The Forever hype is ramping up as we’re getting more and more official content for it! Today it’s a big new player guide.
Blizzard start with the basics of accounts, subscriptions, installation, etc. before getting into some of the new stuff. The first new step is deciding the visual and interface presentation, whether you want it to be like Classic or the new and updated version of Forever. This covers HD models, quest objectives on the map, transmog, bag and other UI upgrades etc. Then there’s the ruleset, which will determine your PvP preferences and which players you’ll be playing with. The rest is the basics of WoW with a few new additions, with some tips for starting out as well.
Your first steps in Azeroth begin with a few meaningful choices: how you want to play, who your character will become, and where curiosity will lead you. From setting up your account to joining other adventurers, the fundamentals below will help you begin with confidence while leaving discovery in your hands.
Before You Begin
- Create your Battle.net account. Sign up at the Battle.net Login, or visit the Battle.net Shop and select Account, then Create Account. Verify your email, choose a secure password, and consider enabling two-factor authentication.
- Subscribe or purchase Game Time. World of Warcraft: Forever is included with an active World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time.
- Install and launch the game. Download the Battle.net desktop app, sign in, install World of Warcraft, and select World of Warcraft: Forever from the available game versions.
- Check your setup. You can play on Windows or Mac with a keyboard and mouse. Controller support is also available in a beta state for players who prefer a gamepad. Before installing, review the current system requirements.
Select Your Experience Preset
The first time you log in to World of Warcraft: Forever, you’ll be asked to Choose Your Experience Preset. You’ll make this choice before selecting your Ruleset.
| Classic
A more traditional presentation with simpler visuals, standard character models, and fewere modern interface features enabled by default for a cleaner, more original-style experience with less automatic guidance.
Starting Settings:
| Enhanced
An updated presentation with higher visual fidelity and additional interface features enabled by default.
Starting Settings:
|
If you are not sure which to choose, start with Enhanced. The preset gives you a convenient starting point rather than locking in your choices, and you can change its individual settings later under Game Menu > Options. After your initial log in to the game, you will no longer see this screen.
Choose Your Ruleset
In World of Warcraft: Forever, you choose a Ruleset before you create your character based on the type of experience you want to have in the game. Your choice determines how Player versus Player (PvP) combat works and what community conventions apply. Normal, PvP, Roleplay, and Roleplay-PvP are available at launch, with Hardcore planned for a later release:
- Normal: Focus on adventuring and fighting monsters, with player-versus-player combat available at your discretion.
- PvP: Focus on player-versus-player combat, with the risk of being attacked by opposing players through much of the open world.
- Roleplay: Enter a community with naming and behavior rules intended for players who want to immerse themselves as characters in a fantasy world.
- Roleplay-PvP: Join an immersive roleplaying community while also facing the danger of open-world conflict with the opposing faction.
- Hardcore (coming later): Take on a high-stakes challenge where every decision matters and a character’s journey can end with death. Additional details and timing will be shared later.
Characters can group, join guilds, run dungeons, and raid only with players on the same Ruleset and faction. If you want to play with friends, agree on both choices before creating your characters. If you are unsure where to begin, Normal offers a welcoming place to learn.
Create Your First Character
Your faction—Alliance or Horde—determines which communities, cities, and stories your character begins with. Your race determines your appearance, starting location, and racial abilities. Your class determines how you play: whether you fight up close, attack from a distance, cast spells, protect a group, heal allies, or combine several roles. Take some time to read through the available options and information in the character creation screen to learn more about each.
Skyborne: At character creation, you’ll choose whether your Skyborne joins the Horde or the Alliance, reflecting a people with shared ancestry but different visions for the future. Horde-aligned Skyborne embrace elemental traditions and gain access to the Shaman class, while Alliance-aligned Skyborne pursue the arcane legacy of their ancestors and gain access to the Mage class. Both begin on Zephras Isle, a level 1–12 starting zone. Skyborne access requires the purchase of the Heroic Pack or higher digital upgrades.
