WoW: Forever Beginner Guide: Your First 10 Levels

Logging in for the first time is easy. Some of the decisions you make in the first ten minutes, before you have killed a single boar, are the hard ones to take back later: your ruleset, faction and race decide where you start and who you can play with. WoW: Forever asks for a preset, a ruleset, a faction, a race, a class and a two-part name before you even reach your starting zone. Then, around level 4 to 6, it hands you a system the original game never had. This guide covers that stretch: from the character screen to the end of your first starting zone. It uses Blizzard's own New Player's Starter Guide and "What's New" post, plus Warcraft Wiki's quest data for Forever. If you still need to install the game or work out what it costs, start with our WoW: Forever explainer.

Blizzard's Horde key art for WoW: Forever.

Before you make a character

Two rules from Blizzard's What's New post should shape your first session if you plan to play with anyone else:

• Ruleset and faction lock who you can play with. Characters can group, join guilds, run dungeons and raid together only within the same ruleset and faction. Blizzard's advice is to agree both before anyone creates a character.
• On the PvP ruleset, you pick one side. The same post says "Players on PvP realms are restricted to one faction." If you want an Alliance and a Horde character, the PvP ruleset is the wrong place to try both.

If you are unsure, Blizzard's starter guide calls Normal "a welcoming place to learn." The Hardcore ruleset has not launched yet. Blizzard's guide says details and timing "will be shared later."

Classic or Enhanced: what each preset turns on

The first time you log in, the game asks you to choose an Experience Preset, and this comes before the ruleset choice. Our explainer covers the basic idea. What it does not cover is what each preset actually switches on, which Blizzard's starter guide lists:

If you are new, the quest blobs are the setting that matters most. With them off, as Classic sets it, you find objectives by reading the quest text. With them on, as Enhanced sets it, the map marks the area for you. Blizzard recommends Enhanced if you are unsure, and says the preset is a starting point, not a lock. Every setting can be changed later under Game Menu, then Options. You will not see the preset screen again after your first login, though, so you change those settings one by one there. The "What's New" post also notes that the Advanced options include a Cooldown Manager and a Damage Meter.

Character creation choices that stick

According to Blizzard's starter guide, faction decides your communities, cities and stories. Race decides your appearance, your starting location and your racial abilities. Class decides how you fight. The new race and class pairs, such as Undead Paladin, Dwarf Shaman, Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Orc Mage and Troll Warlock, are listed in our explainer. Three creation details are specific to Forever:

• HD or SD per character. Each new character can use High Definition or Standard Definition models and animations. Blizzard says the choice only affects appearance, not abilities or progression. You can change it later in Options or at a Barbershop.
• Two names. Every character has a main name and a secondary name, and the full combination must be unique within your region. You can hide your secondary name under Options, Nameplates, My Secondary Name, but Blizzard notes it still shows in chat.
• Skyborne need a purchase and are split by faction. Horde Skyborne can be Shamans and Alliance Skyborne can be Mages, per Blizzard. Warcraft Wiki's Skyborne page lists Druid, Hunter, Rogue and Warrior as open to both factions. The race needs the Heroic Pack or a higher upgrade.

Blizzard's What's New post also warns that a familiar class name "is a starting point, not a guarantee" of the build you know from modern WoW. Forever's classes have their own talent and ability updates, so read your tooltips instead of assuming your retail rotation carries over.

Where you start

Forever keeps the original game's six starting zones and adds Zephras Isle for the Skyborne. Warcraft Wiki's Forever quest pages confirm that each of the seven zones has its own version of the new camping quest. They also name the town you are sent to around level 4 to 6. The race column below follows the original game's starting layout. Warcraft Wiki confirms one zone directly for Forever: its page for the Tirisfal quest calls it part of the Forsaken starting experience in Deathknell.

Zephras Isle, the Skyborne starting zone, in Blizzard's promotional screenshot.

Zephras Isle works differently. Per Blizzard it covers levels 1 to 12, and per Warcraft Wiki's zone page Skyborne begin in Thendal Village in the northwest. When they finish the campaign, they leave from the Valanaar Skydocks. Alliance Skyborne arrive in Dalaran in the Alterac Mountains and Horde Skyborne at Skywatcher Plateau in Mulgore. The same page says anyone can travel to Zephras from those two airship landings, whether or not they bought a Skyborne pack.

The first hour: quests, keys and combat

Blizzard's starter guide gives the basics. Here they are as a cheat sheet, using the default key bindings Blizzard lists:

An exclamation point above someone means they have a quest for you. A question mark means a finished quest is ready to hand in. The tracker will not always show every quest, so use L to choose which ones it shows. As you level, go back to your class trainer to learn new abilities.

Dying costs you twice if you take the shortcut. After you release your spirit, you can run back to your corpse by following the marker on your minimap, and resurrect wherever you like near it. Pick a spot away from whatever killed you. You can also ask the Spirit Healer at the graveyard to revive you there. Blizzard says that option damages your equipment's durability and may apply Resurrection Sickness, which greatly reduces your effectiveness until it wears off. If you can reach your body safely, the corpse run avoids both penalties.

Blizzard's other combat advice is to pull one enemy at a time while you learn, and to carry food or drink so you can recover between fights. Innkeepers sell both, and they can bind your Hearthstone to their inn. Do that in your second town.

