KaivaxForever beta notes: racials reworked
A large beta build reworks the racial abilities of nine races and changes many class talents and spells. It also adds a new player tutorial and a 
Frost Blast spell for 
Mages.
News
WoW Forever news, page 2
Older Blizzard news and blue posts about WoW Forever, newest first, each summarized in our own words with a link to the original.
From Blizzard
Kaivax
World of Warcraft: Forever Class Deep Dives — Paladin
Blizzard's 
Paladin deep dive, the last of the five class articles, sets out every Paladin change in WoW Forever: a new Holy Strike ability, a new tanking seal in 
Seal of Fury, 
Consecration for every Paladin at level 20, and new or reworked talents in all three trees. Seal Twisting is no longer built in; it returns as 
Retribution's capstone talent, 
Twist of Light. Blizzard says abilities and talents may still change before launch.
KaivaxThe WoW: Forever Podcast: Episode 4 - The PvP Episode
The PvP Episode of the WoW Forever podcast is about PvP. The forum post holds only the video, in which developers talked about rulesets, battleground honor, world PvP and a duel arena.
Launch Dungeons | World of Warcraft: Forever
Blizzard's launch-dungeons video says Forever opens with nine new dungeons. They follow the Vanilla design approach: clear pulls, real stakes, worthwhile quests and a need for teamwork. It walks through three of them and then points at Dalaran. The Hall of Thanes is the first dungeon open to Alliance characters and sits directly under Ironforge's throne room. Like Ragefire Chasm, its Horde counterpart, it is meant to teach group play to newcomers and shake the rust off returning players. Dark Iron 
Dwarves have tunnelled in to loot the tombs of Ironforge's kings, and restless spirits now stalk the vault alongside them, so players face both. Patrols drift through the hall, which makes pull discipline matter, healers have to manage mana across a whole run, and positioning decides whether one pack becomes two. Defeating its first boss, Faldrim Anvilmar, unlocks the way further into the hall. Ruins of Lordaeron takes the castle and its ruins, full of undead, and plays almost entirely outdoors. The video presents it as a showcase for Forever's new lighting, with moving light, deep shadows and rolling fog. Sight lines become a real threat, so it recommends pulling to lit open ground. The story sends players to clear the Scourge and free the spirits bound to the ruins, which means defeating the necromancer at the dungeon's heart. Excavation Site: Wetlands follows a dwarven expedition that went wrong while digging, and players are sent to find out what happened. It leans into the zone's flavour with journeys across open water and plenty of dangerous reptiles. Several raptor types, some of them stealthed, nest in the tall grass, so the advice is to move slowly and pull deliberately. The video then says players will also visit Dalaran, though not as friends: the Kirin Tor do not yet trust outsiders, so the way in is through the toxic sewers, fighting up to street level, and opening the city's quests from within. It adds that five other brand-new dungeons await. Beyond the new ones, it says Forever refreshes nearly every Vanilla dungeon, with updated rewards and increased quest experience. No release dates are given.
KaivaxBeta Maintenance - October 14
On 14 October Blizzard took the Beta offline at 8:00 a.m. PDT for maintenance and internal tests, expected to take a couple of hours. A follow-up said the Beta was coming back online.
KaivaxTemporary Economy Holds For RMT
Blizzard described a new anti-RMT measure, the Temporary Economy Hold, which restricts trade, mail, guild banks and the Auction House on suspected accounts. The hold is lifted automatically if an investigation clears the account, and otherwise account actions follow. Blizzard says false positives are possible while it tunes the system, a hold alone leaves no permanent strike, and it plans to bring these systems to every version of WoW if they prove successful.
World of Warcraft: Forever (Original Soundtrack)
Blizzard's WoW Forever soundtrack video runs about forty-two minutes and plays the new score as nineteen chaptered tracks. The chapters are named for places, and they follow the new leveling content in order: the Skyborne start on Zephras Isle, then the Riverglades and its strongholds, then Mount Hyjal up to the Summit of Eternity. That makes the track list a rough map of what Forever adds to the world. The video's description credits Adam Burgess, Brendon Williams, David Arkenstone, Neal Acree and Jason Hayes as composers, with Derek Duke as music director.
