WoW Forever raid sizes: planning 10 and 20-player rosters

WoW Forever's first new raids open on December 9, 2026. Blizzard's What's Next panel recap names two of them: the Barrow Deeps, a 10-player raid, and Hyjal Summit, with 20-player encounters.

That gives officers about five weeks between the November 4 launch and the first raid night. This guide covers how to plan both raid sizes and what Forever changes about raid buffs. Blizzard's announcements we checked name no other raid sizes, so this guide plans for the 10 and the 20 only.

Two raids, two rosters

The 10 and the 20 do different jobs for a guild.

The 10-player Barrow Deeps suits smaller friend groups, alt runs and a second team. A single missing healer or tank stops the raid, so plan backups for those roles first.

The 20-player Hyjal Summit is where a guild's main roster lives. It needs steady attendance, more officers' attention and a loot system everyone understands. See our guild loot systems guide for options.

Many guilds will run both. Decide early whether your 10-player groups come from inside the 20-player roster, or form separate teams. Running the 10 with your main 20 means two lockouts' worth of commitment each week from the same people.

Planning a 40-member guild roster

For a guild with 40 available players, start with two separate 20-player teams or four 10-player teams. This is a scheduling example based on the confirmed raid sizes. Give each team its own signups, leader and replacement list.

Count people, not characters. A player who offers a main and an alt still fills one seat when the teams raid at the same time. If several players can only attend one night, stagger the groups rather than putting the same names on simultaneous rosters. Keep guest slots and backups visible until officers confirm the final teams.

A starting role split

Blizzard has not published recommended compositions, and encounter details are not out yet. Use these as starting drafts, not targets:

Adjust after the first nights. A roster that clears with three healers does not need a fourth benched healer every week.

Forever changes how buffs and debuffs stack

If your officers planned Classic Era raids, several old composition rules no longer apply. All of these come from Blizzard's class deep dives and the Deep Dive panel recap.

Buffs that no longer need a talent. Blessing of Kings, Divine Spirit and Improved Mark of the Wild are now baseline. Battle Shout includes the old Improved Battle Shout benefit. You no longer need a specific talented Paladin, Priest or Druid to provide them.

Debuffs that only help their caster. Shadow Weaving, Improved Scorch and Winter's Chill now benefit only the player who applies them. Each Mage also has a separate Ignite. One Shadow Priest or one Fire Mage no longer boosts everyone else's damage the way they did in Classic.

Armor reduction. Expose Armor now reduces armor by roughly as much as five stacks of Sunder Armor and no longer blocks Sunder Armor.

Warlock curses. Curse of the Elements now applies to all magic damage. Curse of Shadows is gone. Curse of Agony and Curse of Doom became Banes, and each Warlock can keep only one Bane on a target.

Party crit auras. Leader of the Pack and Moonkin Form both raise spell and attack crit for the party, but they do not stack with each other. Two Druids in one group do not double the bonus.

Shaman totems. Windfury Totem and Flametongue Totem are now party-wide buffs instead of weapon enchants. Windfury Totem cannot be active with Grace of Air or Flametongue Totem. Resistance totems now cover the entire raid group.

Hit and crit. Spell, melee and ranged hit are now one stat, and so are the three crit stats. Gear lists from Classic Era do not carry over cleanly.

Hunter pets. The Wolf's Furious Howl raises party melee attack power. The September 24 beta notes reduced its bonus by 40%, so check current values before planning around it.

These rules can change during beta. Recheck them in the week before December 9.

What to collect from each member

Ask for this before launch and store it somewhere officers can read:

1. Character name. Forever uses two-part names that are unique per region, so collect the full name.
2. Class, main role and second role. Dual specialization unlocks at level 40, so a second spec is a realistic backup.
3. Ruleset. Players can only group with others on the same ruleset, and Horde and Alliance still cannot group.
4. Raid nights the player can commit to, and whether they want the 10, the 20 or both.
5. A talent plan. Link a build from the WoW Forever talent calculator so officers can see the intended role.

Our class guides cover what each spec brings: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock and Warrior.

Plan it in GuildManager

GuildManager's WoW Forever setup has tank, healer and damage roles for activities. Free includes one-off activities with RSVP. Core adds recurring raid nights, reminders and advanced party planning. The desktop app's addon can sync your in-game guild roster so levels and classes stay current. Start from the WoW Forever page.

Related guides

• WoW Forever launch-week officer checklist
• Moving a Classic Era guild to WoW Forever
• WoW Forever guild loot systems

Sources

Checked October 14, 2026.

• World of Warcraft: Forever What's Next panel recap. Blizzard. December 9 raid unlock, Barrow Deeps (10) and Hyjal Summit (20).
• World of Warcraft: Forever Deep Dive panel recap. Blizzard. Rulesets, grouping limits, character names, combined hit and crit, baseline buffs.
• Class Deep Dives: Hunter and Druid, Priest and Warrior, Mage and Shaman, and Rogue and Warlock. Blizzard. Buff, debuff and totem changes, dual specialization.
• WoW: Forever Beta Development Notes. Blizzard forums, updated October 8, 2026. Beta tuning changes.