WoW Forever day-one launch checklist

The dates that matter

• Early name reservation

  October 27 – November 3

  North America from 1:00 p.m. PDT on October 27, Europe from 18:00 CET the same day, Korea and Taiwan from 07:00 local time on October 28.

  Confirmed Blizzard Entertainment

• Launch

  November 4, 3:00 p.m. PST

  Global launch. Access comes with a normal World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time; the upgrade packs are optional.

  Confirmed Blizzard News

• Invite-A-Friend week

  November 4 – November 11

  Upgrade packs include Invite-A-Friend Launch Codes that let a friend play during launch week.

  Confirmed Blizzard News

Times in your own zone: the release date page converts the launch time.

Before launch

1. Reserve your names (October 27 – November 3)

• Confirmed Only accounts with a pre-purchased Skyborne Heroic Pack, Skyborne Epic Pack or Warcraft Forever Collection (or the Collector's Edition) can reserve names. The benefit stays on the account it was bought for. Blizzard Entertainment
• Confirmed You can create up to three characters in total across all rulesets during reservation. Two on PvP leaves one for Normal or Roleplay. The limit only applies to the reservation window. Blizzard Entertainment
• Confirmed Every character has two names, a first name and a second name. The full pair must be unique in your region, so a first name someone else took can still be yours with a different second name. Blizzard News
• Confirmed There is no realm list. You pick a ruleset: Normal, PvP, Roleplaying or Roleplay-PvP at launch, with Roleplay-PvP also planned for name reservation. Hardcore follows some time after launch. Blizzard Entertainment
• Confirmed Grouping, dungeons and raids only work within one ruleset, and Horde and Alliance still cannot group. Battlegrounds can mix rulesets, except Hardcore. Blizzard Entertainment
• Confirmed Names are first come, first served, and Blizzard does not guarantee any name. Blizzard Entertainment

Have two or three first-and-second-name pairs ready before the window opens, and decide your ruleset first: a character made on one ruleset cannot group with friends on another.

2. Install the client

1. Update your graphics drivers.
2. Install or update the Battle.net desktop app.
3. Select World of Warcraft, then pick World of Warcraft: Forever in the Game Version menu above the Play button and install it.
4. Press Play, choose your ruleset and create your characters.

Confirmed Install steps as Blizzard lists them in the name reservation post. Blizzard Entertainment

3. Set up addons

Install and test addons before launch night, not during it. Our addon list tracks which ones work in Forever, and theWoW Forever Builds addon puts our talent guides and the leveling route inside the game.

4. Pick a class and a race

• Not sure what to play? The class quiz matches a class and spec to how you like to play.
• The best race by class table compares racials for each class.
• Leveling speed matters to you? See the best leveling class ranking.

5. Plan the road

• The 1–60 route for Alliance or Horde, zone by zone.
• Your class's leveling guide, with the talent order level by level.
• The Legacy planner, if your account will have Legacy Points to spend.
• The power spikes worth a detour on the way to 60.

The first hour

• Datamined New characters get a quest called The Great Outdoors: sit at a Basic Campfire until a buff called Boosted Rest lands. It is the introduction to camping. Daybreak Forever datamine
• Datamined The Camping 101 quests that follow teach your profession's first camp feature once you have some skill in it. There are 87 of them across twelve professions. Daybreak Forever datamine
• Datamined Cooked food that makes you well fed also adds 5% to the experience you get from kills, so eat before long sessions from level 1. Daybreak Forever datamine
• Classic fallback Class trainers teach new spells and ranks at even levels, which is the rhythm Classic used. Plan a trainer stop every two levels. Warcraft Wiki

Our order for the first hour: do the starting quests, learn Cooking and Fishing at the first trainer you pass, and keep the first gathering profession going from the start so the materials pay for your trainer visits.

The first ten levels

• Datamined Talent points start at level 10. The Talented Legacy perk moves that to level 5, which only helps if your account already has Legacy Points to spend. Daybreak Forever datamine
• Reported Every starting zone has a fishing trainer beside water, and Journeyman Fishing opens at 50 skill and level 10. Fishing is a secondary profession, so it never costs a slot. wow-professions.com

By level 10 you should have your first talent point to spend, two professions with some skill, and a first camp feature at 20 skill not far off. Dungeons open soon after:Hall of Thanes (13–18), Ragefire Chasm (13–19), Ruins of Lordaeron (15–20). Whether to run them or keep questing is on the dungeons or questing page.

