Guide 06 · What's new

What changed since Classic

The WoW: Forever changes returning Classic players will notice.

Our one recommendation

Treat it as a new game. Read your class's Blizzard deep dive before you hit level 10.

It looks like 2004, but a lot of abilities, talents, stats and items work differently. Blizzard calls Forever "not a mode, a season, or a new version of Classic." A little reading up front saves a lot of confusion later.

The world

  • New zones and regions: Mount Hyjal, Shen'dralas, the Riverglades, and Zephras Isle, with more than 1,000 new quests across levels 1–60. [source]
  • Nine new dungeons, including the Hall of Thanes, the Ruins of Lordaeron, and the City of Dalaran. [source]
  • New raids: Barrow Deeps (10 players) and Hyjal Summit (20 players). New raids unlock December 9. [source]
  • New 15-vs-15 battleground: Darkspear Islands. [source]
  • Still no flying and no level scaling. [source]

Characters and classes

  • New race: the Skyborne, who pick Horde or Alliance at character creation. [source] Access to the Skyborne race is in the paid Skyborne packs. [source]
  • New race and class combinations: Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Orc Mage, Troll Warlock, Undead Paladin. [source]
  • Talents start at level 10, with new 16-point talents added to the familiar 11, 21 and 31-point ones. Dual Specialization unlocks at level 40. [source]
  • Buffs that used to come from talents, like Blessing of Kings, Improved Mark of the Wild and Divine Spirit, are now standard for those classes. [source]
  • Every race now has two active and two passive racial abilities. [source]

Gear and stats

  • Spell, melee and ranged hit are now one stat, and so is critical strike chance. [source]
  • Bonus healing now also gives one third as much bonus damage, which helps healers quest. [source]
  • Caster weapons now give spell damage and healing. [source]
  • Unique dungeon boss items are now blue (rare) quality. [source]
  • Riding works like Burning Crusade: you pay for the training and get a mount when you learn the skill. [source]

Systems

  • Rulesets instead of realms, and two-part character names. [source]
  • Camping and over 600 new profession recipes. [source]
  • The Legacy System for leveling more than one character. [source]
  • Optional transmog, which you can switch off completely. [source]
Unverified Still beta. Blizzard says class abilities and talents "may continue to evolve throughout the beta test." Anything here could change before or after November 4. [source]
Related: Class changes in practice: Best class and the new Skyborne race. New systems: Legacy builds and rulesets instead of realms.

Sources

Last checked against these sources: October 21, 2026. WoW: Forever is in beta, and Blizzard says classes and talents may still change.

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