Forever's first raid tier opens on December 9, 2026, five weeks after launch. It has three raids of three different sizes, and tier pieces can drop in all of them, so a ten-player group and a forty-player guild are both gearing toward the same sets.
| Raid | Size | Bosses | Legacy point for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barrow Deeps | 10 players | 8 | Defeating all 8 bosses |
| Hyjal Summit | 20 players | 13 | Defeating all 13 bosses |
| Onyxia’s Lair | 40 players | 1 | Defeating Onyxia |
Barrow Deeps
The night elves' sacred barrow, a prison for some of Azeroth's most infamous captives. It is a ten-player raid with several entrances, one of them on Mount Hyjal. Blizzard has said every raid tier will have at least one ten-player raid, so small groups will always have something to run.
Hyjal Summit
A new twenty-player raid on the slopes of Mount Hyjal, where something is draining the mountain's power. Thirteen bosses make it the largest raid of the tier, and it holds Forever's first legendary weapon. The zone around it, Mount Hyjal, is the endgame leveling zone, so you will know the terrain before you step inside.
Onyxia’s Lair
The broodmother returns as the forty-player raid of the first tier, and she drops additional tier pieces. Blizzard has not detailed how the encounter changed, and with every class reworked around it, expect it to play differently even if the room looks the same.
What comes after
Blizzard's roadmap for 2027:
- Spring 2027: a new ten-player raid, a new twenty-player raid, new dungeons and new quests.
- Summer 2027: a revamped version of an iconic raid and another new raid.
The level cap stays at 60, so each new tier adds gear and challenges instead of resetting your character.
Getting your character ready
- Reach 60 early. The raids open five weeks after launch. The leveling guide lays out the fastest route.
- Gear up in the new dungeons. Blackmaw Hold and The Shaper's Terrace are the new level 60 dungeons, alongside Blackrock Depths, Blackrock Spire, Dire Maul, Scholomance and Stratholme.
- Respec into a raid build. Every class guide has raid-ready builds you can open in the talent calculator.
- Get your hit up. Blizzard has not published Forever's raid hit caps. Until the first logs come in, plan around Classic's familiar targets, and use the gear planner to see your totals in percentages.
- Pick your Legacy perks. For raiders, The Quick and the Dead speeds up wipe recovery and makes buffs free after a resurrection, Permanence extends party and raid buffs, Reinforce reduces durability loss, and Reagent Economy removes purchasable reagents from class spells.
Building the raid
Forever changes raid composition in two big ways.
Debuffs are personal. Shadow Weaving, Improved Scorch, Winter's Chill and Improved Shadow Bolt now buff only the player who applies them. Stacking Shadow priests to buff warlocks, or a wall of Fire mages sharing Scorch stacks, no longer pays off.
Smaller raids need every role covered. A ten-player group usually wants two tanks, two or three healers and five or six damage dealers. The raid planner checks which buffs and debuffs your roster brings, such as Blessing of Kings, Trueshot Aura, Leader of the Pack or Moonkin Form, Power Infusion, Mana Tide Totem and Curse of the Elements, and shows what is missing.
New group tools help as well: Light’s Vigil and Wild Growth heal whole parties, Prayer of Mending bounces through the raid, and every paladin can bless Kings.