Each time you create a new character, you can select either High Definition (HD) or Standard Definition (SD) character models and animations. HD uses higher-detail models and updated visuals, while SD offers the style associated with the original look of World of Warcraft. This character-specific choice affects only appearance—not abilities or progression—and you can change it later in the Options Menu or by visiting a Barbershop in game.
WoW: Forever uses a two-name system: a main name and a secondary name. The complete combination must be unique within your region. You can hide your secondary name under Options > Nameplates > My Secondary Name, though it still appears in chat. Learn more about character names.
Take Your First Steps
Once you enter the world, look for characters with an exclamation point above their heads—they have quests to share. Accepting a quest adds it to your Quest Log which will show objectives automatically on your screen. At a certain point, not all of your quests might appear in the tracker. To see your complete Quest Log, you can press Hotkey-L to open the interface. From there, you can select a quest to review its story and objectives and Track or Untrack quests and their objectives you want to see (or not see) in the quest tracker on your screen. You can also Abandon a quest if your Quest Log gets too full to make room for new quests.
Tracked quests display your current objectives and progress as you explore. Press Hotkey-M to open the world map and view quest markers and highlighted objective areas; the minimap also points toward nearby objectives. If the tracker becomes crowded, open the quest log and untrack quests you are not currently pursuing. A question mark above a character means a completed quest is ready to turn in.
Take time to read the quest text when you can. It reveals more of the stories in the area and often offers useful clues. There is no need to hurry: follow a side road, speak with unfamiliar characters, and let curiosity lead the way—but watch the level of nearby enemies when you leave the road.
To customize your interface, press Escape to open the Game Menu, then select Options. From there, you can adjust controls and key bindings, action bars, nameplates, chat, audio, graphics, accessibility features, and other display settings. Start with the defaults, then explore the tools available to help you make the most of your time in Azeroth.
Learn the Basics of Combat
Your action bar contains the abilities you use in battle. Place frequently used abilities where they are comfortable to reach and read each tooltip to understand what it does. As you gain levels, visit a class trainer to learn new abilities and strengthen your character.
Find Your Spells and Abilities
Press Hotkey-P to open your Spellbook, where you can review the spells and abilities your character has learned. Drag an ability from the Spellbook to an action-bar slot for quick access during play; you can also assign or change its key binding under Game Menu > Options > Keybindings.
Keep an eye on your health and resources and carry food or drink to recover between fights. Innkeepers sell food and drink, and they can bind your Hearthstone to their inn so you can return there later. Pull one enemy at a time while you learn, try out your different abilities to deal damage to opponents and keep yourself alive, and do not be discouraged by defeat. Returning to your body and trying again is part of every adventurer’s story.
If your character dies, once your spirit releases, you will find yourself at a nearby graveyard. To reclaim your body, follow the corpse marker on your minimap or open the world map with Hotkey-M to find it. When your spirit is close enough, select Resurrect to return to life near your body. Choose where you resurrect wisely. Try to find a safe spot away from whatever may have caused your demise in the first place.
You can also speak with the Spirit Healer at the graveyard to resurrect there if getting to your body proves too difficult. This option damages the durability of your equipment and may apply Resurrection Sickness, a temporary effect that greatly reduces your effectiveness. You’ll want to avoid engaging in any combat until it expires and make sure to repair your gear as soon as you can.
Equip Gear and Manage Your Bags
Quests and defeated enemies reward weapons, armor, and useful supplies. Hover your mouse pointer over an item in your bags to read its tooltip; when it can replace equipped gear, the comparison shows both items so you can review armor, damage, attributes, level requirements, and other effects. A higher-quality item is not always the best choice, so also check armor type, weapon compatibility, and the attributes useful to your class.
