The updates that change how you play WoW Forever, Classic Era and The Burning Crusade: major patches, class reworks, new dungeons and raids, and release dates. Each story links to the calculators, spells and guides it affects.
RSS feedWoW ForeverAnnouncements
Blizzard has set the global launch of World of Warcraft: Forever for November 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST, with the first raids unlocking on December 9. Here is every confirmed date between now and then, and what you need for each of them.
Read article: WoW Forever Launches November 4: Beta, Name Reservation and Raid Dates
WoW ForeverAnnouncements
Buyers of a WoW Forever upgrade edition can create their first characters from October 27, a week before the November 4 launch. Before they claim a name, they have to pick a ruleset, and on October 22 Blizzard added one it had been reluctant to offer: Roleplay-PvP. Here are the start times, the limits, and how rulesets and two-part names work.
Read article: WoW Forever Name Reservation Opens October 27, With a New Roleplay-PvP Ruleset
WoW TBCDungeons & Raids
Zul'Aman opens on Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary realms on October 22 at 3:00 p.m. PDT. The same update makes every earlier raid boss drop Badges of Justice, removes the Black Temple and Mount Hyjal attunements, lowers Heroic keys to Honored and moves Heroic dungeons to their final, easier tuning.
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WoW ForeverAnnouncements
Buyers of a WoW Forever upgrade edition can create their first characters from October 27, a week before the November 4 launch. Before they claim a name, they have to pick a ruleset, and on October 22 Blizzard added one it had been reluctant to offer: Roleplay-PvP. Here are the start times, the limits, and how rulesets and two-part names work.
Read article: WoW Forever Name Reservation Opens October 27, With a New Roleplay-PvP Ruleset
WoW ForeverClass Changes
The October 15 beta build touches every Mage tree: a new spell for slowing enemies, Arcane damage that scales with Intellect and maximum mana, simpler Fire talents and a Winter's Chill that now powers Cone of Cold. Here is each change, checked against the beta client, and what it means for your build.
Read article: WoW Forever Mage Overhaul: Arcane Wrath, Frost Blast and a New Arcane Blast
WoW ForeverPatches
Less than three weeks before launch, Blizzard's October 15 beta build changes every race's racials, turns eight party buffs into raid-wide ones, makes wands and Auto Shot require standing still, and rebuilds the Mage, Elemental Shaman and Shadow Priest talents. Here is what changed and what it means for your launch character.
Read article: WoW Forever Beta: Racials Reworked and Group Buffs Go Raid-Wide
WoW ForeverAnnouncements
Before closing its beta on October 23, two days later than first announced, Blizzard opened WoW Forever to every World of Warcraft account for a stress test on October 21, on the hardware that will run the game at launch. Here are the times it ran in each region, how players got in, why every character was wiped, and what comes next on the way to the November 4 launch.
Read article: WoW Forever Opens a Stress Test to Everyone on October 21; the Beta Ends October 23
WoW TBCDungeons & Raids
Zul'Aman opens on Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary realms on October 22 at 3:00 p.m. PDT. The same update makes every earlier raid boss drop Badges of Justice, removes the Black Temple and Mount Hyjal attunements, lowers Heroic keys to Honored and moves Heroic dungeons to their final, easier tuning.
WoW ForeverClass Changes
Blizzard gave Warriors their own update in the WoW Forever beta on October 2: three new Fury talents, two removed, Flurry tied to Death Wish, a Protection tree reordered for players without a shield, and more Rage from critical strikes. Later builds fixed how Warriors gain Rage from damage taken.
Read article: WoW Forever Warrior Rework: New Fury Talents and a Reshaped Protection Tree
WoW ForeverPatches
The October 1 and October 8 beta builds changed how quickly WoW Forever characters level and gear up: dungeon kills give more experience while dungeon quests give less, PvP gear costs about half again as much Honor, and spells cast at low ranks get less from your spell power. The level cap rose to 30 and two new dungeons opened for testing.
Read article: WoW Forever October Beta: Dungeon Experience, Honor Prices and the Level 30 Cap
WoW ForeverPatches
The first build in Blizzard's WoW Forever development notes rebuilds the Paladin around Holy Strike, stops Shaman totems from stacking with each other, slows Arms Slam while making Overpower procs more common, and lets heal-over-time spells land critical hits. Later builds changed some of it again; here is what still holds.
Read article: WoW Forever Beta: Holy Strike Rework, Totem Stacking Rules and Heal-Over-Time Crits
WoW ForeverAnnouncements
Blizzard has set the global launch of World of Warcraft: Forever for November 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST, with the first raids unlocking on December 9. Here is every confirmed date between now and then, and what you need for each of them.
Read article: WoW Forever Launches November 4: Beta, Name Reservation and Raid Dates
WoW TBCPvP
Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary is on its third Arena season. Along the way Blizzard raised the Honor earned in battlegrounds, started showing each team's MMR after Arena matches and moved older Arena gear to Honor vendors at lower prices. Here is where PvP stands and how to gear up now.
