At BlizzCon on September 12, Blizzard listed all three new Forever zones for the first time and slotted levels across nine dungeons — so it's finally clear where you'll level from 1 to 60 and which dungeons you'll meet along the way.

At BlizzCon on September 12, 2026, Blizzard listed all three new World of Warcraft: Forever zones for the first time and slotted levels across nine dungeons. Until now, players only knew the project from its announcement; now it's clear where you'll actually level from 1 to 60, which dungeons you'll meet along the way, and which two raids will open at launch.

In the opening ceremony preview, Blizzard ran through the contents of Forever — three new zones, over a thousand new quests, nine dungeons, two raids, and the new Skyborne race. On the What's Next panel, the developers named four regions outright, and the "fourth" — Zephras Isle — is the Skyborne starting zone, which Blizzard counts separately from the three main ones. The thousand quests are spread across the whole game from 1 to 60, not only the new areas.

Three zones + a starting island

Mount Hyjal is the final leveling zone. The story revolves around the aftermath of the victory over Archimonde, whose bones lie on its slopes in the cinematic. It has solo and group content, new factions, the Hyjal Summit raid, and one of three entrances to Barrow Deeps.

Shen'dralas (note the "s" — that's how Blizzard spells it) picks up the story of the night elves left behind in Dire Maul and the war between the centaur. Blizzard is adding new reasons to revisit Maraudon and Razorfen Downs, with a route into the zone itself through the Valley of Bones.

The Riverglades is the expansion's main zone. A frontier of rivers, meadows and trade routes roughly the size of Stranglethorn Vale, it takes over part of the old classic map that was previously inaccessible. Its neighbors are the Burning Steppes, Redridge Mountains, the Swamp of Sorrows, and the Badlands. The neutral goblin port of Powderfuse Port sits here too — that's where the Trading Company's ship from Tanaris now docks — along with one new dungeon.

Zephras Isle is the Skyborne starting zone, levels 1–12. An elemental island built in Skywall style. The Skyborne, also known as the shen'dorei, begin their story as rebels who fled Eldre'Thalas after the War of the Ancients — which ties the new race directly to the Shen'dralas zone.

Nine dungeons

Dungeons 13 through 33 are tied to faction storylines: Hall of Thanes for the Alliance, Ruins of Lordaeron for the Horde, with Blizzard noting the opposite faction can drop in too. Whelgar's Excavation is an Explorers' League dig in the Wetlands. City of Dalaran is a dungeon inside the city itself after Warcraft III: the barrier is already down and the Kirin Tor "don't quite have things under control." The Drowned City is an ancient troll ruin on the shores of Stranglethorn Vale — this was the one shown on the BlizzCon show floor. Krol'dok Stronghold is a fortress; the BlizzCon slide listed a 40–55 range, but Blizzard later narrowed it to 40–45. Blackmaw Hold is the "great city of the furbolg" right at the top of the leveling curve. Shaper's Terrace closes out the route.

Raids

At launch Blizzard is announcing two raids: Barrow Deeps for 10 players — a night elf prison where "one particularly notorious character is sitting, and we're probably not ready to deal with them just yet" — and Hyjal Summit for 20 players, from which "they're drawing power." Both open on December 9, 2026 — five weeks after launch — together with Onyxia's Lair for 40 players. New legendary quests and gear sets are confirmed but not named.

Still to clarify

The same number disagrees between two official recaps: one says "over 150 quests" for the Riverglades, the other "around 200." Both numbers come from Blizzard; they average out at about 170. Shen'dralas is unclear too: one note in a community database places it "between Mulgore and the Barrens," but Dire Maul is in Feralas, and Blizzard never showed its zone on the map. For now it's a question, not a contradiction.

In practice

For the player, this changes three things. First, Forever is Classic+ aimed at the Archimonde, Dire Maul and Skyborne storylines, not retail. Second, the 1–60 path is built out of four areas with different mechanics: a starting island, faction-flavored classics from 13–33, the large neutral Riverglades zone from 30–45, and the Mount Hyjal finale. Third, the endgame content won't open all at once with launch: both raids and Onyxia's Lair only become available on December 9.