The Forever Launch Checklist

Updated September 18, 2026Beta ends October 21, 2026Launch November 4, 2026

The dates

Before the day

Sort the account, not the character

• An active subscription or game time covering November 4. Forever is included with the ordinary WoW subscription — there is no separate box to buy in order to play it.
• Decide on an upgrade pack, or decide against it. The packs are what unlock early name reservation, and the Skyborne race is reported at $29.99 to unlock. If neither matters to you, the base subscription still gets you in on launch day.
• Pre-download before the 3rd. A 3:00 p.m. launch with a patch still downloading is how people miss the first evening.

Write nine names, not three

Names in Forever are two parts, a first and a last, and they are unique across the whole region rather than per realm. That is a far larger name space than Classic ever had, so the usual land grab should be gentler — but a reservation slot spent staring at a name generator is a slot wasted. Three characters, three candidate pairs each.

Pick the playstyle before you pick the class

This is the choice people underestimate. Normal, PvP and Roleplay are separate ecosystems inside your region: separate populations, separate markets, no mixing between them. Changing your mind later is not a /whisper away.

• Faction — mail and trade are same-faction only, so it decides who can hand you anything, including anything you buy.
• Class and race — six new combinations open at launch, Undead Paladins among them, and the Skyborne can play either faction with slightly different racials on each side.
• Professions — the collected advice from everyone covering the beta agrees here: gathering first. Raw materials sell instantly in week one, while crafted goods are still competing with quest greens and the good recipes sit behind blueprints you have not found yet.

Launch day itself

• Expect layering, not queues. One world per region means the crowd is spread across layers of the same zone rather than parked in a login queue. Two people in the same spot may not see each other; a party invite pulls you onto the same layer.
• If you rolled Skyborne, Zephras Isle is the starter zone and carries you to about 12.
• Leave the auction house alone on day one. There is nothing in it and the prices are nonsense in both directions.
• Start gathering from the first mob. The Legacy profession tree has a perk worth up to 20% more scarce materials, points are account-wide, and the sooner you earn them the longer they pay.

The first weeks

The nine new dungeons are spread across the whole levelling range rather than stacked at the end: Hall of Thanes at 13–18, Ruins of Lordaeron at 15–20, Excavation Site at 24–29, City of Dalaran at 28–33, The Drowned City at 35–40, Krol'Dok Stronghold at 40–45, Alcaz Island Prison at 48–53, then Blackmaw Hold and Shaper's Terrace at the top. Riverglades is built for the mid-30s to mid-40s, and Mount Hyjal is the endgame levelling zone.

Blueprints drop from dungeon bosses, which makes the levelling dungeons profession content as well. A group that runs them on the way up arrives at 60 with recipes nobody who skipped them can buy.

The money question

Keep a reserve for riding training and do not commit it to the auction house early. The number is official now: 100 gold for the first tier of riding and 1,000 for the top one, mount included. Blizzard has not said which levels those unlock at, so plan for the money rather than for a date.

At today's rate a thousand gold is $860.00 if you buy it — which is exactly why most people farm it instead. Worth knowing before you decide which of the two you are doing.

If you intend to buy gold rather than farm it, the arithmetic is not in launch week's favour: supply is at its lowest on November 4 and rises every week after. The economy piece works through why, and the price tracker shows the market as it actually moves. Note also that Blizzard used the September 17 Q&A to say it will come down harder on gold buyers in Forever than it has before.

Three things not to do

• Do not buy beta gold. It is wiped on October 21 along with the character holding it. The full explanation →
• Do not trust a realm list. Any site still offering you Forever realms is describing a game that was cancelled before it shipped.
• Do not wait for a Token. Blizzard has ruled out both the Token and paid boosts. There is no official way to turn money into Forever gold, and there will not be one.