What to Do First

7:52 The first things to do in World of Warcraft: Forever are, before launch, to get a subscription or Game Time, install it from the Battle.net app and agree a ruleset and faction with friends; and at launch, to choose your Experience Preset, your ruleset and your character, in that order. The preset screen is what Blizzard's Deep Dive panel called "a mode selector", and it appears once. Forever opens worldwide on Nov 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST (in your time zone), and this page gives the steps on either side of that moment, taken from Blizzard's guides of Oct 28 and Oct 29, 2026. New to WoW? The Beginner's Guide goes further. Back after years away? See the Returning Players Guide.

Quick facts

Before launch

1. Get a subscription or Game Time. Forever is included with either. It is not on sale by itself, and an upgrade alone is not access. Prices are on Price and Subscription.
2. Decide whether you want an upgrade. The Skyborne need the Heroic Pack or higher. So does Early Name Reservation, which ends on Nov 3, so that part of a pack loses its use the day before launch.
3. Check your PC. Update the operating system and graphics drivers and check the System Requirements, Blizzard says. Cards older than AMD Graphics Core Next 1, NVIDIA Maxwell and Intel Skylake are not supported at all.
4. Sign in, or get your account back. Blizzard's "Can't Log In?" page recovers an old account (Returning Players Guide). A new player creates a Battle.net account first.
5. Install. In the Battle.net desktop app, select World of Warcraft: Forever, choose it under Game Version, pick your account if you have several, and click Install. Blizzard has announced no separate pre-download date as of Oct 31, 2026, so doing this ahead of launch avoids a launch-night download.
6. Agree a ruleset and faction with your friends. "Coordinate with your friends and guild before creating your character", Blizzard writes, because grouping, guilds, dungeons and raids work only within one ruleset and one faction, and there is no free move later. Forever has no realm to find them on (Servers and Realms).
7. Reserve names, if you have an upgrade. Up to three characters across all rulesets until Nov 3, first come, first served. "Have a backup", says Blizzard: only the complete two-part name must be free in your region. On a PvP ruleset, your first character fixes your faction there. Oceanic players on Australian servers should make Roleplay or Roleplay-PvP characters first because of a bug Blizzard reported on Oct 27 (Blizzard forums).
8. Find a guild, if you want one. Blizzard points players to the WoW Portal Room, its official Discord, where WoW Ambassadors help people find a community (Blizzard).
9. Send your Invite-A-Friend code. Upgrades include one or three, emailed from Oct 20, and they let a friend play from Nov 4 to 11 without paying.

1:37 Name reservation was also Blizzard's rehearsal. Josh "Aggrend" Greenfield said on the Oct 29 podcast that there were "some hiccups on Tuesday", and that the period "helps us kind of get a sense of what launch day is going to look like".

At first login

1. Experience Preset: Classic or Enhanced. Classic starts with standard-definition models, quest markers, one-bag and transmog off, camera-turning keys and the Classic layout. Enhanced starts with those on, plus strafing keys and a centralized layout. It sets starting settings only. "If you are not sure which to choose, start with Enhanced", Blizzard writes, and each setting stays changeable under Game Menu > Options. You will not see the screen again, so a player who logged in during reservation has already chosen. The table is on the Beginner's Guide.
2. Ruleset: Normal, PvP, Roleplay or Roleplay-PvP. Hardcore comes later. Treat this as permanent, since changing it means making a new character there.
3. Character. Faction, race and class. Then choose high-definition or standard-definition models for that character, a choice that "affects only appearance" and can be changed later in Options or at a Barbershop (Blizzard). Stuck on the class? See Best Class.
4. Name. A main name and a second name, unique together in your region. To hide the second name over your head: Options > Nameplates > My Secondary Name. It still shows in chat.

Your first minutes in the world

Blizzard's starter guide of Oct 28, 2026 lists the following, and these keys are its own:

• Open Options (Escape) and check your bindings and interface while the game is quiet. Blizzard advises starting with the defaults.
• Take every quest in sight. An exclamation point gives one, a question mark means one is ready to hand in. The Quest Log is L, the map M, your spellbook P, your character panel C.
• Put abilities on your action bar by dragging them from the spellbook, and read each tooltip.
• Pull one enemy at a time and carry food and drink to recover. Innkeepers sell both.
• Visit your class trainer as you level for new abilities.
• Bind your Hearthstone to an inn, and learn flight paths at flight masters as you pass them.
• Sell gray items to a vendor. Items you sold by mistake sit in the Buyback tab until you leave. Anvil-marked vendors repair gear, and you should "save coin for training, bags, and travel".
• Learn professions. Two primary and all three secondary (Cooking, Fishing, First Aid), from trainers in starting areas or major cities. The Professions window is K. See Professions.
• If you die, follow the corpse marker back to your body. A Spirit Healer revives you at the graveyard but damages your gear and may leave you with Resurrection Sickness, so avoid it when you can.

