WoW Forever: Forsaken paladins, ship routes and the Riverglades

At BlizzCon, Senior Game Designer Josh Greenfield and Lead Content Designer Evan Lee presented new content for WoW Forever in a panel called Found Photos, and Blizzard published a recap of it on 13 September. The name, first used by Chris Metzen, is the team's word for story threads that feel as though they may have been part of Classic Azeroth all along. Blizzard says the game begins in the early 'Year 1' period of Azeroth, before Kazzak reopened the Dark Portal. Rather than rushing forward, the team is building on the original level 1 to 60 world, and Forever sits in its own 'time bubble', so new stories can be added without disturbing the original ones.

Undead paladins are one of the new race and class pairings Blizzard lists for Forever, and the recap gives them a story of their own. Blizzard says it follows on from Forsaken Kingdom, a new campaign for Warcraft III, and begins at a time when other Forsaken deeply mistrust these former paladins. A key location is Bandarion Keep in the Whispering Wood of Tirisfal Glades. At level 60, Forsaken paladins will also have their own epic mount quest: Alliance paladins claim their epic charger in the name of Redemption, while the Forsaken ride in the name of Retribution.

Blizzard is adding 3 ship routes, meant to keep the feeling of crossing a large world while making it easier for friends to meet and quest together. The first links Stormwind Harbor and Auberdine, an early path between the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. The second connects Menethil, Southshore and Auberdine, which Blizzard says gives more flexibility for levelling. The third starts with the Steamwheedle Cartel in Tanaris and leads to Powderfuse Port in the Riverglades: a mid-level zone roughly the size of Stranglethorn Vale, connected to the Burning Steppes, Redridge Mountains, the Swamp of Sorrows and the Badlands, but out of players' reach until now. The recap speaks of nearly 200 quests there for Horde and Alliance; Blizzard's recap of its What's Next panel, a day earlier, said more than 150 new quests across much of the mid-30s to mid-40s.

Familiar places get attention too. The Wetlands gain quests, and the centaur faction quests in Desolace get more content and faction rewards. South of Desolace, through the Valley of Bones, a new area called Shen'dralas tells stories linked to Eldre'Thalas. Mount Hyjal lets players explore the aftermath of the Battle for Mount Hyjal and meet emerging factions. Zephras Isle, which Blizzard calls a surprising but self-contained experience, is home to the Skyborne, a new playable race; players find them in crisis as the pylons holding their island together fail. Blizzard lists access to the Skyborne race and the Zephras Isle starting area among the contents of its optional upgrade editions. Starting areas such as the Valley of Trials and Shadowglen get new NPCs, quests and recipes.

WoW Forever launches at 23:00 UK time on 4 November, which is midnight on 5 November in Central Europe. The recap does not say which of these additions will be in the game on launch day and which will come later. The beta began on 17 September and runs until 21 October. Blizzard's beta announcement set the level cap at 20, to be raised to 30 later in the beta, and lists the Skyborne, Zephras Isle and all zone content up to level 20 as available. More zones are to open as the beta goes on, but Blizzard has not said which. By Blizzard's own level ranges, the Riverglades quests and the paladin mount quest sit above the caps announced for the beta.