Getting started in WoW Forever

Install and enter the right game

Open Battle.net, select World of Warcraft and use the Game Version selector for Forever. For launch, choose World of Warcraft: Forever in that menu; the beta used a separate World of Warcraft: Forever Beta entry under In Development. Select Install, let the launcher finish, then press Play. The launch facts list the launch time, name reservation and editions.

Create a character in the same faction and ruleset as the friends you want to group with. Normal is the easier choice if you want to quest without open-world attacks from unwilling opponents; choose PvP if that conflict is part of the experience you want. See the ruleset guide for grouping restrictions.

Your first quests: stay near the starting area

Talk to nearby NPCs with a yellow exclamation mark. Read the objective, accept the quest and put your main attack on a comfortable key. Complete nearby objectives before following a delivery to the next settlement; a question mark marks a quest hand-in. Return for the next part of a chain instead of abandoning the area after its first task.

Character	First region	Towns to grow into	Next region
Human	Elwynn Forest	Goldshire	Westfall
Dwarf or Gnome	Dun Morogh	Kharanos	Loch Modan
Night Elf	Teldrassil	Dolanaar	Darkshore
Orc or Troll	Durotar	Sen'jin Village, Razor Hill	The Barrens
Tauren	Mulgore	Bloodhoof Village	The Barrens
Undead	Tirisfal Glades	Brill	Silverpine Forest
Skyborne	Zephras Isle	Follow your faction's island story	Continue with your faction's mainland quests

These are the main starting paths, not a requirement to finish every quest before moving. Keep doing the quests you can comfortably complete; if the remaining enemies are too strong, return to unfinished tasks around your previous town. Race and class combinations can help before you create the character.

Set up your buttons, spells and supplies

Open the game menu with Escape and adjust keybindings and UI scale before combat gets busy. Put an attack, recovery ability and emergency defensive action on keys you can reach without searching the bar.

Visit a class trainer when you return to town. After learning a new rank, replace the old action-bar button from the spellbook. A higher rank can have a higher resource cost, so healers may keep a cheaper heal alongside it. The skill library lets you compare effects and costs by class.

Fight from the edge of a camp so you can pull one enemy without bringing the whole group. Recover between pulls using food, drink or learned healing. Sell grey vendor items, keep quest items, and repair damaged gear when you pass a repair vendor. Put your Hearthstone somewhere easy to find rather than leaving it buried among loot.

At level 10, start spending talent points. The budget is level − 9: 1 point at 10, 11 at 20 and 21 at 30. In the talent planner, set your actual level before selecting a deeper talent. For example, the Warrior's Vanguard goal needs 16 Protection points and can be reached at 25; Priest Penance needs 21 Discipline points and can be reached at 30.

Turn the nearest town into your base

Use the innkeeper to set your home near the quests you are doing. After an outdoor loop, use the Hearthstone to return for hand-ins, selling and supplies. Speak to a new flight master when you reach a town so its route is available for later visits. Flying requires an unlocked connection and costs money; a flight icon on a map does not unlock it for the character.

For Alliance friends on different continents, Forever adds Stormwind Harbor ↔ Auberdine. A second service connects Menethil Harbor, Southshore and Auberdine. Use the boat planner to choose the correct service rather than boarding every boat at a shared port.

If you are still in the first few levels, finish the local introduction before crossing continents. Night Elf friends can meet in Auberdine after Darkshore opens up, while Humans can first work through Elwynn and Westfall. You keep earning levels instead of spending the first evening on a long walk.

Choose a first dungeon

A usual five-player party has a tank, healer and three damage dealers. The tank starts pulls and faces enemies away from the party; the healer stays close enough to heal without standing in front of the pack; damage dealers focus the chosen target and leave controlled enemies alone.

Group	Early destination	Where to head
Alliance near Ironforge	Hall of Thanes, published range 13–18	Beneath Ironforge
Horde near Undercity	Ruins of Lordaeron, published range 15–20	The ruins above Undercity
Horde near Orgrimmar	Ragefire Chasm	Cleft of Shadow; quest and boss guide

Those published ranges help choose a party target; they are not minimum-entry guarantees. Bring dungeon quests before entering, and turn in the ones you complete afterward. If an enemy is marked for crowd control, avoid area damage near it. After a wipe, let the party regroup before the tank restarts.

At 20, continue with the 20–30 routes and dungeon entries. It includes a new Ashenvale quest and the faction-specific Dalaran quest starts.

When the starter area is crowded

Invite nearby players who need the same combat objective so the party can fight together. For loot tasks, each member should pick up the items their own journal still needs. After finishing, return to the giver and accept the follow-up before moving to a new settlement.

If a single spawn is busy, work on another nearby accepted objective and return later. Keep quest items when clearing your bags; sell grey vendor loot first. This lets you continue playing without treating a contested spawn as the only available activity.

Installation and graphics help

For installation space and hardware, use Blizzard's Forever requirements, including its separate Windows and Mac tabs. Check the exact GPU model, not just its series number. Storage space, graphics support and frame rate are different limits.

If the Mac picture is corrupted

A reported Mac workaround is to lower Secondary Lighting to Fair and reduce optional graphics settings. Save the original settings first and change one option at a time; Optional GPU Features requires restarting the client. If the machine keeps freezing or restarting, stop and use Blizzard support. This workaround is not a fix for every Mac.

For missing addon buttons or map controls, use the addon installation guide. Install only what you need to begin; your first quests, class training and ordinary party play do not require a large addon pack.

References

Starting regions and towns: ForeverDB's client-based starting paths. Rules and travel: Blizzard Deep Dive, Found Photos and dungeon overview.