World of Warcraft: Forever launches tomorrow: release time, install steps, and class changes
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- World of Warcraft: Forever goes live worldwide on November 4 at 23:00 UTC.
- Blizzard's final pre-launch patch notes raise damage for every class.
- The game is included with a WoW subscription, and raids open on December 9.
World of Warcraft: Forever goes live tomorrow, November 4. Every region launches at the same moment: 23:00 UTC. You do not need to buy a separate game if you already have a WoW subscription.
What happened
Blizzard posted its final beta development notes on November 2. Kaivax, a Blizzard community manager, published them on the official WoW forums. The notes cover every change made during the last two and a half weeks of beta testing.
The biggest change is damage. During the beta, Blizzard tried to hold every class near the old Classic power levels. That made many signature skills feel weak.
So the team raised damage across all classes. To keep the game balanced, monsters at higher levels now have more health.
Here is what changed class by class, based on Blizzard's official notes:
Shaman. Lava Burst is gone. The Elemental build now focuses on lightning spells. GameBeacon reports that Lightning Bolt's top rank hits 80% harder, and Chain Lightning now has a 2.5-second cast.
Rogue. A brand-new skill called Shank. It costs 5 Energy, has a 10-second cooldown, cannot miss, and strikes with the off-hand weapon. Rank 2, learned at level 44, refunds Energy.
Paladin. Three old spells are removed: Blessing of Salvation, Mass Salvation, and Revoke. Tanks hold enemy attention with Righteous Fury instead. It now gives 33% more threat, plus 90% extra threat from Holy damage.
Druid. Bear and Dire Bear Form threat bonus jumped from 50% to 115%, to replace the removed Salvation. Cat-form attacks hit much harder. Shred went from 155% to 200% of weapon damage. Ravage jumped from 350% to 435%. Rip, Rake, Ferocious Bite, and Pounce deal about 25% more damage. Starfire's base damage rose about 40%.
Hunter. Aimed Shot bonus damage rose about 110%. Arcane Shot is up about 30%. All trap types now share one 30-second cooldown.
Mage. Frost Blast is removed. Arcane Blast's stacking mana cost dropped from 175% to 100% per stack.
Warrior. Defensive Stance threat bonus goes from 30% to 80%, GameBeacon reports. Slam's cooldown dropped from 18 seconds to 15.
Priest. Shadow Word: Death now costs 30% of max health if it fails to kill, up from 10%.
Warlock. Wrack's damage at level 60 jumps from 36 to 86 per second, GameBeacon reports.
Beyond classes, Blizzard changed everyday play. Training every skill from level 1 to 60 now costs about the same for all classes. The total is 206 to 207 gold.
New spells no longer appear on your action bars by themselves. New bags no longer equip themselves. Respawn rates are faster in many zones to handle the launch rush.
And gamepad support has reached what Blizzard calls a "complete functional state", covering movement, spells, menus, and settings.
Racial skills changed too. Dwarves and Orcs each lost one passive skill. Humans' Ruthless now gives 1% critical strike chance instead of 2%.
Trolls keep a longer Berserking duration, CPS Testers reports.
Why it matters
World of Warcraft is a giant online game. Thousands of players explore the same world together in real time. Forever is a fresh, permanent version of the classic game.
Everyone starts at level 1 on launch day.
Launch days like this happen rarely. The first weeks shape the game's whole community. Guilds form.
Prices on the auction house get set. The fastest players race to level 60.
If you play, two things matter right now. First, install today. You do not want to download the game at 3 PM Pacific with millions of others.
Second, read the class changes before you pick your character. The Shaman you knew is different now. Tanks play differently without Salvation.
The controller news matters as well. Full gamepad support means you can play the whole game from your couch. Xbox even published its own post about it, CPS Testers reports.
That opens the game to players who never used a keyboard and mouse.
For tanks, the message is clear. With Salvation gone, damage dealers lost their safety net. Blizzard pushed tank threat up instead, so pulls should hold.
But if a damage dealer attacks too hard too early, they can still steal the monster's attention.
What happens next
Launch is November 4 at 23:00 UTC. That is 3 PM Pacific, 6 PM Eastern, and 11 PM in London. To install: open the Battle.
net app, select World of Warcraft, open the Game Version menu, choose WoW: Forever, and click Install. It is included with an active subscription or Game Time. Paid upgrade packs are optional, and you can finish installing today.
You just cannot log in until launch.
Name reservations end November 3, Pacific time. On December 9, the first raids open for level 60 players. Barrow Deeps is for 10 players.
Hyjal Summit is for 20. Onyxia's Lair is for 40, GameBeacon reports. A Hardcore mode arrives after launch. Blizzard says no big balance changes will come before the raids, except for bugs or extreme outliers.
Once enough players pass level 30, a bigger tuning pass will follow.
Tomorrow, Azeroth restarts. Millions will log in at the same moment. Expect long queues, busy servers, and a race to level 60. Check this week's new game releases if you want more to play while you wait.
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