How to Start Playing WoW Forever: First Login, Ruleset, Character and First Steps

Quick answer: Access to World of Warcraft: Forever comes with either Game Time or a World of Warcraft Subscription. Choose it from Battle.net, select Enhanced and Normal if you’re unsure, create a character, then follow quest givers bearing an exclamation point.

WoW Forever does not need a separate purchase. Your first session asks you to make two decisions before you see a character screen, and one of them decides who you can play with. Here is the order.

How to get into WoW Forever

Confirm your account has paid access through a World of Warcraft Subscription or Game Time. This access applies to modern WoW and WoW Forever alike. All races are available without an upgrade except one: the Skyborne require the Heroic Pack or a higher upgrade.

In Battle.net, set the version selector to World of Warcraft: Forever, then click Play.

On your first login, the Choose Your Experience Preset screen will appear. Select a preset; Blizzard recommends Enhanced if you’re uncertain. You can adjust any of its settings afterward under Game Menu > Options.

Setting	Classic	Enhanced
Character models	Standard Definition	High Definition
Quest points of interest and objective blobs	Off	On
One-bag	Off	On
Transmog	Off	On
Movement keys	Camera-turning keys	Strafe keys
Interface layout	Classic layout	Centralized layout

Choose a Ruleset. WoW Forever asks for a Ruleset instead of a realm. Blizzard suggests Normal as a welcoming place to learn the game. A Hardcore Ruleset is planned for later.

Ruleset	What it means
Normal	PvP at your discretion
PvP	Risk of attack in much of the open world
Roleplay	Naming and behavior rules
Roleplay-PvP	Roleplay rules plus PvP

If you intend to play with friends, settle on a Ruleset first. Grouping, guild membership, dungeon runs and raids are limited to players who match on both Ruleset and faction. Make sure everyone agrees on those choices before creating characters.

Create your character. Start by choosing Alliance or Horde. Your faction decides the communities, cities and stories you join. Next, choose a race, which sets your appearance, starting location and racial abilities. Then choose a class, which decides how you fight and what role you fill.

Choose HD or SD models for this character. The choice only affects appearance. You can change it later in Options or at a Barbershop.

Name your character. Names have two parts, a main name and a secondary name, and the full combination must be unique in your region.

WoW Forever first quests and the quest log

Quest givers display an exclamation point above their heads. Accepting one of their quests adds it to your Quest Log, with the objectives shown on screen. A question mark indicates a quest you can turn in.

Key	Opens
L	Complete Quest Log: track quests, stop tracking them, or abandon them
M	World map displaying quest indicators and objective zones

The minimap also points toward nearby objectives. Read the quest text, because it often holds clues about where to go. When you step off the road, check enemy levels before you approach.

Combat basics: abilities, trainers and food

Your abilities sit on the action bar. Read each tooltip so you know what an ability does. Press P to open the Spellbook, then drag abilities onto the action bar. You can change key bindings under Game Menu > Options > Keybindings.

As you gain levels, see your class trainer to pick up new abilities. Keep food and drink with you; innkeepers sell both and can bind your Hearthstone to their inn. While you’re learning, engage enemies one at a time.

Death and resurrection in WoW Forever

Releasing your spirit after death places you at a nearby graveyard. From there, you can return in either of two ways.

To get back to your body, follow its corpse marker on the minimap or the map (M), then choose Resurrect.
Use the Spirit Healer at the graveyard. This damages your equipment durability and may apply Resurrection Sickness.

If you choose the Spirit Healer, repair your gear soon afterward.

Gear, bags and vendors

Hover over an item to compare it with what you have equipped. Higher quality is not always better, so check the armor type and whether the attributes help your class. Right-click an item to equip it. Press C to open the Character panel.

Right-click a vendor to buy and sell. Gray items can be sold. If you sell something by mistake, the Buyback tab undoes the sale. Vendors with an anvil icon can repair your gear.

WoW Forever professions

You can train two primary professions and all three secondary professions on each character. Press K to bring up Professions.

Type	Professions
Gathering (primary)	Herbalism, Mining, Skinning
Crafting (primary)	Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Engineering, Leatherworking, Tailoring
Secondary	Cooking, Fishing, First Aid

Profession trainers are found in starting areas and major cities. If you cannot find one, ask a city guard for directions.

Playing with others: parties, guilds and dungeons

For group play, invite people to a party, join a guild, or request assistance in chat. A typical dungeon group has five players: one tank, one healer and damage dealers. At campsites, players can rest together and share benefits created through professions.

Emotes are a quick way to communicate. Try /wave, /cheer, /dance or /thank. You can also type /emote followed by your own text.

Five habits for your first WoW Forever adventure

These five habits make your first hours in WoW Forever go more smoothly.

Read ability tooltips and quest text.
Keep your Hearthstone, and learn flight paths at flight masters.
Repair your gear, sell junk, and save coin for training, bags and travel.
Ask other players for help on hard quests.
Try another class if your first one does not feel right.