination. Progression instead expands sideways through new content, items, reputations, professions, builds, and challenges. Blizzard was
explicit about the things Forever won't do:

• No flying mounts.
• No level scaling.
• No resetting old accomplishments each time something new launches.
• No homogenizing every class into a slightly different version of every other
  class.

Leveling is meant to carry as much weight as endgame, and the "catch-up" system is deliberately unglamorous: play, level, explore, finish quests, run dungeons, and earn gear. Future patches are meant to serve several kinds of player at once, so updates can bring solo stories, leveling content, dungeons, raids, PvP, professions, or world content rather than raid tiers alone.

A time bubble, not a rewrite

Forever occupies the same moment as original World of Warcraft. Every original
Vanilla quest and zone stays in the game — the new material is layered into and
around it rather than replacing it.

The era is "year one": after Warcraft III, before the Dark Portal reopens for
The Burning Crusade, and before the campaign into Northrend. It's its own
continuity, kept separate from retail, but foundational history is respected.
Arthas still becomes the Lich King. Archimonde is still defeated at Mount Hyjal.

The design vocabulary for this is "found photographs" — stories that could
plausibly have happened during Vanilla and simply were never shown. In practice
that means expanding underused characters, showing what important figures were doing off-screen, opening locations that were never accessible, finishing
unfinished local stories, and telling major events from the ground up instead of
through one long campaign led by famous names. Blizzard sorts the new content
into three buckets: anticipated places like Mount Hyjal, new but familiar
stories built from established Warcraft people and geography, and unexpected
concepts like the Skyborn — used sparingly so they don't overwhelm Azeroth.

Deliberately slowing the dungeon back down

If there's a single sentence that captures Forever's combat philosophy, it's that
the developers are actively resisting mass-pull dungeon gameplay.

Killing an ordinary creature solo is expected to take around 15 seconds. Crowd
control matters again — Polymorph, Banish, roots, traps. Tanks are expected to
hold reliable threat on roughly three or four enemies, not an entire room, and
the whole party is expected to keep uncontrolled mobs away from whoever can't
take a hit.

Consecration is the clearest illustration of the intent. It deals light damage to
every enemy that enters it, but heavy threat-generating damage to only the first
four. A Protection Paladin gets solid threat on a controlled pack without
trivializing an entire room.

Four new regions

Riverglades

Riverglades is the centerpiece of the new midgame. It sits between Redridge, the
Burning Steppes, the Badlands, and the Swamp of Sorrows, entered through a new fork on the road out of Redridge, and covers roughly the mid-30s to mid-40 — a band that in Classic funnels everyone through the same few zones.

It's about the size of Stranglethorn Vale, and the panels put it at somewhere
between 150 and 200 quests across both factions. Its population is a genuine
cross-section of early Warcraft: human descendants of stranded settlers, orcs and ogres, gnolls and murlocs, Powderfuse goblins, the Twilight's Hammer, the
Brotherhood of the Horse, and a former Twilight's Hammer ogre clan now going its own way. Horde stories start around Ragmar, Alliance stories around Farhold Keep, and a neutral goblin port extends trade routes through the Eastern Kingdoms.

Notably, the zone's story is local. It's about communities, trade, rivalries,
grudges, and survival — not another race to save the planet. Krol'dor Stronghold
serves as its major outdoor dungeon.

Mount Hyjal

Hyjal returns as a high-level questing zone with the launch's largest raid
attached. Its story picks up the aftermath of Archimonde's defeat: healing
forests and leftover corruption, the effect of the battle on the Wild Gods, and
the consequences of Malfurion sacrificing the night elves' immortality to win.
It brings new factions, reputations, solo and group content, an entrance into the
Barrow Deeps — and a mystery, since something around the summit is draining power from the land.

The Shen'dralar region

South of Desolace, a new region expands the history of the Shen'dralar,
Eldre'Thalas (now Dire Maul), Prince Tortheldrin, and the Gelkis and Magram
centaur. Its quests also give players fresh reasons to revisit dungeons like
Maraudon and Razorfen Downs.

Dalaran

Dalaran appears rebuilt but still physically in the Alterac Mountains — no
floating city here. The Kirin Tor's protective barrier has failed, enchantments
are breaking down, arcane constructs are malfunctioning, and demonic energy is
spreading. Blizzard went out of its way to say this is more than a dungeon:
players will explore the restored city itself.

The Skyborn: an entirely new playable race

The Skyborn, who call themselves the Shandori or "Hidden People", are the
boldest addition to the world.

