Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom

0:52 World of Warcraft: Forever picks up where Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom leaves off: Blizzard sets Forever after this campaign and before Molten Core, and Forever's new Forsaken Paladins grow out of its story. Forsaken Kingdom is a new campaign for Warcraft III: Reforged that tells how the ruined human kingdom of Lordaeron became the Undercity, capital of the Forsaken, in the four years between Warcraft III and World of Warcraft. Blizzard released it at BlizzCon on Sep 12, 2026, marking "the first time in more than 23 years" that a new story came to Warcraft III, together with patch 3.0 and a new Forsaken Paladin hero. Opening the campaign's What's Next panel, a Blizzard presenter explained the gap: World of Warcraft began about four years after the Battle of Mount Hyjal, so a player who saw Lordaeron fall in Warcraft III logged in to find the Undercity and the Plaguelands, and Forsaken Kingdom is "our chance to tell the story of how that transformation came to pass". This page covers the campaign as context for Forever.

Quick facts

The question it answers

4:05 Project lead Brad Chan, Senior Manager of Blizzard's RTS and RPG group, told the panel the story began for him in 2004. At 15, a fan of the Warcraft III campaign, he rolled an undead character in World of Warcraft and rushed to the throne room in the Ruins of Lordaeron, where Arthas killed his father. Then he looked around: "there's an elevator here. There's an Undercity. Was there a Warcraft 3 campaign that I missed?" The question stayed with him: how did a ruined human kingdom become the new capital of the Forsaken?

Two campaigns

5:52 Forsaken Kingdom is two campaigns: a prologue called The Last Days of Lordaeron and the main Forsaken Kingdom campaign. Together they cover the four-year gap between Warcraft III and World of Warcraft, from Arthas's return to Lordaeron to the moment Sylvanas and her Forsaken join the Horde, with around 30 hours of play and about an hour of in-game cinematics. Blizzard's announcement describes the main campaign in three chapters.

7:46 The four-mission prologue follows the scourging of Lordaeron from the point of view of its city guard. It begins as Arthas returns, puts players among the guards seen in the original cinematic as he kills his father, and revisits the capital, the sewers before they became the Undercity, Andorhal, and Stratholme after the Culling.

9:40 Chan said the team wanted to show those events through the eyes of people who did not know what was coming. "For them, their prince is just returning. It's just another day," he said, while players know "that no human will ever inhabit this kingdom ever again", and that it is "the absolute fall of a civilization".

10:27 The main campaign "isn't a linear campaign. It's more like a soft open world RPG." It is based on the Rexxar campaign from The Frozen Throne, but "instead of the founding of Durotar we're exploring the creation of the Undercity". The team doubled down on what made that campaign popular, its items and leveling, with an improved inventory and talent system, all built in the World Editor so map makers can use it too.

11:55 Step by step, players learn how the Undercity came to be, its culture, why its water is green, and why the Scourge never retook Lordaeron and was left in the Plaguelands by the time of Classic WoW. Chan described its theme as a second chance: what the Forsaken do with memories of their past lives, and of acting against their will as mindless ghouls of the Lich King.

14:07 The campaign introduces two new characters, Garek Bandarion, a newly risen Forsaken warrior, and Dark Ranger Anya, and follows them through the transformation of the Undercity. Sylvanas, Putress and Varimathras return as the main quest givers, the Scarlet Crusade appears at the height of its power under Sally Whitemane and Renault Mograine, and Arthas, Kel'Thuzad, Ras Frostwhisper and Baron Rivendare also appear.

The Forsaken Paladin and Forever

15:17 The campaign is where Forever's Forsaken Paladin begins. "You get to see his origins in this campaign," Chan said, and "the events of the Forsaken Kingdom will actually carry over to WoW Forever", so that "for the first time in a long time" players can see "the connecting tissues between these two games".

16:27 Blizzard's Found Photographs panel picked up the thread from Forever's side. When Forever begins, Forsaken Paladins are deeply mistrusted by other Forsaken, who know paladins only from groups like the Scarlet Crusade. Channeling the Light is "almost maddeningly painful for the undead", some former paladins lash out at other Forsaken, and the new Forsaken Paladin heroes face an uphill battle to win the acceptance of their people and of Sylvanas. See New Race and Class Combinations.

