New players get an official starter guide

Blizzard has published a starter guide for new players of World of Warcraft: Forever. It runs from installing the game to the first dungeon. New is the Experience Preset: on the first login, players pick a preset before the ruleset. Blizzard advises Enhanced.

Before the first login

Forever is part of a normal World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time. The game is installed through the Battle.net app, where World of Warcraft: Forever appears in the list of game versions. It runs on Windows and Mac with a keyboard and mouse. Support for a controller is available in a beta state.

The Experience Preset

The first time you log in, Forever asks you to Choose Your Experience Preset. That screen appears once, before the choice of a ruleset. If in doubt, Blizzard advises Enhanced. The preset is only a starting point: every setting can be changed later under Game Menu > Options. Which other presets there are, the guide does not say.

Ruleset and character

At launch there are four rulesets: Normal, PvP, Roleplay and Roleplay-PvP. Hardcore follows later. Grouping, guilds, dungeons and raids only work with players on the same ruleset and the same faction, so friends should agree on both before they create a character. The differences are in our rulesets guide.

The Skyborne choose a faction at character creation. On the Horde side they can be Shaman, on the Alliance side Mage. Both start on Zephras Isle, a zone for level 1 to 12. The Skyborne need the Heroic Pack or a higher upgrade.

For each character you choose HD or SD models. That changes only the look, and can be changed later in the options or at a Barbershop. Every character also has a first and a second name, and the combination must be unique in the region. The second name can be hidden under Options > Nameplates > My Secondary Name, but it still shows in chat.

The first steps

The guide explains the basics: quests, combat, gear, bags and vendors. These keys open the most important windows.

Key	Opens
L	Quest Log
M	World map
P	Spellbook
C	Character panel
K	Professions

After a death, you run back from the graveyard to your body. The Spirit Healer resurrects you on the spot, but that costs durability on your gear and can give Resurrection Sickness. Items with a gray name are only worth selling.

Professions and grouping

Each character learns two primary professions and all three secondary ones: Cooking, Fishing and First Aid. Professions also add features to campsites, where players rest, trade and share benefits. A dungeon group has five players: a tank, a healer and three damage dealers. For help, Blizzard points to the official WoW Portal Room on Discord.

Later on, the road leads through the Riverglades, Shen’Dralas and Mount Hyjal. The guide ends with five tips: read tooltips and quest texts, learn flight paths, repair and save gold, ask for help, and try another class if the first does not feel right.