They descend from Highborne who lived in Eldre'Thalas after the War of the
Ancients. A rebel faction opposed Prince Tortheldrin's plan to preserve his
people with ever more dangerous demonic power. The rebellion disrupted his plans but ultimately lost, and the survivors fled west across the sea. Pursued by
Tortheldrin's forces, they encountered primordial wind spirits, which raised a
great part of the island into the sky and anchored it inside Skywall, the
Elemental Plane of Air. The exiles lived there in isolation for around 10,000
years, and exposure to Skywall reshaped their appearance, agility, skin tones,
hair, and eyes.

They're now in crisis. The benevolent wind spirits have vanished, the ancient
pylons holding Zephris Isle aloft are failing, and parts of the island are
collapsing into darkness while competing political and religious movements
argue over the Skyborn's future:

• Windshapers — spiritual and shamanistic, loyal to the elemental
  traditions; they join the Horde.
• High Order — arcane descendants of Highborne magisters, who see the crisis
  as a chance to break free of the spirits; they join the Alliance.
• The Al'Akir cult — hostile, worshipping Al'Akir the Windlord and exploiting
  the spirits' disappearance to seize territory.

Both factions' Skyborn can be warriors, hunters, rogues, or druids, with shamans
on the Horde side and mages on the Alliance side, plus unique druid forms,
voices, dances, and customisations. Their racials weren't detailed.

Zephris Isle is a self-contained level 1–12 experience — deliberately
restrained, with Blizzard stressing that players won't be shuttling back there to
raid or farm. It's an Elemental Plane, but it's meant to be a starting story, not
a new hub.

Six new race and class combinations

Alongside the Skyborn, six combinations arrive, with more planned later:

• Gnome Priest
• Human Hunter
• Dwarf Shaman
• Orc Mage
• Troll Warlock
• Undead Paladin

The Undead Paladin is the one with real lore behind it. Ordinary Forsaken
associate paladins with the Scarlet Crusade and its persecution of the undead.
Undead paladins suffer intense pain when channelling the Light, some raised
paladins can't cope with undeath and lash out violently at other Forsaken, and
players must earn their place in Forsaken society — eventually with Sylvanas's
acceptance. Class quests begin around level 10 at Banderian Keep in the Whispering Wood, a previously inaccessible corner of northwestern Tirisfal Glades, with a unique steed and a level 60 epic mount quest. Alliance paladins ride for redemption; Forsaken paladins ride for retribution.

Nine new dungeons

Dungeon | Levels | What's going on

Hall of Thanes | 13–18 | Dwarven monarchs' burial halls beneath Ironforge, broken into by Dark Irons while ghostly whispers echo. Alliance are sent to clear them; Horde must infiltrate.

Ruins of Lordaeron | 15–20 | The Forsaken recover heirlooms and memories from their ruined capital while the Scourge lingers and a necromancer plots against another city.

Wetlands Titan Dig | 24–29 | Above Whelgar's Excavation: strange mist, flashes of light, active titan constructs, and an area seemingly trapped in time.

Dalaran | 28–33 | The rebuilt city with its barrier down, overrun by failing enchantments and malfunctioning constructs — explored as much as it is cleared.

The Drowned City | 35–40 | Ancient troll ruins off Stranglethorn that have risen from the sea, with trolls, naga, and a wrecked pirate ship. The playable BlizzCon demo.

Krol'dor Stronghold | 40–55 | A vast outdoor dungeon in the Riverglades where ogres raid settlements and strange chanting suggests cult involvement. A genuine alternative to farming Scarlet Monastery.

Defias Prison | 48–53 | A prison the Defias once used to ransom nobles — rumoured to have held Varian Wrynn — now the site of a Defias-versus-naga fight.

Blackmaw Hold | 55–60 | A large furbolg city behind Azshara's formerly impassable gate, its tunnels running deep enough to reach the Barrow Deeps.

Shaper's Terrace | 58–60 | A titan facility in Un'Goro Crater, untouched by time, with ancient structures, dinosaurs, power crystals, and an unidentified energy source.

Boss loot tables have been re-examined across the board: rewards are being
upgraded to rare quality, new items added, weak drops improved, and iconic
favorites kept. Hybrid characters should find considerably more gear actually
aimed at them, and trinkets are being repositioned as specialized tools for
particular encounters rather than universally optimal stat sticks. Some gear will
even behave differently depending on terrain — cities, caverns, mountains,
deserts — or on the type of enemy you're fighting, such as beasts or undead.

Two new raids

Barrow Deeps is a vast, sacred network of night elven barrow dens said to
connect several distant entrances, with Mount Hyjal as one of three and Blackmaw Hold apparently leading toward it. The night elves use its depths to hold their most dangerous prisoners — a famous demon hunter was once imprisoned there, strongly implying it's where Illidan was kept. Corruption is spreading, and even allies aren't normally welcome.