World of Warcraft: Forever - Your Adventure Begins
Blizzard's leveling video describes what the road to maximum level looks like in Forever. It says more than a thousand new quests are added across Azeroth, that every race's starting zone gets new quests, and that familiar zones have more to discover, with regions and dungeons linking the adventures together. Cooks can put down a fire and set up a campsite, and other players who pass can contribute fixtures of their own. The Skyborne start with quests introducing their people, culture and conflicts, plus new abilities, characters and rewards. The 
Undead starting zone has new stories explaining how Paladins emerged among the Forsaken and why their fellow Undead are unwelcoming. Other starting zones also get new stories, and zones beyond them gain new characters and quest lines; the Wetlands is the example given. The video also mentions new pets and some class-specific weapon quests. On travel, a new stop on the ship route from the Wetlands to Darkshore lets players get off at Hillsbrad, and Stormwind Harbor is named among the additions. Some class quests use these routes, such as a Mage arriving in Southshore for a teleportation trial. Forever also adds new zones, and the Riverglades is shown: Alliance players meet the returning Brotherhood of the Horse, and the Horde builds relationships with the Bolder'ok ogres, so the two sides see it differently. The nine new dungeons carry their own quests, some continuing existing storylines. In Stranglethorn, an investigation of troll ruins leads out into the ocean and to a new troll dungeon, the Drowned City. All classic dungeons have their rewards fully refreshed, with new items and better ones. The video closes by pointing to a separate video on raids.
KaivaxKnown issues: Skyborne textures pending
Blizzard's 8 October update to the known-issues list adds three issues. Texture updates for Skyborne cat form, Zephras Isle creatures and some mounts and pets are still to come, 
Hunter pets with Ferocity show the wrong critical strike chance, and some Professions icons look broken.
KaivaxBeta Realm Maintenance - October 8
Blizzard took the Beta down on 8 October at 9:00 a.m. PDT, earlier than previous Thursdays, to deploy behind-the-scenes fixes plus bug fixes and gameplay changes. It said that for a live game, it would expect realms back by 3:00 p.m. PDT. The realm returned later that day, with updated Development Notes and Known Issues to follow.
KaivaxForever beta notes: City of Dalaran
This build opens the City of Dalaran dungeon for beta testing and gives about 20% more experience for kills inside dungeons. It also rebalances Rage gain, extends the Cooldown Manager to every class and adds voice chat options.
Check Out Episode 3 of the WoW: Forever Podcast
Blizzard announced episode 3 of its WoW Forever series on 8 October, with Senior Game Designers Josh Greenfield, Jay Hartman and Rowan Ryder. The designers cover dungeon experience tuning, design philosophy for dungeons, the Excavation Site, City of Dalaran and Blackmaw Hold, and raid attunements and consumables.
World of Warcraft: Forever Class Deep Dives — Mage and Shaman
Blizzard's Mage and 
Shaman deep dive sets out the changes to both classes in WoW Forever, from 
Frostfire Bolt to totems that last longer and come in sets. Mages gain Frostfire Bolt and talents such as 
Arcane Blast, 
Heating Up, 
Ice Lance and 
Missile Barrage. Shaman get 
Call of the Elements, 
Totemic Projection and 
Totemic Recall, and talents such as 
Lava Burst, 
Maelstrom Weapon and 
Riptide. Edits on 7 and 8 October added that 
Elemental Mastery and Nature's Guidance are removed and that 
Rockbiter Weapon shares the 60-minute imbue duration.
World of Warcraft: Forever Class Deep Dives — Rogue and Warlock
Blizzard's 
Rogue and 
Warlock deep dive lists every change to both classes in WoW Forever, from new capstone talents to reworked Curses and 
Poisons. Rogues get 
Mutilate, 
Venom and 
Thousand Cuts, one-handed axes, and a 
Sap that keeps them in 
Stealth. Warlocks turn Curse of Agony and Curse of Doom into 
Banes, gain 
Wrack, 
Demonic Pact, 
Bane of Havoc and 
Incinerate, and their pets now scale with their stats. Blizzard later corrected the Combat and Subtlety weapon line and the 
Puncturing Wounds entry.
World of Warcraft: Forever- The Future of Skyborne Visual Updates
Blizzard says Standard-Definition Skyborne player models, 
Druid forms included, are in development and planned for early 2027. It is also reworking the High-Definition Skyborne Druid forms so they sit better beside the rest of the world's creatures, with less softness, more detailed fur and adjusted color saturation.
