WoW Forever Launches November 4: Beta, Name Reservation and Raid Dates

Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Forever at BlizzCon on September 12 and published its schedule the same day. These are the dates it has confirmed so far, all in Pacific time:

Names are reserved first come, first served, and Blizzard notes that a desired name can't be guaranteed. Invite-A-Friend codes don't include beta access.

Access to WoW Forever is included with a World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time. Three optional upgrade editions are sold on the Battle.net Shop, and they differ in more than cosmetics:

• Skyborne Heroic Pack: access to the new Skyborne race and its Zephras Isle starting area, Early Name Reservation, the Cerulean Prideclaw ground mount (riding skill bought in game), cosmetics, housing decor and one Invite-A-Friend code.
• Skyborne Epic Pack: everything above, plus beta access, 30 days of Game Time starting November 4, more cosmetics, pets, tabards and three Invite-A-Friend codes in total.
• Warcraft Forever Collection (limited time): everything in the Epic Pack, plus Warcraft III: Reforged, the Forsaken Kingdom campaign and two figurine decor items for housing in modern WoW.

Blizzard lists access to the Skyborne race and Zephras Isle among the upgrade editions' contents, so check your edition before you plan a Skyborne character.

Forever is set after Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom and before Molten Core. The level cap is 60, and Blizzard counts more than a thousand new quests across the 1–60 journey, including new and reimagined regions: Mount Hyjal, Shen'dralas between Mulgore and Desolace, the Riverglades with more than 150 quests for roughly levels 35 to 45, and Zephras Isle, the Skyborne starting area for levels 1–12.

The Skyborne choose a faction at character creation: Horde Skyborne can be Shamans, Alliance Skyborne can be Mages, and both can be Warriors, Hunters, Rogues and Druids, with their own Druid forms.

Blizzard's announcement names nine new dungeons: The Hall of Thanes beneath Ironforge, Ruins of Lordaeron, an excavation site above Whelgar's Excavation (tested in the beta as Excavation Site: Wetlands), City of Dalaran, Blackmaw Hold, The Drowned City, Krol'dok Stronghold, Alcaz Prison and Shaper's Terrace. It hasn't said whether all nine open on launch day.

Around the leveling journey sit the new systems: Legacy progression for alts, Camping (player-made campfires with shared buffs), opt-in Transmog, HD and SD character models, and official gamepad support. Blizzard has also ruled out flying mounts and level scaling. What's New in WoW Forever compares each system with Classic Era.

The roadmap unlocks three raids on December 9, five weeks after launch: two new ones, Hyjal Summit for 20 players and the Barrow Deeps, planned as a maximum-level 10-player challenge, and the original 40-player Onyxia's Lair. Blizzard promises new tier sets and a legendary reward it has yet to reveal in full.

After that, the roadmap lists more raids and dungeons, PvP updates, more quests, Hardcore and a revamped iconic raid, all without dates so far. The 15-versus-15 Darkspear Islands battleground has no date yet either.

• Decide on names before October 27 if you bought an upgrade: the reservation window lets you create up to three characters, and names go to whoever claims them first. The three count across all rulesets, and a character can't change ruleset later; see WoW Forever Name Reservation Opens October 27, With a New Roleplay-PvP Ruleset.
• Plan your talents now. The WoW Forever Talent Calculator reads its trees from the latest beta client, so you can try builds for every class before launch. Talents can still change in the final build.
• Catch up on the last beta changes. The beta closed on October 23, and its last builds changed classes and racials; see WoW Forever Beta: Racials Reworked and Group Buffs Go Raid-Wide for the latest.