WoW Forever Raid-Ready Checklist: Fresh 60 to 9 December

World of Warcraft: Forever went live on 4 November 2026 and its three raids open on 9 December. If you've just hit level 60 — or will soon — this is the list between you and raid night: where pre-raid gear comes from now that Forever has reworked dungeon loot, what the world-buff rules mean for your preparation, the consumables and campfire buffs worth stocking, the reputations to start and the one attunement you need. Every source is dated at the bottom, and anything that's datamined or only true in Classic is labelled.

The 31-day plan

Thirty-five days separate launch from the raid opening; from today it's 31. Forever deliberately pushes levelling into the open world — dungeon mob XP was cut and dungeon quests carry the XP — so most players will reach 60 by questing and only then start the dungeon grind. Here's the order we'd follow:

Pre-raid gear: where it comes from now

Forever re-examined every dungeon drop, and the level-60 dungeon loot was hidden in the launch client, so nobody has a trustworthy pre-raid best-in-slot list yet — be careful with any that claims to. What Blizzard has confirmed is where gear comes from. Fill each slot from these and upgrade as you go:

Stats work differently in Forever

Before you compare items, know what changed. Blizzard merged hit and crit into single stats across melee, ranged and spells; weapon skill appears on fewer items; bonus healing now also gives a third as much spell damage; caster weapons give spell power; and some items lower the target's chance to parry or dodge. Healers no longer need hit — Holy Precision, Divine Precision and Tidal Focus were changed with that in mind. One guide site reads the weapon-skill change as a new "Expertise" stat; Blizzard's own wording doesn't use that name, so check your tooltips. Our talents guide covers the spec side.

World buffs: the rule that changes raid prep

In Classic, serious raiders spent hours collecting world buffs before every raid. Forever ends that. World buffs still exist, but only in the open world: they're removed the moment you enter a dungeon or raid. Ion Hazzikostas said there will be no "world-buff farming" in Forever, and the Chronoboon Displacer — the item that stored world buffs — is in the game but only useful outside instances.

Consumables to stock

Without world buffs, consumables carry more weight. Forever moved and added a lot of them; here's what's documented so far, with how sure we are of each:

Two small notes: Druids can drink Rage Potions in Forever, according to a published Alchemy guide, and Blizzard's development notes cut the vendor price of several crafted items, so "craft and sell to the vendor" no longer pays for your potions — gathering does. Our professions guide covers which pair suits your class.

Campfire buffs

Cooking's fire becomes a campsite in Forever. Blizzard's campfire post says a basic campfire holds up to three camp features, one per nearby player; features share a one-hour cooldown; you sit or craft at the camp for at least a minute to get the buffs; and camp buffs are variants of class buffs that don't stack with them. Cooks learn bigger campfires that hold five or ten objects. A few of the level-one features:

Because they don't stack with matching class buffs, camp buffs matter most when your group is missing the class that would normally provide them. The full table is in our campfires guide.

Resistances

Only one Forever raid comes with resistance advice: Blizzard tells players to build fire resistance before Onyxia, whose three phases are full of fire attacks. Blizzard hasn't named a target number, and it hasn't mentioned resistances for Barrow Deeps or Hyjal Summit at all — so don't sink gold into a nature or frost set on a rumour. Collect fire resistance once your normal gear is in place, tanks first; the Enchanting campfire's Lute is one documented source. The Onyxia's Lair guide goes deeper.

Reputations worth starting at 60

The Legacy perk Diplomat adds 2% reputation gain per rank (five ranks) if you've unlocked it. Our reputations guide tracks the rewards as they're confirmed.

The one attunement

Barrow Deeps (10 players) and Hyjal Summit (20) have no attunement listed. Onyxia's Lair (40) does: every raider must carry the Drakefire Amulet in their bags. The Alliance chain has eight stages through the Burning Steppes, Blackrock Depths and Stormwind; the Horde chain has twelve across both continents; both end with General Drakkisath in Upper Blackrock Spire. Its dungeon stages are gear runs too, so fold them into your farming. Every step is in the Onyxia attunement guide.

Your role and your group

Forever changed the roles more than most players expect. Blizzard removed Blessing of Salvation and buffed tank threat instead; DPS threat-drop tools like Fade, Feint and Disengage reduce twice as much threat as before; and with Paladins and Shamans on both factions, Warrior Battle Shout was lowered. Read the guide for your role before raid night: tanks, healers, melee and ranged DPS.

Logistics: groups and raids only form within one ruleset and one faction; there's no automatic Dungeon Finder and the meeting stones don't summon, so raids need a meeting point and a Warlock. Role Poll and the Compact Raid Frame Manager are supported out of the box. Pick your raid by group size — Barrow Deeps for ten, Hyjal Summit for twenty, Onyxia for forty — and see the raids overview for all three side by side.

Gold: what raiding costs, and what not to do

Blizzard publishes few gold figures, but a few are known. Training every class ability from 1 to 60 costs 206–207 gold for every class, per Blizzard's development notes. Riding guides put Apprentice riding at 100 gold (level 40) and Journeyman at 1,000 gold (level 60) — Blizzard itself hasn't published those numbers. Dual specialisation unlocks at 40; the wiki lists 50 gold, but that price is disputed. On top come repairs and consumables, which no one has priced yet.

The gold guide covers honest ways to fund all of this.

If you're short on time

The raid-ready bundle covers 1–60, the Drakefire Amulet, dungeon runs and riding in one order; the Onyxia attunement and Forever dungeon runs are available on their own. Piloted orders mean sharing your login, which Blizzard's terms don't allow; the live price is in the box above and you only pay after you approve. For the launch basics, start with the launch guide.