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World of Warcraft: Forever

Release date, beta builds, and every change Blizzard has made — compiled from the game client, not from rumours. Nothing here is copied from other sites; every claim links to where it came from.

Launches in
47days
21hrs
48min
51sec

Key facts

Announced
BlizzCon 2026, 12–13 SeptemberBlizzard Watch, 12 Sep 2026, Game Informer, 12 Sep 2026
Beta
17 September – 21 October 2026, level cap 30Icy Veins, Game Informer, 16 Sep 2026
Launch
4 November 2026, 3pm Pacific, worldwideBlizzard Watch, 12 Sep 2026, Icy Veins
First raids
9 December 2026 — Depths of the Barrow (10), Peak of Mount Hyjal (20), Onyxia's Lair (40)Icy Veins roadmap
Price
Included with a World of Warcraft subscriptionIcy Veins, Massively Overpowered, 12 Sep 2026
Level cap
60, permanentlyMassively Overpowered, 12 Sep 2026, Game Informer, 12 Sep 2026
Talents
Vanilla shape — three trees, 51 points — with about a quarter of talents new and half rewrittenPC Gamer, Inven Global
New race
The Skyborne, a neutral elven raceGame Informer, 12 Sep 2026
New zones
Mount Hyjal, Zephras Isle, The Riverglades; ~1,000 new quests; 9 dungeonsGame Informer, 12 Sep 2026
Itemization
Hit and crit unified into single ratings; healing gear grants a third of its value as spell damageInven Global

Beta builds

Every client build Blizzard has pushed. Our data is compiled from the newest one.

  • 1.60.1.69893currentSep 16, 2026
  • 1.60.1.69876Sep 16, 2026

Talents vs Classic Era

113
added
295
rewritten / moved
77
removed
See every change, class by class →

What changed, by class

9 classes · 468 talents in the current build

Timeline

  1. Sep 17, 2026

    Beta opens with a level 30 cap

    The Forever beta went live with characters capped at 30, which means the endgame numbers you see in our calculators come from client data rather than from anyone's live testing. Beta runs until 21 October.

    Sources: Icy Veins, Game Informer, 16 Sep 2026

  2. Sep 16, 2026

    Developers answer the big questions: a permanent home, seasonal content, no rush to 60

    Blizzard framed Forever as a third pillar next to Retail and Classic: the cap stays at 60 for good, content arrives seasonally through 2027, and the design goal is the journey rather than a race to endgame.

    Sources: Game Informer, 16 Sep 2026, Massively Overpowered, 12 Sep 2026

  3. Sep 14, 2026

    Deep dive: every talent tree reworked, stats unified

    The deep-dive panel confirmed what our data shows: passive stat talents are gone in favour of ones that change how you play, new nodes sit at the 16-point mark, and hit and crit collapse into single stats shared by melee, ranged and spells.

    Sources: Inven Global, PC Gamer

  4. Sep 12, 2026

    World of Warcraft: Forever announced at BlizzCon

    Blizzard unveiled its long-rumoured Classic-plus: vanilla Azeroth expanded with three new zones, around a thousand new quests, nine dungeons, new raids and a neutral elven race, the Skyborne, launching worldwide on 4 November with no extra purchase.

    Sources: Blizzard Watch, 12 Sep 2026, Game Informer, 12 Sep 2026

Frequently asked

What is World of Warcraft: Forever?
Forever is Blizzard's new permanent version of vanilla-era World of Warcraft, announced at BlizzCon 2026. It keeps the level 60 cap and the original talent trees but adds new zones, quests, dungeons, raids, a new race and reworked talents and items, with more content arriving seasonally.
When does WoW Forever release?
Launch is 4 November 2026 at 3pm Pacific time, worldwide. The first raids open on 9 December 2026.
When is the WoW Forever beta?
The beta started on 17 September 2026 with a level 30 cap and runs until 21 October 2026.
Does WoW Forever cost extra?
No. It is included with a standard World of Warcraft subscription.
Is there a WoW Forever talent calculator?
Yes — DamageMeters has a calculator for all nine classes built from the beta client's own data, updated every build, with every rank's tooltip and shareable links.
How are Forever's talents different from Classic?
The trees keep the vanilla shape (three trees, 51 points) but Blizzard replaced passive stat talents with gameplay-changing ones and added new nodes at the 16-point mark. Our data shows 113 added, 77 removed and 295 rewritten or moved talents versus Classic Era.