17:36 In Forever they train at Bandarion Keep, in the Whispering Wood, a formerly unreachable north-western corner of Tirisfal Glades, where they are sent around level 10 and receive most of their class quests. At level 60 they have their own epic mount quest: where Alliance paladins earn their charger "in the name of redemption", the Forsaken "ride in the name of retribution". The keep shares its name with Garek Bandarion, one of the campaign's new characters; the sources read for this page say no more about the link.

20:54 Forever also returns to the ruined capital. On its What's Next panel, Lead Software Engineer Nora Mills described the Ruins of Lordaeron, a new dungeon: the Forsaken are restoring the city, the Scourge still lurk in its darkest corners, and a necromancer has moved in. Horde players of about levels 15 to 20 can help the Forsaken reclaim the ruins, while Alliance players "may need to find a way to sneak in". See Dungeons.

Patch 3.0 and the Definitive Edition

15:47 Alongside the campaign Blizzard released patch 3.0. Reforged "has a complicated history", Chan said, and for a new story the team chose neither the classic nor the Reforged graphics but a new mode, the Definitive Edition, which "captures the original Warcraft 3 spirit with a much higher fidelity". More than 600 units were remade, and the Definitive Edition is free for everyone who owns Reforged. Players can still use the classic graphics, and play across graphics modes remains supported. Blizzard's opening ceremony summary adds a revamped World Editor to the update.

19:51 For multiplayer, the patch adds the Forsaken Paladin as a neutral tavern hero, "the first new tavern hero in over 20 years", with classic, Reforged and Definitive Edition versions that everyone can play for free. Whether he is overpowered, Chan said, "I can't confirm or deny".

Getting it

Forsaken Kingdom is sold on the Battle.net Shop, while patch 3.0 and the tavern hero come at no extra cost to existing Warcraft III: Reforged players. The campaign and Warcraft III: Reforged are also part of the Warcraft Forever Collection, the largest of Forever's optional upgrades, on sale until Jan 11, 2027 (see Upgrades and Editions).

21:31 Closing on a personal note, Chan said he had worked on many RTS games but thought the chance to work on a Blizzard one "had passed me by". Instead, "we just made a new campaign for Warcraft 3 in 2026", and he credited the players: "You all made this happen."

Frequently asked questions

What is Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom? A new campaign for Warcraft III: Reforged, released on Sep 12, 2026, that tells how Lordaeron became the Undercity in the four years before World of Warcraft.

Do you need Forsaken Kingdom to play World of Warcraft: Forever? No. Forever is included with a World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time. Forsaken Kingdom is a separate Warcraft III campaign, also included in the optional Warcraft Forever Collection.

How does it connect to Forever? Forever is set after it and before Molten Core. The Forsaken Paladin's origins are in the campaign, and its events carry into Forever, where Forsaken Paladins train at Bandarion Keep.

How long is the campaign? About 30 hours, with nearly an hour of in-game cinematics, according to Blizzard.

Is patch 3.0 free? Blizzard says the Definitive Edition graphics and the Forsaken Paladin tavern hero cost nothing extra for Warcraft III: Reforged players; the campaign itself is sold on the Battle.net Shop.

Sources

• Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom What's Next Panel Recap, Blizzard Entertainment, September 2026
• Wage War Once More with Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom, Blizzard Entertainment, September 2026
• Everything Announced at BlizzCon 2026 Opening Ceremony, Blizzard Entertainment, Sep 12, 2026
• World of Warcraft at BlizzCon 2026: Discover What's Next, Blizzard Entertainment, September 2026
• Carve a New Path with World of Warcraft: Forever, Blizzard Entertainment, September 2026
• Pre-Purchase World of Warcraft: Forever Upgrades and Begin Your Next Journey in Azeroth, Blizzard Entertainment, September 2026
• World of Warcraft: Forever Found Photos Panel Recap, Blizzard Entertainment (via Wowhead Blue Tracker), September 2026
• Warcraft III Reforged: Forsaken Kingdom - What's Next Panel | BlizzCon 2026 and World of Warcraft: Forever - What's Next Panel | BlizzCon 2026, World of Warcraft, Sep 13, 2026 (videos)
• World of Warcraft: Forever - Found Photographs | BlizzCon 2026, World of Warcraft, Sep 15, 2026 (video)