WoW TBCDungeons & Raids
Phase 3 of Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary went live on August 27, 2026. Illidan waits in the Black Temple and Archimonde at Mount Hyjal, both behind attunements until Zul'Aman opens on October 22; the Netherwing faction offers drake mounts, epic gems arrive, and Arena Season 3 began on September 1.
Read article: TBC Anniversary Phase 3: Black Temple, Mount Hyjal, Netherwing and Arena Season 3
WoW ClassicPatchesPatch 1.15.9
Patch 1.15.9 updates the interface of every WoW Classic game, including Classic Era and Hardcore: it adds Edit Mode and updates the nameplates and raid frames with code from modern World of Warcraft. Addons need updates, because the addon API now matches Burning Crusade Classic's 2.5.6.
Read article: WoW Classic Era 1.15.9 Brings Edit Mode, New Nameplates and Raid Frames
WoW TBCPatchesPatch 2.5.6
In July 2026, Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary moved from patch 2.5.5 to 2.5.6, which brought raid frames from modern World of Warcraft and changed the nameplates. Blizzard first published chat commands for the settings players missed, then added them to the options menu on July 17.
Read article: TBC Anniversary Patch 2.5.6: New Raid Frames and Nameplates, and How to Customize Them
WoW TBCDungeons & Raids
Phase 2 of Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary, Overlords of Outland, went live on May 14, 2026. It opened Serpentshrine Cavern and The Eye with their Tier 5 tokens, started Arena Season 2, released the Druid's Swift Flight Form quest and added two daily-quest factions.
Read article: TBC Anniversary Phase 2: Serpentshrine Cavern, The Eye and Arena Season 2
WoW TBCDungeons & Raids
The Anniversary realms entered The Burning Crusade in two steps: the pre-patch on January 13, 2026, with Blood Elves, Draenei and a boosted Honor rate, and the expansion itself on February 5. Characters can reach level 70 in Outland, flying mounts and Jewelcrafting arrived, and the first raids and Arena season followed within two weeks.
Read article: TBC Anniversary Launch: Level 70, Blood Elves, Draenei and the First Outland Raids
WoW ClassicAnnouncements
When the Classic Anniversary realms moved on to The Burning Crusade in January 2026, Blizzard let players keep their characters in original Classic by moving them to Classic Era realms for free. The window closed on January 12, 2026, and Anniversary Hardcore characters had a choice of their own to make.
Read article: Classic Anniversary Realms Moved On to TBC: How Characters Stayed on Classic Era
WoW ClassicProfessions & Items
Two 2025 hotfixes changed how Classic Era players find Black Lotus, the herb every flask needs. In February, Blizzard raised its spawn rate in every zone; in October, Eagle Eye and Far Sight stopped showing high-level herbs and ore to characters that can't gather them, ending the use of Hunter and Shaman alts as Lotus scouts.
WoW WotLKDungeons & RaidsPatch 3.4.3
The Fall of the Lich King update went live on October 10, 2023. It opened three dungeons inside Icecrown Citadel, Defense Protocol Gamma, the Random Dungeon Finder, quest tracking on the map and a Collections window. Icecrown Citadel itself opened on October 12 at 3:00 p.m. PDT with all twelve bosses.
Read article: Wrath Classic Phase 4: Fall of the Lich King, Icecrown Citadel and the Dungeon Finder
WoW WotLKDungeons & RaidsPatch 3.4.2
Patch 3.4.2 arrived on June 20, 2023 with Trial of the Champion, the full Argent Tournament, Arena Season 7, the Isle of Conquest and Defense Protocol Beta. Two days later, on June 22 at 3:00 p.m. PDT, the Trial of the Crusader raids and a level-80 Onyxia's Lair opened.
Read article: Wrath Classic Phase 3: Call of the Crusade, Level 80 Onyxia and the Isle of Conquest
WoW WotLKDungeons & RaidsPatch 3.4.1
Patch 3.4.1 arrived the week of January 16, 2023 and Ulduar opened on January 19 at 3:00 p.m. PST. The phase reorganized dungeon and raid emblems, started Arena Season 6, opened the Argent Tournament's daily quest hub and added Titan Rune Dungeons, a harder Heroic mode that drops raid gear.
Read article: Wrath Classic Phase 2: Ulduar, Emblems of Conquest and Titan Rune Dungeons
WoW WotLKDungeons & RaidsPatch 3.4.0
Wrath of the Lich King Classic arrived in two steps. The pre-patch on August 30, 2022 brought the Death Knight, Inscription and achievements; the expansion opened Northrend and raised the level cap to 80 on September 26 at 3:00 p.m. PDT, with flying in Northrend gated behind Cold Weather Flying.
Read article: Wrath of the Lich King Classic Launch: Death Knights, Northrend and Level 80
WoW WotLKDungeons & Raids
Ten days after launch, on October 6, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. PDT, Wrath Classic opened its first three raids: a rebuilt Naxxramas over Dragonblight, Malygos in the Eye of Eternity and Sartharion in the Obsidian Sanctum. Arena Season 5 had begun with the weekly reset of October 4 and 5.
Read article: Wrath Classic Phase 1: Naxxramas, the Eye of Eternity and the Obsidian Sanctum
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