Hyjal Summit is the largest of the launch raids, set among snowy peaks,
ancient elven ruins, and rivers haunted by ghosts of the Third War. It examines
the aftermath of the night elves losing their immortality, something is draining
the land's power, and the raid appears tied to Forever's first new legendary item.

Original Vanilla raids still exist, but at Forever's historical starting point
they haven't opened yet. A roadmap entry teases a "revamped iconic raid".

Talents: the same skeleton, better talents

The structure stays familiar: three trees per class, seven rows each, majors at
11, 21, and 31 points. Every tree also gains a new major at 16 points, and a
lot of the 2006 talents survive untouched.

What changes is the filler. Weak, passive, or unnoticeable talents are being
replaced or improved, and talents that merely granted major class buffs —
Improved Battle Shout, Divine Spirit, Blessing of Kings, Improved Mark of the
Wild — are becoming baseline abilities. The stated goal is for all 27 original
specializations to be viable in dungeons and raids, while keeping them
genuinely distinct: clear strengths, clear weaknesses, no mandatory spec, and no
spec worth stacking excessively. Some classes should shine in specific encounters because of enemy type, utility, or mechanics.

Racials: two active, two passive

Every race now gets two active and two passive racial abilities, intended to be
of comparable overall value while differing in offense, defense, utility, and the
encounters where they excel.

Dwarves are a good example of the rework. Stoneform now reduces physical
damage directly rather than adding armor, which makes it useful to a cloth
Dwarf Priest. Find Treasure can run alongside another tracking ability, so
you can hunt nodes and beasts at once. Big Game Hunter adds 5% damage against
beasts, and Mace Specialization grants 1% crit with any mace — for spells and
ranged attacks too, not just melee, so Dwarf Shamans and Priests get value.

Undead get a deliberate trim: Will of the Forsaken still breaks its control
effects but no longer grants a window of immunity afterwards, pulling back one of
Classic's strongest racials. Cannibalize now restores mana as well as health,
which matters a lot for Undead Paladins, and Touch of the Grave gives attacks
and spells roughly a 5% chance to drain health.

Legacy: progression for the journey

Legacy is account-wide, and it exists specifically to reward levelling 1–60
over and over rather than treating the trip as an obstacle.

Points come from ordinary accomplishments rather than contrived challenges:
hitting levels 25, 45, and 60 on a class, reaching a profession milestone like
Artisan Engineering, and completing challenges across several categories while
levelling and exploring. The points are shared, but each character spends them
independently — so different alts can run genuinely different Legacy builds.

Three trees ship at launch:

• Adventure — supports levelling and exploration. Example: Well Rested
  increases how fast rested experience accumulates and raises its cap.
• Professions — improves gathering and trade-skill progression. Example:
  Bountiful Harvest increases the number of scarce materials from mining,
  herbalism, or skinning.
• Resourcefulness — reduces recurring friction. Example: Reagent Economy
  removes reagent costs from class abilities, making group buffing painless.

At launch only 16 points can be spent per character, though roughly 65 are
earnable overall. Excess progression feeds a Legacy reward track whose items are
cosmetic or prestige-based, never competitive power. The cap is deliberate: it
stops players feeling obliged to complete every challenge, spares newcomers an
enormous catch-up burden, and — since the strong perks sit deep in the trees —
turns those 16 points into a real specialization choice. More challenges, perks,
branches, and trees are planned.

Professions, food, and camping

Professions are being pushed from an afterthought into core progression: more
than 600 new recipes across every level range, many existing recipes updated,
and useful recipes available at low skill levels. Starting zones get extra
trainers, recipes, and quests, and more will keep arriving after launch.

Almost every crafted food now grants both a stat bonus and a small experience
bonus, which makes cooking part of ordinary levelling preparation instead of
something reserved for hard content. And the humble cooking fire becomes a
functional campsite offering resting benefits, vendors, repairs, profession
workspaces, and one-hour buffs. You have to sit by the fire for a short while to
receive those buffs — an intentional pause meant to make conversation happen.

A campsite supports up to three crafted objects, one contributed per player, with
every profession having its own: a blacksmith's sharpening wheel granting
Strength, a tailor's faction banner granting Spirit, a herbalist's incense candle
granting Intellect. Basics come at around 20 profession skill, with advanced
versions learned from blueprints found while adventuring. Importantly, camp buffs occupy the same buff category as their class equivalents — the Intellect effect is an alternative to Arcane Intellect, not an extra stack — which keeps
profession characters useful without devaluing class support.

Mounts move to a Burning Crusade-style cost split, with more of the expense in
riding training and less in the mount item itself, while still preserving the
Classic milestone of finally earning the right to ride.

Toggling Classic on and off

Several of Forever's most interesting features are really about letting players
choose how modern their game looks and behaves.

