Your first ten levels
The preset screen
The first thing Forever asks is which experience preset you want. It only sets defaults for art and interface, and every option can be changed later in Settings.
| Setting | Classic preset | Enhanced preset |
|---|---|---|
| Character models | Standard definition | High definition |
| Quest points of interest and objective blobs on the map | Off | On |
| One-bag (all bags merged into one window) | Off | On |
| Transmog | Off | On |
| Keyboard binds | Camera turning (A and D turn) | Strafe (A and D strafe) |
| Screen layout | Classic UI layout | Centralized UI layout |
If this is your first time in old Azeroth, take Enhanced: quest markers on the map remove most of the “where do I go” moments, and strafing keys are what you will want for dungeons anyway. Veterans who want the 2004 feeling take Classic and switch individual options on as needed.
Levels 1 to 5: the starting area
- Pick up every quest with a yellow exclamation mark. In the first area they chain into each other and give most of your experience.
- Loot everything. Grey items are vendor money, and in Forever the early coins matter more than they did in later expansions.
- Equip what quests give you. Do not buy gear from vendors; it is overpriced for what it does.
- Open the map (M) and look for the next quest hub before you leave the first camp.
Levels 5 to 10
- You get your second ability rank and new spells from your class trainer in the starting village. Trainers only sell what your level allows, so visit them every two levels.
- Learn First Aid from the profession trainer as soon as you can. Bandages are the cheapest healing in the game and reduce downtime for every class.
- Set your hearthstone at the inn in the main town of your starting zone, not in the tiny first camp.
- Sell greys, repair, and check your bags before heading to the second zone.
Level 10: talents
Talents open at level 10. Your first point is small, but every class guide on this site starts here. Open the talent calculator for your class, pick a leveling build, and follow it. Changing talents later costs gold and requires a class trainer in a major city, so plan rather than click.
Habits that pay off
- Rested experience. Log out in an inn or a city. Rested XP doubles the experience from kills for a while after you return.
- Always have food and water. Casters buy water from innkeepers; everyone picks up food from quests and drops.
- Read your abilities. Forever reworked several classes. Even if you played the original game, hover over new spells once.
- Join the LookingForGroup channel when you reach a city. There is no dungeon finder, and this is where groups form.
The preset table matches the launch client; the rest follows the original game and will be checked against Forever’s changes in the starting zones.