Blizzard has published an official starter guide for new World of Warcraft: Forever players, and Wowhead relayed it in the early hours of October 29 Beijing time — seven days before the game's global launch, dated November 4 in the Americas and November 5 Beijing time. The guide walks through the entire pre-launch routine: creating a Battle.net account, picking an experience preset, choosing a ruleset and rolling the first character, before closing with the basics of questing, professions and dungeon play.

A subscription or game time is the hard requirement

The guide starts with the account, not the class. Players need a Battle.net account with a verified email and a secure password, and Blizzard suggests enabling two-factor authentication. On pricing, the text is one sentence: "World of Warcraft: Forever is included with an active World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time." There is no separate free entry point. Installation runs through the Battle.net desktop app, where Forever appears in the list of game versions. The game plays on Windows or Mac with keyboard and mouse; controller support exists but only "in a beta state." A detailed spec sheet is not part of the relayed text — Blizzard points players to the current system requirements before installing.

The first choice is an experience preset, and Blizzard recommends Enhanced

On first login, players pick an Experience Preset before choosing a ruleset — the guide spells out that order. Classic ships with standard-definition models, quest points of interest and objective blobs off, one-bag off, transmog off, camera-turning keybinds and the classic screen UI layout. Enhanced flips most of that on: high-definition models, quest markers on, one-bag on, transmog on, strafe keybinds and a centralized UI.

For anyone torn between the two, the guide is blunt: "If you are not sure which to choose, start with Enhanced." A preset is a starting point, not a lock-in — every setting can be changed later under Game Menu > Options, and the choice screen never appears again after the first login.

Four rulesets at launch; Hardcore only teased

Rulesets are chosen before character creation and decide how PvP works and which community conventions apply. Four are available at launch: Normal, PvP, Roleplay and Roleplay-PvP. Hardcore is marked "coming later," with the guide saying only that "additional details and timing will be shared later" — no date, no specifics, nothing announced.

One rule is easy to trip over: characters can only group, join guilds, run dungeons and raid with players on the same ruleset and the same faction. Friends planning to play together need to agree on both before creating their characters. For players unsure where to start, the guide's own words are: "Normal offers a welcoming place to learn."

Skyborne pick a faction, and the faction picks their class

The new Skyborne race (no official Chinese name announced) chooses a side at character creation. Horde-aligned Skyborne follow elemental traditions and can play the Shaman; Alliance-aligned Skyborne carry the arcane legacy of their ancestors and can play the Mage. Both start on Zephras Isle, a level 1–12 starting zone, and both require the Heroic Pack or a higher digital upgrade. Every character also gets an HD or SD model choice that affects appearance only — never abilities or progression — and can be changed later in the Options menu or at a Barbershop. Naming runs on a two-name system: a main name plus a secondary name, with the combination unique within the region. The secondary name can be hidden under Options > Nameplates > My Secondary Name, though it still shows in chat.

The back half of the guide is adventuring basics

The rest covers fundamentals: take quests from characters with exclamation points, open the quest log with L and the world map with M, and abandon quests to free up space; pull one enemy at a time, carry food and drink, and let innkeepers bind your Hearthstone. Death means a corpse run — or a Spirit Healer resurrection that damages equipment durability and may apply Resurrection Sickness, a temporary effect that sharply cuts effectiveness. Each character can learn two primary professions plus all three secondary ones (Cooking, Fishing, First Aid), managed under the K key; trainers in starting areas and major cities teach the ranks, and city guards give directions. Dungeon groups generally run five players — a tank, a healer and damage dealers — while open-world Campsites serve as rest stops, trading posts and places to meet future party members. Emotes work through slash commands: /wave, /cheer, /dance, /thank, or a custom line via /emote. The guide's five closing tips are plain: read tooltips and quest text, keep the Hearthstone handy and learn flight paths, repair gear and sell gray items and save coin for training and bags, ask for help on hard quests, and try another class if the first one does not feel right.

What is known, and what is not

Everything above comes from the guide's own text as relayed in Wowhead report #383632. Not announced: Hardcore's release timing and any details; a direct link to the official guide (the report does not provide one); and official Chinese names for new terms like Skyborne. The guide also says nothing about name reservations — that window, October 27 through November 3 at 23:59 Beijing time, comes from a separate official announcement.

Seven days out, the checklist

  • Agree on ruleset and faction with friends before anyone creates a character;
  • Planning a Skyborne Shaman or Mage? Confirm the pre-purchase tier includes the Heroic Pack;
  • Keep the subscription or game time active and install the Battle.net app early;
  • Name reservations close November 3 at 23:59 Beijing time;
  • Undecided on the preset? Take Blizzard's advice, start with Enhanced, and adjust later.

The relayed guide is on Wowhead: New Player's Starter Guide for World of Warcraft: Forever.