To equip an item, right-click it in your bags or drag it onto the matching slot in your Character panel. Press Hotkey-C to open that panel and review your equipped gear.
To buy or sell items, right-click a merchant or vendor. Right-click an item in the shop to purchase it, or right-click an item in your bags while the shop is open to sell it. If you sell something by mistake, check the Buyback tab before leaving. Vendors with an anvil icon can also repair damaged equipment for a fee.
Bag space fills quickly, so sell unwanted items in town and store materials you want to keep in a bank. Items with gray-quality names have no further use and can be safely sold to a vendor. If you are unsure whether another item matters, its tooltip is the best place to start.
Choose Professions
Professions let you gather materials, craft useful goods, and contribute features at campsites. Each character can learn two primary professions and all three secondary professions.
Gathering: Herbalism collects herbs, Mining gathers ore and stone, and Skinning collects leather and hides.
Crafting: Alchemy makes potions; Blacksmithing forges weapons and armor; Enchanting enhances gear; Engineering builds gadgets; Leatherworking crafts leather and mail armor; and Tailoring creates cloth gear and bags.
Secondary professions: Cooking prepares food, Fishing catches useful ingredients, and First Aid creates survival supplies.
Press Hotkey-K to open the Professions interface, where you can view your learned professions, skill levels, recipes, required materials, and available crafts. Select a profession and choose a recipe to see what it requires and create the item when you have the necessary materials and tools.
To learn or advance a profession, speak with the appropriate profession trainer in a starting area or major city. Trainers teach the profession, its first recipes, and higher ranks as your character level and profession skill increase. If you cannot find one, ask a city guard for directions and follow the marker on your map.
Adventure with Others
Azeroth is even better with company. Invite nearby players to a party, join a guild, or use chat to ask for help. Grouping can make difficult quests more manageable and opens the door to dungeons—instanced adventures filled with enemies, bosses, and valuable rewards.
Campsites bring players together in the open world. Stop to rest and prepare, share profession-made benefits, trade with fellow adventurers, or meet companions who may join your next journey.
Express Yourself with Emotes
Emotes let your character communicate through gestures and short text. Type a slash command in chat—such as /wave, /cheer, /dance, or /thank—and press Enter. You can also type /emote followed by your own action to create a custom text emote.
Dungeon groups are generally made of five player groups—a tank who draws enemy attention, a healer who keeps the party standing, and damage dealers (DPS) who work together to defeat the creatures within. Be patient with yourself and others. Every seasoned adventurer once entered a dungeon for the first time.
If you’re looking for companions, a guiding hand, or just some information, you can also join the official WoW Portal Room on Discord. Learn more in our article.
Explore Azeroth
Your journey can take you through the forests, deserts, mountains, and cities of Azeroth. Skyborne begin on Zephras Isle, while later adventures may lead you into the Riverglades, the mysteries of Shen’Dralas, and the heights of Mount Hyjal. Dungeons appear across a range of levels, giving you reasons to leave familiar paths behind.
Make the Journey Your Own
There is no single correct way to play. Follow the main roads or chart your own route. Collect appearances, practice a profession, seek rare creatures, join a roleplaying community, test your skill in PvP, or gather with friends at a campsite.
Take time to adjust your interface, key bindings, audio, and accessibility settings. A comfortable setup makes it easier to focus on the world and learn at your own speed.
Five Tips for Your First Adventure
- Read ability tooltips and quest text; both teach you how the world works.
- Keep your Hearthstone nearby and visit flight masters to learn flight paths that make distant travel easier.
- Repair your equipment, sell unwanted items, and save coin for training, bags, and travel.
- Ask for help when a quest feels difficult.
- Try another class if your first choice does not feel right—and remember that discovery is at the heart of WoW: Forever.
Your Adventure Begins
Every legend in Azeroth begins with a new character, a handful of abilities, and a road stretching toward the unknown. Choose your path to discovery. Adventure calls in World of Warcraft: Forever.
