WoW: Forever raid list and release dates

What raids does WoW: Forever have at launch?

WoW: Forever launches with no raids at all. The 4 November 2026 launch opens the level 1 to 60 game, the new zones, and the nine new dungeons, but every raid stays locked for the first five weeks.

The first raid tier opens on 9 December 2026, confirmed in Blizzard's own What's Next panel recap. That gives you a hard five-week window to reach level 60 and gear up through the new dungeons before any raid gate opens.

The WoW Forever raids list: sizes and dates

Three raids open on 9 December 2026, each a different size. Barrow Deeps holds 10 players, Hyjal Summit holds 20, and Onyxia's Lair holds 40, the classic small, mid, and full-raid structure rather than one flexible difficulty.

Barrow Deeps is a maximum-level, 10-player raid set in the night elves' barrow dens, an underground prison network for dangerous captives. Blizzard's Deep Dive session mentioned corruption spreading through the complex and an infamous demon hunter once held there, a strong hint at Illidan Stormrage that Blizzard has not confirmed.

Hyjal Summit is a 20-player raid at Mount Hyjal, the site of Archimonde's defeat in the Third War. The story follows something draining power from the land around the summit, and this is where Blizzard first teased a legendary power it later confirmed as a new legendary tied to the tier, though the item's identity is still unrevealed.

Onyxia's Lair returns as the tier's 40-player raid. Blizzard's own written recap names only Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit by name, but the roadmap slide shown at the end of the same panel listed all three raids, including Onyxia's Lair, for 9 December, and outlets have repeated those dates since. Treat the date as roadmap-confirmed rather than spelled out in Blizzard's prose.

Why the raids open five weeks after launch

Blizzard built Forever around four pillars: approachable and familiar, the world as the main character, the journey before the destination, and the social experiences that make Azeroth feel alive. Leveling matters as much as endgame, the What's Next recap says, and rewards come from playing the game.

Not every player agrees five weeks is long enough. On the official forums, a thread titled December 9th Raids Feel Too Soon drew replies on 30 September 2026, split between players who want more room to level without feeling rushed and others who pointed out that a slower player can still raid in February, since gear earned on 9 December keeps its value for months under Forever's horizontal progression.

Loot rules and the tier's legendary

Forever's three launch raids keep fixed group sizes and one difficulty each, with no flexible raid sizing and no automated raid finder. You list and find groups through the built-in Looking for Group tool, then travel to the entrance yourself.

Blizzard is also banning GDKP runs in Forever. It wants to protect guild-based groups and has linked GDKP to gold buying and the movement of illicit gold it plans to police. None of the three launch raids require an attunement, though Blizzard has left open whether raids added later will.

Every class gets a new tier set, and Blizzard plans rare chase items on raid bosses to keep older fights worth running. The first new legendary is confirmed and tied to this tier, but boss names, loot tables, and lockouts are still unannounced as of 5 October 2026.

Getting raid-ready before 9 December

The nine new dungeons, including the Hall of Thanes under Ironforge and the City of Dalaran, are your gearing path before December. Clear them on the way to 60 and you reach the raid tier with real pre-raid gear instead of starting from zero.

Wowdee will track which of the three raids your group is aiming for and keep a simple roster checklist, who is 60, who is geared, and who still needs a dungeon run, so your group knows exactly who is ready before the gates open on 9 December.