What to buy, and what to save for

• Datamined The new mounts sold in the files need level 40 and cost 20 gold for the 60% versions, and 200 gold at level 60 for the 100% versions. The riding training price is not in the files. Daybreak Forever datamine
• Classic fallback Classic charged 20 gold for training plus 80 gold for the mount at 40. Use it as a floor for your savings until Forever's training price is known. Icy Veins
• Confirmed Riding follows the Burning Crusade cost model: the gold goes into riding training and you are given a mount when you learn it. Pack mounts like the Cerulean Prideclaw still need the riding skill bought in game. Blizzard Entertainment · Blizzard News
• Datamined Two Legacy perks save gold at vendors: Bartering takes 10% off vendor prices at its first rank, and Reagent Economy removes vendor reagents from class abilities and makes Tier 1 camp features free to craft. Daybreak Forever datamine

• Buy: your class ranks at every even level, and lures if you fish. Both are cheap and pay back at once.
• Save: riding at 40. It is the largest single purchase of the climb and the biggest speed gain.
• Skip: green gear from the Auction House in the first twenty levels. Quest rewards replace it quickly at that stage.

More on the riding numbers on the mounts page, and on earning the gold on the gold guide.

Gathering professions from the starting zone

Forever lets a new character pick up a gathering profession without walking to a trainer. In Northshire it comes from a book the kobolds have been chewing on.

• Reported The Nibbled-On Book drops from the kobolds in Northshire, most often from the level 1-2 Kobold Vermin, and starts a quest when you open it. The drop is not guaranteed, so expect a few kills. All Things How
• Reported You hand the book to Brother Paxton in Northshire Abbey, and the chain runs through eight quests: Nibbled-On Book, Rascally Rodents, Mining Consultant, The Big Picture, Follow That Kobold!, Shhh! We're Hunting Kobolds, Book Return and Rare Books. All Things How · Daybreak Forever datamine
• Reported The final reward is a choice of profession manuals for Mining, Skinning or Herbalism instead of a weapon or armor piece. Icy Veins · All Things How
• Reported One of the chain's steps, Rascally Rodents, asks for Stolen Books that the kobolds are eating. Testers found the drop rate low, so the chain costs extra kills, and those kills are experience too. All Things How · Daybreak Forever datamine

The three manuals

Datamined Each manual raises its skill by 2 and cannot take it past 15. If you have not trained the profession and know fewer than two others, reading it teaches you the profession on the spot. Daybreak Forever datamine

Other early profession quests

• Datamined Mining Consultant: talk to the mining apprentice Kelsey Fargo outside the Echo Ridge Mine in Northshire. It is part of the book chain. Daybreak Forever datamine
• Datamined Rough Wolf Pelts: skin wolves around Elwynn Forest for 7 Rough Wolf Pelts and bring them to Helene Peltskinner near Goldshire. Daybreak Forever datamine
• Datamined My First Alchemy Set: bring 5 Empty Vials, 5 Silverleaf and 5 Peacebloom to a young would-be alchemist in the Moonbrook barn in Westfall. Daybreak Forever datamine
• Datamined Camping 101: Mining, Herbalism and Skinning send you to a trainer for your first camp feature. The Dun Morogh versions name Yarr Hammerstone in Kharanos, Reyna Stonebranch and Balthus Stoneflayer in Ironforge. Daybreak Forever datamine
• Datamined New starter bags for gatherers are in the files, an Apprentice's Mining Pack and an Apprentice's Skinning Satchel. Where they come from is not. Daybreak Forever datamine

A first pair for leveling gold

Our picks for the two primary professions of a leveling character. Crafting can wait until you have the materials and the gold to feed it.

• Mining + Skinning: The fighting pair: Made of Metal adds 5% health and Beasts of the Wild 5% damage to beasts and dragonkin, and both raw materials sell from day one.
• Herbalism + Mining: The gold pair: herbs and ore are what crafters need in launch week, and you pick both up without leaving your route.
• Skinning + Herbalism: For classes that kill a lot of beasts and want herbs for their own potions later.

Reported Profession perk names and effects are a community transcription of in-game tooltips, not confirmed by Blizzard. nikftw

Fishing and Cooking are secondary and free on top of the pair. The fishing guide covers 1–300, and theprofession guides cover the rest.

Launch day: queues and timing

• Reported The beta opened on September 17 to hours-long queues. Players also reported disconnects and being routed to other regions, and Blizzard said it was working through final issues. GosuGamers
• Confirmed The Skyborne race and its Zephras Isle start need the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a higher edition. Blizzard News

• Patch and log in to the character screen well before 3:00 p.m. PST, so a client update does not cost you your place.
• If you reserved names, your characters are waiting. If not, have a second and third name pair ready in case the first is taken.
• Expect crowded starting zones. Grouping up for kill quests is faster than waiting for spawns alone.
• Use the Invite-A-Friend code from your upgrade pack before November 11 if you have one.

Not known yet

• Whether races other than Humans get their own version of the Nibbled-On Book chain. We only found it in Northshire's quest data.
• How many Legacy Points a brand-new account has on day one, and so whether Talented is in reach for your first character.
• The riding training price at 40 and 60.
• How long launch-day queues will be. The beta's first night is the only evidence so far.

Spotted a change after launch? Let us know and we will update the checklist.

Launch checklist FAQ