Battle for the Darkspear Islands in World of Warcraft: Forever
Darkspear Islands is a new 15v15 battleground in WoW Forever for levels 30-60, set off the shores of Dustwallow Marsh. Teams hold four capture points and carry a central flag to their own bases, and the first to 2000 points wins. Each side has a reputation, Darkspear Raiders or Theramore Expeditionary Force, with gear, consumables and an Exalted tabard.
How PvP Progression in World of Warcraft: Forever Works
Blizzard explained PvP progression in WoW Forever: Honor buys gear, while Rank Points move you up the original ranks toward High Warlord or Grand Marshal. Rank progress has a weekly cap, Honor gains were evened out across battlegrounds, and each rank from 1 to 14 unlocks a set of item rewards. Every PvP season adds a journey of weekly tasks that give Honor and Rank Points, three of which also give a Legacy Point.
KaivaxBrief Beta Realm Maintenance - October 6
On 6 October Blizzard restarted Beta realms at 3:00 p.m. PDT to deploy priority fixes. These included a fix for quests where restocked chest items had gone missing, a fix for disconnects while riding elevators or transports, and a fix for an error when joining or leaving a guild.
Class Highlights - Part 3: Druid, Warlock, Priest | World of Warcraft: Forever
Blizzard's third and final class video covers Druid, Warlock and 
Priest changes in Forever. Again it promises more intuitive classes that keep what made them iconic. Druids get more tools for holding threat. In bear form the equipped weapon now improves melee damage directly, and weapon enchantments and combat procs, such as the Crusader enchantment and 
Windfury Totem, work while shapeshifted. Stacking bleeds with Lacerate builds more damage as the stacks grow, and all Druids can use consumables in form, so a bear can down rage or free action potions mid-fight and keep its form. Feral gets more damage on 
Shred, 
Rake and 
Claw, 
Berserk adding 100% crit chance on combo abilities in cat form, 
Feral Charge in cat form, and 
Feral Swiftness working indoors; cats can also use consumables and enchantments. Restoration Druids see 
Wrath's mana cost cut sharply, so they can contribute damage without draining healing mana, and they get 
Wild Growth, a party-wide heal over time that can also be cast on members of other parties of the same faction. Balance gets a simplified 
Eclipse built by Wrath, a level 20 talent called 
Nature's Splendor that extends some of the Druid's heal-over-time and damage-over-time spells, and 
Nature's Grasp and 
Entangling Roots that work indoors; the 
Overgrowth talent lets Balance Druids keep three enemies rooted at once. Warlocks get large changes. 
Affliction is built around loading enemies with damage over time and finishing with a big drain, and its new 31-point talent, Wrack, is a channelled drain that deals damage and raises the damage the target takes from the Warlock's other Shadow spells. 
Destruction has its talent rebuilt so fire and shadow work together, with Incinerate at the bottom of the tree dealing extra damage to a target under 
Immolate. In 
Demonology, 
Master Summoner and 
Demonic Sacrifice are reworked to remove the either-or choice: the capstone, Demonic Pact, sacrifices one pet while summoning another, so you keep the sacrifice bonus and still fight with a soul-linked companion. 
Decimation lets Soul Fire lose its soul shard cost and most of its cast time once 
Shadow Bolt or 
Searing Pain hits a low-health enemy. For Priests, Discipline becomes a fully viable shield-based healer, with 
Penance halfway down the tree: it heals an ally over time, or attacks an enemy when the group is stable. Holy gets 
Prayer of Mending, which heals an ally the next time they take damage and then jumps on, favouring the target's own party. Shadow gets a rework to be a competitive damage spec: 
Devouring Plague, once limited to Undead priests, is now available to every Priest, 
Vampiric Embrace can trigger 
Spirit Tap, and 
Devouring Contagion halves Devouring Plague's mana cost and lets it spread to nearby enemies. Shadow players who invest in a hybrid Discipline spec can also reach 
Meditation.
KaivaxBrief Realm Maintenance - October 5
On 5 October Blizzard announced brief realm restarts to apply fixes for service quality. Players in game would see countdown messages, and the Beta would reopen a few minutes after going offline.
