Moving a Classic Era guild to WoW Forever

A lot of Classic Era guilds are deciding whether to move to WoW Forever, keep playing Era, or do both. Forever looks familiar: original Azeroth, levels 1 to 60, no flying and no level scaling. Under the surface, much of what your officers know about classes, raids and realms has changed.

This guide covers what carries over, what does not, and how to move a guild in steps.

What does not carry over

Characters and progress. None of Blizzard's official recaps we checked describe copying or transferring Classic Era characters into Forever. Plan as if every member starts a new character. Forever's account-wide systems, such as Legacy Points and collections, are new to this game.

Realms. Forever has no realms. Players pick a ruleset: Normal, PvP or Roleplaying, with Hardcore arriving after launch day. Players cannot group across rulesets, and Horde and Alliance still cannot group. Your Era realm name means nothing in Forever, but your ruleset choice matters a lot.

Character names. Forever names have two parts and are unique per region. A member's Era name may not be available in the same form.

Loot history. Era DKP balances and loot council records describe a different game. Start a new ledger for Forever and keep the Era one separate. Our guild loot systems guide helps you pick a system for the new raid sizes.

What your officers need to relearn

Class knowledge from Era is a starting point, not an answer. Blizzard's class deep dives list hundreds of changes. These are the ones that affect guild planning most.

Talents. Trees keep the same structure and number of rows, with milestone talents at 11, 21 and 31 points plus a new milestone at 16 points. Some talents match patch 1.12 and many are new or redesigned. Dual specialization unlocks at level 40.

Raid buffs. Blessing of Kings, Divine Spirit and Improved Mark of the Wild are now baseline. Your raid no longer depends on specific talented players for them.

Raid debuffs. Shadow Weaving, Improved Scorch and Winter's Chill now help only their caster, and each Mage has a separate Ignite. Era compositions built around stacking these debuffs do not work the same way.

Stats. Spell, melee and ranged hit are combined into one stat, and the three crit stats are combined too. Era gear priorities and hit caps do not transfer.

Hybrids. Forever puts real work into hybrid specs. Paladins get Holy Strike, baseline Consecration and a taunt through Seal of Fury and Judgment. Druid tanks benefit from Defense items. Shaman totems last five minutes and can be summoned as sets. Members who benched their hybrid in Era may want to tank or deal damage now.

Raid sizes. The new December 9 raids are the 10-player Barrow Deeps and the 20-player Hyjal Summit. An Era guild organized around a 40-player roster needs a new structure. Our raid sizes and roster planning guide covers how.

What carries over

Your people, your Discord, your raid leaders and your habits all carry over. Knowing how to run a pull, assign interrupts or handle a loot dispute is just as useful in Forever. A guild with a working culture has a large head start over one that forms on launch night.

Move the guild in steps

1. Ask members where they plan to play. Use three answers: Forever only, Era only, or both. Do not assume. Some of your best Era raiders may stay.

2. Decide what the Era guild becomes. Common choices are keeping a smaller Era raid team, moving Era to social play, or closing it after a last run. Tell members the plan before launch so nobody feels left behind.

3. Pick a Forever ruleset and faction together. This is the one decision you cannot split. A guild on two rulesets cannot raid together.

4. Name new officers if needed. Running a guild in two games doubles the work. Give each game its own officer lead.

5. Separate the channels. Give Forever its own Discord category for signups, loot and class talk. Mixed channels confuse members who play only one game.

6. Write new rules. Raid sizes, loot system and attendance expectations all change. Treat them as new rules, not edits to the Era rules.

7. Ask for Forever character plans. Have members link a build from the WoW Forever talent calculator and name their main role.

Our launch-week officer checklist covers the days around November 4.

Keep both games in GuildManager

GuildManager treats WoW Classic and WoW Forever as separate games, each with its own classes, roles and activities. Forever characters, raid signups and loot records stay apart from the Era ones. Start from the WoW Forever page, and see our WoW Classic guild guide for the Era side.

Sources

Checked October 14, 2026.

• World of Warcraft: Forever What's Next panel recap. Blizzard. Launch, raid sizes and date, levels 1 to 60, no flying or level scaling.
• World of Warcraft: Forever Deep Dive panel recap. Blizzard. Rulesets, grouping, names, Legacy Points, combined stats, talent milestones, baseline buffs, Paladin changes.
• Class Deep Dives: Hunter and Druid, Priest and Warrior, Mage and Shaman, and Rogue and Warlock. Blizzard. Class, buff and debuff changes, dual specialization.