Levels 4 to 6: the camping questline

This is the part that is new even for players who know Classic. According to Warcraft Wiki's quest pages, every starting zone has a level 6 quest called The Adventurer, which you can pick up from level 4. It sends you to an adventurer camped near your second town: Sam Sarsaparilla outside Goldshire, Eric Brighthammer near Kharanos, Lyreena Duskblade near Dolanaar, Brakk near Razor Hill, Eleanor Shackleton by Brill, Kaga Wildhoof near Bloodhoof Village, or Raan Wildwind near Shen'dar Village. In Durotar and Teldrassil the quest starts from a Lost Journal item, not an NPC.

The chain that follows, per the wiki:

1. The Adventurer. Reach the camp (410 XP).
2. The Great Outdoors. Sit by the adventurer's campfire until you get the Boosted Rest buff (410 XP).
3. Camping 101: Cooking. Learn Cooking from the trainer in that town (270 XP). The Basic Campfire Kit is a Cooking skill 1 recipe that needs one Simple Wood. Per its tooltip, it builds a campfire that allows cooking and the placement of up to three more camp features, and Warcraft Wiki's Camping page says the fire lasts 60 minutes. Blizzard's What's New post says sitting briefly by a campfire to become rested lets you receive campsite buffs.
4. Profession Camping 101 quests. The wiki lists a further Camping 101 follow-up for each profession your character learns (Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Engineering, First Aid, Fishing, Herbalism, Leatherworking, Mining, Skinning or Tailoring).

Blizzard's promotional screenshot of camping in Elwynn Forest.

Do the questline. It costs a few minutes in town, gives XP and teaches you the system Blizzard built around getting players to stop and group up. Warcraft Wiki's Camping page adds two details worth knowing early. Profession camp buffs start at skill level 20. And they do not stack with the matching class buff, so a First Aid Kit's Stamina will not stack with a Priest's Power Word: Fortitude.

Professions: pick two, plus the three secondaries

Blizzard's starter guide says every character can learn two primary professions and all three secondary ones. In Forever, the secondary professions are Cooking, Fishing and First Aid. The camping questline makes Cooking close to mandatory, since the campfire is a Cooking item. Warcraft Wiki also notes that in Forever, basic healing potions such as the Minor Healing Potion moved from Alchemy to First Aid.

If you are not sure what to take, Blizzard's own framing is the simplest guide: gathering supplies materials, crafting turns them into gear and consumables, and you can ask a city guard for directions to any trainer. Per Blizzard, professions also contribute features at campsites. Leatherworking's first-tier item is a Camp Tent that grants rested XP up to 5% of a level, and Mining's is a Lodestone that adds melee Attack Power. The full list is on the wiki's Camping page.

What to spend coin on, and what to sell

Blizzard's five first-adventure tips include "save coin for training, bags, and travel." For a level 1-10 character, that comes down to:

• Training first. Your class trainer is where new abilities come from.
• Bags next. Space fills quickly. Forever also has a reagent bag slot: per Warcraft Wiki, you can buy or craft reagent bags and put them in that separate slot. The smallest hold 6 slots, among them the Linen Reagent Bag, which Tailoring can make at skill 5 from six Bolts of Linen Cloth and six Coarse Thread, per Warcraft Wiki. A tailor friend makes it cheap. On Zephras Isle, a November 5 hotfix fixed the trade supply vendors so they sell apprentice tradeskill bags, which they had not been doing.
• Flight paths. Blizzard recommends visiting flight masters to learn routes as you pass them.

What to clear out: Blizzard says gray-quality items "have no further use and can be safely sold." Right-click an item in your bags while a vendor window is open to sell it, and check the Buyback tab if you sell something by mistake. Vendors with an anvil icon repair gear for a fee. Don't equip something just because it has a higher quality color. Blizzard warns that armor type, weapon type and stats matter more.

One thing not to rely on right now: Blizzard's November 11 hotfixes disabled the Item Restoration service "while we investigate and address a critical bug." Our November 10-11 hotfix breakdown has the details. Until it returns, an item you vendor or delete may be gone for good.

What comes after level 10

Per Warcraft Wiki's dungeon table, Forever's first dungeons open just past the starting zones. The new Hall of Thanes in Ironforge is listed at levels 13 to 18 and Ragefire Chasm in Orgrimmar at 13 to 19. Blizzard's November 9 hotfix raised XP from every dungeon enemy kill by 50%, which is covered in our November 9 breakdown. One more Forever extra comes back from Season of Discovery. From level 14, a scavenger hunt that starts in Westfall (Alliance) or at the Burned-Out Remains in the Barrens (Horde) rewards the Cozy Sleeping Bag, which grants up to 3% bonus experience after you rest on it. Warcraft Wiki says the hunt takes about two hours of travel and visits some level 25-30 areas, so it is a project for later.

What this guide does not cover

• Class-by-class openers. Forever's classes differ from both retail and Classic, and the first hotfix weeks have already changed several of them. A per-class guide would go stale fast.
• Exact zone exit levels. Blizzard's starter guide gives a level range only for Zephras Isle (1 to 12). For the other six, follow your quests rather than a number.
• Hardcore. It has not launched. Blizzard has said only that details and timing will come later.