WoW Forever Launch Day Checklist: 10 Things to Do Before 3 p.m. PST Nov 4

Updated November 3, 2026 (launch eve): rebuilt as a last-night list. New: the November 4 maintenance window in your time zone, the pre-install check, the Classic or Enhanced preset you'll see first, today's name-reservation close, the PvP faction lock, invite codes for the Nov 4 to Nov 11 window, and what changed in Blizzard's final November 2 notes for your first hour (spells no longer land on your bars by themselves, bags no longer equip themselves).

Quick answer: World of Warcraft: Forever opens at 3:00 p.m. PST on Wednesday, November 4 (23:00 UTC, midnight CET going into November 5). Before that, a Battle.net app notice lists maintenance from 10:00 a.m. PST (18:00 UTC), so finish everything below by then: (1) note the clock, (2) confirm Subscription or Game Time on the right WoW account, (3) install the client now, (4) update your addons, (5) use today's last name-reservation slots, (6) pick a ruleset, (7) check the faction rules, (8) decide Classic or Enhanced, (9) send your invite codes and (10) plan your first hour.

Last verified: Nov 3, 2026, 11:40 UTC

New to Forever? Our WoW Forever vs Classic vs Retail explainer covers the basics first.

1. When does the maintenance start, and when can you log in?

Blizzard gives one global launch moment, and a long maintenance comes before it. A player posted the Battle.net app notice on the official forums on October 31, and Wowhead reported the same notice:

"We will be performing scheduled maintenance beginning on Wednesday, November 4th, 10:00 AM (PST) and we expect the service to be available again at approximately 3:00 PM (PST). During this time the game will be unavailable for play." (Battle.net app notice)

The launch column matches Blizzard's own regional table, and the official Forever page countdown still ends at 23:00 UTC when we re-checked it today. The notice says "approximately 3:00 PM", so don't book anything tight around it. Every other city is in our launch time guide.

2. Is your Subscription or Game Time active on the right account?

This is the one check that can lock you out completely. Blizzard's return guide says access is "included with an active World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time." No box purchase is needed.

• Subscription or Game Time only: you can play at launch. You don't get the Skyborne or name reservation.
• Skyborne Heroic Pack ($29.99): adds the Skyborne race and Zephras Isle, plus one invite code.
• Skyborne Epic Pack ($59.99) or Warcraft Forever Collection ($79.99): add 30 days of Game Time from November 4 and three invite codes in total, per Blizzard's pre-purchase article.

Then check the account. A pack applies "only to the specific WoW account it was purchased for," per Blizzard's reservation article, so if you have WoW1 and WoW2 under one Battle.net login, check which one owns it. A Blizzard rep said on the EU forums that a license can't be moved and a wrong-account purchase needs a refund. If you haven't logged in for years, update your email and authenticator today, not at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

3. Have you installed the client yet?

Do it tonight. Blizzard's steps: open the Battle.net app, select World of Warcraft, choose World of Warcraft: Forever in the Game Version menu, pick the right account in the second dropdown, then click Install (Blizzard). Update your operating system and graphics drivers first, as Blizzard advises.

Blizzard lists 128 GB free on an SSD. Players report the clean install itself is closer to 50 GB, and less if you already have another WoW version on the same drive, since the versions share data. Pack owners can install now. Blizzard hasn't announced a pre-load date for subscription-only players, and reports are mixed. If your button is greyed out, work through our pre-install greyed-out fix, and check your PC against the system requirements.

4. Are your addons ready for the live client?

The live game uses its own World of Warcraft/_forever_ folder, not the beta's _classic_beta_ folder. If you're bringing a beta setup across, CurseForge's guide says to copy Interface and WTF with the game and CurseForge closed, back up any live folders first, then rename the beta account folder inside WTF/Account to the live account name. Per-character settings may still need a manual touch. Then update every addon to a file tagged for Forever, because Classic Era files won't load. Our WoW Forever addons list shows which addons have a Forever release right now.

Keep it light for night one: a quest helper, a bag addon and the Auction House addon you trust. Add the rest once you know the client is stable.

5. Have you used your last name-reservation slots?

Early Name Reservation ends today, November 3. Blizzard hasn't published an exact closing hour, so treat it as now or never. You can hold up to 3 characters in total across all rulesets, and it needs a pack or the Collector's Edition on that WoW account. Beta and invite codes don't give reservation, per Blizzard Support.

Names work differently in Forever. Every character has two names, and together they form a full name that is "unique within a region," Blizzard says in its launch post. Both parts are checked together for restricted words, and you can hide the second one on your nameplate, though it still shows in chat (Blizzard). Without a reservation, you create your characters at launch, so keep two backup combinations ready. Errors and fixes are in our name reservation guide.

6. Which ruleset is your group on?

Forever has no realm list. You pick a ruleset, and four are open at launch: Normal, PvP, Roleplay and Roleplay-PvP. Hardcore comes "sometime after launch." The rule that matters for friends is strict:

"Characters can group, join guilds, run dungeons, and raid only with players on the same Ruleset and faction." (Blizzard, New Player's Starter Guide)

So agree on the ruleset and the faction in the group chat tonight. Also check your Preferred Online Language setting: it's account-wide with a 24-hour cooldown, per Blizzard's ruleset article, so a launch-night change could leave you stuck until Thursday. More detail is in our rulesets and friends guide.