• HD or SD character models. The whole game can be toggled between original SD models and modern HD models, and the choice applies consistently to your character, NPCs, and everyone else. Classic animation sets have been restored for the HD models.
• Optional transmogrification. Transmog exists, but a "Classic" visual preset
  can hide other players' transmogs entirely, so the world reads as it did.
  Players can still configure their own appearance and helm/cloak visibility.
• Sensible collection rules. Bind-on-pickup uncommon and rare dungeon gear grants its appearance to every eligible looter when it drops, so nobody has to roll against someone who only wants the look. Epic raid appearances stay with whoever loots and binds the item.
• Transmog restrictions. Appearances are limited to the same armour type,
  low-level characters can't use appearances above their level, level
  restrictions lift at 60, and PvP appearances still require the rank.
• Improved environments, same art style. Rendering is being upgraded without replacing the look — flowing rivers, Duskwood fog, moonlight through Ashenvale.
• Official gamepad support.

Servers without realms

Forever drops named realms entirely. Instead of picking a server, players pick a
ruleset that works like a very large mega-realm:

• Normal/PvE — world PvP only when you opt in.
• PvP — contested zones keep involuntary faction combat.
• Roleplaying — for players who want an immersive, character-focused
  community.
• Hardcore — arriving after launch, with permanent death.

The point is to eliminate both classic failure modes: rolling on a small realm
that dies, or rolling on a huge one and sitting in launch queues. To keep realms
feeling like realms, Blizzard says players should repeatedly run into familiar
names, guildmates should be more likely to appear in the same version of the
outdoor world even before grouping, and choosing a language preference should
mean regularly encountering others who share it.

Horde and Alliance stay separate, cross-faction grouping isn't coming, and
dungeon and raid groups must come from the same ruleset. PvP rulesets will use
faction-balance mechanisms along the lines of those built for Season of Discovery.

Hardcore is a closed ecosystem: ordinary progress and collections can't be
imported into it, rewards earned there can become available on other rulesets,
and a dead Hardcore character can transfer out — now including to PvP, which is
new. Characters also get two-part names resembling a first and last name,
unique across the region rather than per-realm, which should make finding an
available identity far easier.

PvP: the Darkspear Islands

The original battlegrounds remain, joined by a new 15-versus-15 battleground on
the Darkspear Islands. Objectives resemble Eye of the Storm — control strategic
points around the map — with an Arathi Basin-style flag interaction for capturing
a position, then defending it until it's secured. Horde players fight alongside
the Darkspear trolls, while the Alliance deploys with the Theramore Expeditionary
Force. A broader new PvP system was teased without detail.

Itemization: unsolving the Classic gear meta

Itemizations is being reworked specifically to break up Classic's solved best-in-
slot lists. Hit chance is unified across melee, ranged, and spell attacks, and
critical strike chance likewise. Weapon skill remains but is less concentrated on
individual items and less overwhelmingly powerful. Healing gear also carries
bonus damage so healers can quest and play solo, caster weapons provide spell
damage and healing from around level 10, and new stats reduce the chance attacks are dodged or parried — aimed squarely at tanks. Resilience is not being added.

Between that, purpose-built hybrid gear, reworked world-drop epics, new world
epics, and situational trinkets and species- or location-specific bonuses, the
intent is for players to keep a collection of useful equipment rather than
following one universally optimal list.

Confirmed, and teased

Announced: the permanent level 60 world; four new regions; the Skyborn;
six new race/class combinations; nine dungeon-scale adventures; two new raids;
realm-less PvE, PvP, RP, and post-launch Hardcore rulesets; Legacy; camping;
600+ profession recipes; reworked talents, racials, itemisation, and quest
rewards; a new 15v15 battleground; optional transmog; and HD/SD character
presentation.

Teased but not detailed: Grim Batol and a growing red dragon presence; more
Azshara content around its unused crater; a revamped iconic Vanilla raid;
Forever's first new legendary; a larger redesigned PvP system; more Legacy trees and perks; further race/class combinations; and a possible entirely new class — "not off the table", but not announced. Future possibilities floated as creative opportunities rather than launch content included the Emerald Dream, Caverns of Time, Uldum, and Gilneas.

The takeaway

Forever is not a remaster, and it's not Classic Plus as people imagined it a year
ago. It's a second, permanently frozen branch of the game built on the vanilla
skeleton — with the same three-tree talents, the same slow tactical dungeons, and the same level 60 ceiling — where the additions are mostly about more world and more choices rather than higher numbers. The throughline in every panel was respect for the original shape of the game, down to letting players switch the
modern graphics back off.

Details come from Blizzard's BlizzCon panels for a game still in development and
are subject to change.