WoW: Forever—What’s New and What Feels Familiar

From a well-fought battle to a look that feels uniquely yours, the moments that matter in WoW are personal. World of Warcraft: Forever gives you another setting for those interests, whether you play the modern game, prefer Classic, haven’t logged in for a while, or are getting to know Warcraft for the first time. If you play the modern game, some elements will feel familiar, while others take a different approach. Here’s a look at the controls, content, and character choices that can help you decide what you’d like to try. Controls and Conveniences Experience Presets bundle the game’s initial visual and interface settings into two options: Classic and Enhanced. The choice affects presentation, not which Ruleset you play on. Individual settings remain adjustable in Game Menu > Options. Enhanced puts several conveniences within easy reach for players accustomed to modern WoW: Quest guidance: Points of interest and marked objective areas help you find where to go next. One-bag view: See your inventory together rather than opening each bag separately. Transmog: Keep character appearance part of your adventure. Movement and layout: Start with keyboard bindings for strafing and a centralized screen layout. Character visuals: Begin with high-definition character models. Classic starts with standard-definition character models, a classic screen layout, and keyboard bindings for camera turning. Quest guidance, one-bag view, and transmog are turned off by default. You can favor that presentation without giving up the option to adjust individual settings. The preset names describe defaults, not player skill. For more information during combat, Advanced options in WoW: Forever provide access to elements such as the Cooldown Manager and a Damage Meter. Alongside the preset settings, these tools give you more ways to configure your interface around how you play. A controller offers another way to explore, use your abilities, and play with a group. In WoW: Forever, you can use a gamepad to select allies and enemies, cast spells, collect loot, and navigate menus. Gamepad support is available in a beta state, with more improvements to come. You’ll still need a keyboard for tasks such as chat. More to Explore at Levels 1–60 The Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor provide the setting for leveling to 60. New and expanded zones, quests, and character options build on original WoW’s foundation, giving explorers more to investigate across these continents, but sticks to a level cap of 60 without going beyond. This leaves room for an expanding game without an expansion of levels. Nine new five-player dungeons cover levels 13 through 60, adding threats and quests throughout the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. For players who enjoy working through encounters with a party, that means new group content to seek out during leveling and at the level cap. The Skyborne add another perspective as a new playable race with a starting experience on Zephras Isle. At character creation, choose Horde-aligned Windshaper Skyborne or Alliance-aligned High Order Skyborne. Story fans can get to know these people through their own unique introduction. Same Class, Familiar Races, Different Toolkit A familiar class name is a starting point, not a guarantee of the same build or combat rhythm you use in the modern game. Here, classes are revisited with talent and ability updates rooted in original WoW, giving you another way to explore their identities. Hunters, for example, can use traps in combat, and their pets gain definition through gear scaling and unique family abilities. If you already enjoy adventuring with a companion, these changes offer a reason to get to know your Hunter again. Read your abilities, try different tools, and leave room for discoveries rather than expecting your approach in the modern game to be an exact fit. New race-and-class combinations offer more ways to revisit a favorite class. Play an Undead Paladin, Dwarf Shaman, Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Orc Mage, or Troll Warlock—options added to the original WoW lineup. A different pairing could be just the inspiration for your next character. Racial abilities have also been updated, giving you another reason to consider how your race and class come together. Learn more in our article. Progress Beyond Your Level The Legacy System adds account-wide progression through challenges, Legacy Points, character-specific perks, and cosmetic rewards. Each character can spend points differently across Professions, Adventure, and Resourcefulness, so your interests can help shape how you use the system. At launch, each character can spend up to 16 Legacy Points. You can reach that spending cap on a single character; creating alternate characters isn’t required. If you enjoy exploring different classes and professions, you have room to do so—but a favorite character can benefit, too. Camping gives you another reason to pause along the road. Campsites and profession features bring players together out in the world, and sitting briefly by a campfire to become rested lets you receive campsite buffs before setting out again. Choose your spot with care: stopping to rest doesn’t put the dangers of Azeroth on hold. Coordinate Before Character Creation You choose a Ruleset rather than selecting from a traditional list of realms. Normal, PvP, Roleplay-PvP, and Roleplay offer different starting choices, with Hardcore planned to follow a little after launch. Before creating characters with friends, agree on both your Ruleset and faction. Characters can group, join guilds, run dungeons, and raid together only within the same Ruleset and faction. It’s worth making that choice together so your first adventures begin in the same community. Players on PvP realms are restricted to one faction, so choose your allegiance wisely. Room for Both, on Your Terms As you settle into WoW: Forever, the modern game can stay part of your mix, too. Your World of Warcraft Subscription or Game Time gives you access to both, so an evening with friends here can sit alongside a favorite activity there. Keep the plans you look forward to and see where the next session takes you. Whichever character you log in with, we’re glad to share Azeroth with you. Learn more about World of Warcraft: Forever here on the official news site.