Skyborne Lore & Abilities | World of Warcraft: Forever
Blizzard's Skyborne video covers the lore, factions, classes and signature ability of Forever's new playable race. The Skyborne call themselves the Shen'dorei, a high elf people banished from Eldre'Thalas nearly 10,000 years ago. They fled Kalimdor under threat of execution and crossed an uncharted ocean to Zephyrus Isle, where the four winds' spirit raised their mountain refuge up as Skywall and they stayed hidden away. The wind spirits have now vanished, and the magic that keeps Skywall safe is starting to break down. The player is part of a new generation forced to look beyond the sanctuary, and chooses between two schools of thought. The Windshapers hold that the spirits are the reason the Skyborne survived, and want to repay that by restoring the balance and bringing back the elementals. The 
High Order wants to master Skywall's magic and bring it under Skyborne control, so that survival never depends on anyone else. Character creation offers unique tattoos, feathers woven into the hair, and exclusive hair colours and styles. Skyborne can join either the Alliance or the Horde, and the choice changes the quests experienced and the classes available. 
Warriors, Hunters, Rogues and Druids are open on both sides, and Skyborne come with all-new Druid forms. Mage and Shaman differ: Alliance Skyborne can be Mages but not Shamans, and Horde Skyborne can be Shamans but not Mages. The video ties this to the relationship each character builds and the tradition they follow. Every Skyborne has 
Walk on Air. The tutorial NPC Muriel Mistwake introduces it by telling you to step off a tower, and activating it and jumping slows the descent and turns a fatal fall into a controlled glide. The race's mount is the Galestrider, a crane. The video also describes Skycutters as airborne vessels that carry the Shen'dorei between planes and bring the new generation into Azeroth. It closes by pointing to a separate video on how existing races will play in Forever.
KaivaxGnomeregan, Who broke it?!
On 3 October Blizzard said an issue affecting Gnomeregan had been fixed that afternoon.
KaivaxDialog Bug for Australian Testers -- fixed
Blizzard acknowledged a bug in the new Beta build that showed Australian testers a login dialog saying social features were locked down, which was incorrect. It was reported fixed on 3 October.
Class Highlights - Part 2: Hunter, Mage, Paladin | World of Warcraft: Forever
Blizzard's second class video, part two of three, covers Hunter, Mage and Paladin changes in Forever. Again it frames them as classic class fantasy with modern quality-of-life additions. Every Hunter spec gets an improved 
Aimed Shot with a shorter cast time, and casting it no longer interferes with the 
Auto Shot timer. 
Marksmanship adds 
Sniper Shot, a long-cast shot that hits harder, plus the 
Careful Aim talent, which converts intellect into attack power, and 
Lone Wolf, which raises damage while no pet is active. Both sit early in the tree, so hybrid builds can reach them. 
Beast Mastery gets a new pet species, the Fox, and a Hunter's armour now raises the pet's stats as well as their own. Survival gets 
Strider Kick at 21 points in the tree, an instant attack for 100% weapon damage. 
Expose Prey can trigger Mongoose Bite without a dodge and does more damage with bleeds, and traps can now be placed during combat. Frost Mages gain Ice Lance as a fast follow-up when 
Fingers of Frost fires. Frostfire Bolt counts as both fire and frost damage, so talents from both trees can support it; the video lists ten fire talents and seven frost talents and gives 
Ignite with 
Ice Shards as an example. For Arcane, casting Arcane Blast raises the damage of all your other spells while raising its own cost, stacking up to four times, so fights turn into spending mana on costly Arcane spells and weaving cheap fire and frost spells in the gaps. Fire is reworked around Hot Streak: critical strikes with fire spells make Pyroblast cast 25% faster, stacking up to three times. Protection Paladins learn Seal of Fury, which adds damage and a small shield to every attack, and using Judgment under it deals damage and taunts the target. Every Paladin learns Consecration at level 20, which hits up to four enemies that come too near you with heavy holy damage. Protection can also take Swift Judgment, which instantly refreshes Judgment's cooldown, and 
Templar's Bulwark, a shield equal to maximum health for 8 seconds. For Holy, 
Light's Vigil changes the next 
Holy Shock on a target: on an ally it heals their whole party and instantly refreshes Holy Shock's cooldown. Blessings, Greater Blessings included, now last an hour instead of 5 minutes. For Retribution, Twist of Light builds seal twisting into the spec, so after swapping seals the next melee swing still gains an echo of the replaced seal, and Holy Strike is a new instant holy damage strike. The video ends by announcing part three, on Priest, Warlock and Druid.