7. Could the faction lock stop you on launch night?

It can on PvP. Blizzard Support says that when one faction "is significantly more dominant than the other, character creation will be temporarily restricted for the dominant faction," and that "Customer Support cannot help bypassing this restriction" (Blizzard Support). During reservation week, players reported the error "This faction is currently unavailable on this ruleset due to population imbalance," mostly for Horde on PvP.

On top of that, the PvP ruleset doesn't let you hold characters of both factions at once. Blizzard hasn't said whether the lock will still be active when launch opens. Have a plan B. The cleanest is a character on another ruleset to play while you retry, because a PvP character on the other faction would itself block your first choice on that ruleset until you delete it. Our faction unavailable guide collects the wait times players have reported, and our Horde or Alliance breakdown helps if you're still undecided.

8. Classic or Enhanced: which preset will you pick?

This is the first screen you'll see, before ruleset selection, and Blizzard says "After your initial log in to the game, you will no longer see this screen" (launch post).

Blizzard's own advice: "If you are not sure which to choose, start with Enhanced." Nothing is locked: every setting can be changed later under Game Menu > Options, and HD or SD is picked per character and changeable at a Barbershop. Our Classic vs Enhanced guide explains each setting.

9. Have you sent your invite codes?

Invite-A-Friend Launch Codes give a friend access from November 4 through November 11, with no subscription needed for that week. The Blizzard Support article adds the catches:

• Counts: Heroic Pack 1 code, Epic Pack or Collection 3, a Gear Store Collector's Edition 3.
• Who can redeem: codes can't be redeemed on an account that already bought a Forever upgrade.
• What it isn't: no Skyborne, no Game Time, no beta.
• Deadline: redeem by November 11. Lost or wrong-account codes aren't replaced.

Send the codes today so your friends can install alongside you. The full rules and redeem errors are in our invite codes guide.

10. What should you do in your first hour?

Blizzard's final development notes, posted on the evening of November 2, Pacific time, changed a few things that you'll notice right away:

• Drag new spells to your bars yourself. "Learning new spells will no longer cause them to be automatically added to your action bars." Open your spellbook after every trainer visit.
• Equip bags by hand. "Bags will no longer automatically equip into available bag slots." Check your bag bar after the first few quest rewards.
• Expect crowds, but faster respawns. Blizzard raised respawn rates for launch, fastest in starting zones, and said "Some contention for spawns is expected."
• Budget for training. Class training from 1 to 60 now costs 206 to 207 gold in total for every class.

Three more first-hour habits:

• Group up for crowded quests. Blizzard's engineers said on the official podcast that joining a group shows a pop-up to move you to your group's world, with a time window to finish what you're doing. Our layering explainer covers how it works.
• Check the Cooldown Manager. In the beta it was off by default and switched on under Options, Gameplay Enhancement.
• Dungeons need manual groups. There's a listing tool but no automatic queue, as our LFG guide explains.

Everyone starts at level 1 with no gold. Beta progress is gone, and Blizzard has announced no transfers from Classic Era or Season of Discovery. If login trouble hits at 3 p.m., our server status page tracks problems as they're reported.

Early gold matters most in week one, with training at about 207 gold and riding to save for. Our gold farming guide and mount cost guide cover the free route. If you'd rather not spend launch week on it, these are the options.

Short on time in launch week? timesaver.gg's WoW Forever team starts on November 4.

• WoW Forever Power Leveling to 60: any range from 1 to 60, played by hand on the quest route
• WoW Forever Gold: for class training, riding and Auction House buys
• All WoW Forever services: the full Forever lineup in one place

Know the risk before you buy. Blizzard's EULA bans paid leveling and selling gold, and Blizzard says anyone found buying or receiving illicit gold can lose that gold or their account. It also uses Temporary Economy Holds on suspected accounts. Nobody can honestly call this risk-free, and we won't. Our gold buying and ban risk guide has the full picture.

What's left on the WoW Forever calendar?

The raid date comes from Blizzard's launch post, which also names the new zones you'll reach while leveling, including Mount Hyjal, Shen'dralas, the Riverglades and Zephras Isle.

FAQ

What time does WoW Forever launch? At 3:00 p.m. PST on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. That's 6:00 p.m. EST, 11:00 p.m. in the UK, midnight CET going into November 5 and 23:00 UTC. Blizzard uses one global launch time.

Is there maintenance before WoW Forever launches? Yes. A Battle.net app notice lists maintenance from 10:00 a.m. PST (18:00 UTC) on November 4 until approximately 3:00 p.m. PST, and says the game will be unavailable for play during that time.

Can I still reserve a name for WoW Forever? Only until reservation closes today, November 3, and only with a pack or Collector's Edition on that WoW account. You get 3 characters across all rulesets. Without one, you create characters at launch.

Do I need to buy WoW Forever to play on launch day? No. An active Subscription or Game Time is enough. The packs add the Skyborne, invite codes and, for the Epic Pack and Collection, 30 days of Game Time.

Should I pick Classic or Enhanced? Blizzard suggests Enhanced if you're unsure. The choice only sets your starting options, and you can change each setting later in Game Menu > Options.

Why can't I create a Horde character on PvP? The ruleset temporarily restricts the more populated faction. Customer Support can't bypass it, so retry later or create on another faction or ruleset in the meantime.