Launch night crowds

20:25 Expect the starting zones to be full. "Durotar is going to be very slammed," Greenfield said on the Oct 29 podcast, with "a lot of people making brand new characters", and Blizzard has set up its zones with that in mind. The player caps in each zone are its way of keeping quests doable. Beta testers found it hard to get a tag in full zones early on, and the team said it can cut a zone's cap while the game runs (Servers and Realms).

41:31 Grouping up is how you stay together. Joining a group shows a prompt to move to your group's world, with "a time window" to accept when it suits you. Joining a guild moves you toward the guild's community the same way. If friends seem to be missing, group first.

Blizzard has not said how long any queue may be, as of Oct 31, 2026.

After the first night

• Talents begin at level 10, with Dual Specialization at 40 (Classes and Talents).
• New dungeons begin at level 13 (Hall of Thanes) and 15 (Ruins of Lordaeron); each is best run once with its quests (Leveling Guide).
• Legacy usually wakes up when a first character reaches 25 (Legacy). Alts are not required: Blizzard says all its character advantages can be unlocked on one character.
• Gold is for direct trades only. Blizzard reminded players on Oct 27 that gold passed through an intermediate player is likely to be bought gold, and that accounts have been actioned over it (Blizzard forums).
• The Epic Pack's 30 days of Game Time start with the launch, so a subscription or more Game Time is due about Dec 4.
• Raids open on Dec 9, 2026, for level 60 characters: The Barrow Deeps (10 players), Hyjal Summit (20) and Onyxia's Lair (40), which needs an attunement. See Release and Roadmap.

What is not known yet

As of Oct 31, 2026: the length of launch queues, launch-day patch notes, the size of the final download, and whether faction limits will apply on the PvP rulesets on the first night.

Frequently asked questions

What should I do before WoW Forever launches? Get a subscription or Game Time, install World of Warcraft: Forever from the Battle.net app, update your drivers, recover your account if needed, and agree a ruleset and faction with friends. With an upgrade, reserve your names by Nov 3.

What do I choose first in WoW Forever? Your Experience Preset (Classic or Enhanced), then your ruleset, then your character. The preset screen appears only at the first login.

Should I pick Classic or Enhanced? Blizzard says to start with Enhanced if you are not sure. World of Warcraft: Forever lets you change either preset's settings later under Game Menu > Options.

Which ruleset should I choose? The one your friends and guild will play. If you have none in mind, Blizzard says Normal "offers a welcoming place to learn".

Can I make my character before launch? Yes, with any upgrade, until Nov 3, 2026, for up to three characters. Without one, you create your first character when the game opens.

What do I do if a friend is not visible in WoW Forever? Group with them. World of Warcraft: Forever shows a prompt to move you to your group's world.

Where do I learn professions? From profession trainers in a starting area or major city, Blizzard says. Each character can learn two primary professions and all three secondary ones.

Sources

• New Player's Starter Guide: Welcome to World of Warcraft: Forever, Blizzard Entertainment, Oct 28, 2026
• Return to Azeroth in World of Warcraft: Forever, Blizzard Entertainment, Oct 29, 2026
• World of Warcraft: Forever Goes Live Globally November 4!, Blizzard Entertainment, Oct 29, 2026
• Your Next Adventure in WoW: Forever Starts in the WoW Portal Room, Blizzard Entertainment, Oct 27, 2026
• Name Reservation Issue for Oceanic Players and Gold Transactions Must Be Direct, Blizzard Entertainment (Kaivax), World of Warcraft forums, Oct 27, 2026
• World of Warcraft: Forever product page, Battle.net Shop, read Oct 31, 2026
• All About Tech ft. @Shobek | Episode 6 - The WoW: Forever Podcast, World of Warcraft, Oct 29, 2026 (video)
• World of Warcraft: Forever - Deep Dive | BlizzCon 2026, World of Warcraft, Sep 13, 2026 (video)