WoW Forever Talents Guide (2026): Medal Tiers, Dual Spec, Respec

Forever kept the Classic talent window — three trees per class, points from level 10 — and changed almost everything inside it. Each tree gained a new one-point milestone at 16 points, several talents that used to be raid taxes became baseline spells, and dual specialization arrives at level 40. This guide explains the whole system: when points start and how many you get, the gold-medal tiers, what moved at launch, dual spec, respec fees and what training costs from 1 to 60. Facts are from Blizzard's class deep dives and the dev notes up to 3 November; where Blizzard hasn't published something — the dual spec price, the respec floor — we say so. Checked 8 November 2026.

How talents work in Forever

Blizzard's Hunter & Druid deep dive describes the frame: talents start at level 10, the trees keep "the same number of rows", and the one-point milestone talents — the ones with the gold border, which players call gold medals — sit at 11, 21 and 31 points, with a new 16-point milestone. Every class got reworked trees, new baseline abilities and new talents; Blizzard doesn't mention runes or engravings in any Forever post we found.

The window itself, in Blizzard's screenshots, has a Primary and a Secondary tab, a search field, an "Unspent Talents" counter and an Apply Changes button, so you plan the whole build before committing. You change talents — and your Legacy talents — at a class trainer in a major city, per the Mage & Shaman deep dive.

How many points, and when

Blizzard has not written down a total. The talent-window screenshots in its class deep dives show 51 unspent talent points, which matches Classic's one point per level from 10 to 60. If that holds, the medal tiers land at predictable levels:

The levels in that table are our arithmetic, not a Blizzard table. The Legacy system shifts them on any account with points to spend: the Adventure perk Talented (five ranks) starts talents at level 9, or at level 5 with every rank, per Warcraft Tavern; Wowhead's Retribution guide describes it as talent points from level 5. Wowhead's Arcane guide adds that Talented also lowers the training level of Arcane Blast. Our Legacy guide covers the perk trees.

The gold-medal tiers: 11, 16, 21, 31

Each medal is a one-point talent that changes how a spec plays. Here are the ones Blizzard named in its class posts, with the moves from the launch notes applied. It's not complete — Blizzard didn't name every tree's medals — but it shows the pattern: 11 adds a new button, 16 is the mid-tree signature, 21 a utility or cooldown, 31 the capstone.

Tier placements come from Blizzard's deep dives (September–October) and the 3 November notes — for example, Elemental Mastery came back as Elemental's 31-point talent on 16 October and Stormstrike moved down to 16 points. Wowhead's launch talent calculator has every tree as it shipped.

Old talents that are now baseline

Blizzard's BlizzCon deep dive says talents that "gave key class buffs" are now baseline, naming Divine Spirit, Blessing of Kings and Improved Mark of the Wild. The class posts add more former talents and new spells that every player of the class now trains:

That frees points that used to be mandatory for raid buffs. It also means old Classic talent builds don't translate: a build that spends points on a talent that is now baseline is wasting them.

What moved or vanished at launch

Blizzard's class deep dives were written for the beta, and the 3 November dev notes changed a lot of them. If a guide was written in September or early October, check it against this list.

Wowhead also reported "massive talent tree changes" to Druids and Paladins about 1 November. Paladin is covered in our Paladin guide and Druid in the Druid guide.

Dual spec at level 40

Every Blizzard class deep dive says the same thing: Dual Specialization unlocks at level 40. You buy it from your class trainer, and then the Secondary tab in the talent window becomes a second full build. Warcraft Wiki adds that you can swap freely outside combat and outside battlegrounds.

The obvious pairs: a damage spec for questing and a healer or tank spec for dungeons. Groups in Forever form through a listing-based Group Finder, so a second role makes you much easier to pick up. Our healer and tank guides cover those roles.

Respec costs

Changing talents inside a spec still costs a fee. The sources disagree on the floor, so here is what each says:

• Warcraft Wiki: the respec fee applies within a spec and "slowly drop[s]" back to 1 gold.
• Blizzard beta dev notes (24 Sep): "if you have not recently changed your talents, the cost is now 1 silver to re-spec", rising with use and decaying back after an hour — explicitly a temporary beta setting.
• Legacy talents (8 Oct notes): the lowest Legacy respec cost is 1 silver, and the cost falls by one step per hour.

In practice: use dual spec instead of respeccing back and forth, plan builds in a calculator before you visit the trainer, and check the trainer's quoted price before you commit.

Training costs: what your class costs to 60

Kaivax's 3 November notes give one number for every class: training all class abilities from 1 to 60 costs 206–207 gold. Warlock trainer costs were reduced by the expected price of the pet Grimoires so Warlocks land in the same range. The other gold you'll spend on your class along the way:

Riding isn't a talent cost, but it lands on the same level as dual spec, which is why level 40 is the expensive one. Blizzard has published none of the riding numbers; they come from Warcraft Tavern's guide.

Leveling builds: what the guides say

No reputable site has a Forever leveling tier list. What exists is per-spec advice, and it is worth knowing because Forever changed which trees level well:

Those are Wowhead's leveling guides, dated 4–6 November. For the classes in this batch, see the Shaman, Mage, Warlock and Warrior guides.

Talents and your role

Several talents exist to make a role work in Forever's rules, and they are easy to skip if you're copying an old build:

The reason threat talents matter more: Blessing of Salvation was removed, and tanks got bigger threat bonuses to compensate — Defensive Stance 80%, Bear 115%, Righteous Fury +33% to all threat.

What changes on 10 November

Kaivax's 3 November notes say no big tuning is planned before raids open except for bugs and serious outliers. On 6 November Blizzard listed the outliers it is fixing on 10 November 2026:

• Build in the launch calculator first, then visit the trainer once.
• Use dual spec for role swaps instead of paying respec fees.
• Skip talents that are now baseline when copying a Classic build.
• Check medal talents against the 3 November notes, not BlizzCon posts.
• Re-read your class notes after 10 November.