REGION · RULESET
EU · PvE
EDITION
Heroic
NAME RESERVATION
Oct 27 – Nov 3
LAUNCH
November 4
SETUP & HABITS
Before the first arrow
Riding level and cost haven't been announced. What's confirmed is a Burning Crusade-style model: the mount comes with the riding skill instead of being bought separately.
Setup. EU, PvE ruleset. The full name locks to this one character across every ruleset once claimed.
Name reservation. October 27 to November 3, first come first served, ahead of the November 4 launch. The Heroic edition qualifies, so Torvin Ledgerhand gets reserved on the 27th.
Ranged weapon. Bow, crossbow or gun, whichever has the best stats. The Dwarf Gun Specialization is gone in Forever, so there's no racial reason to favor one.
Trainer checkpoints. Level 10 (Tame Beast), 18 (Multi-Shot) and 26 (Rapid Fire) are the ones that matter; otherwise every four or five levels.
Habits. Campfire before logging off for rested XP. Legacy points while leveling go to the Leveling and Adventure perks plus Bountiful Harvest, for more scarce mats from Skinning and Mining. At 60, Bartering and Reagent Economy.
Dungeons. Kill XP in dungeons was cut and quest XP pushed up, so each dungeon is one visit for its quests.
Reputation. Climbs on its own from quests. Matters at 60, for profession recipes and vendor discounts.
STATS & GEAR RULES
Agility first, always
An appraiser's rule: read the stats, not the label.
Agility first, always. Then Stamina, Intellect, Strength, Spirit, in that order.
Hit and Crit are rare on low-level gear and only worth chasing near 60.
Compare stats, ignore the armor type. A well-itemized Leather piece can beat a Mail piece that leans Stamina and Intellect. Mail usually wins at high level, as a result rather than a rule.
Melee weapon is a stat stick. Pick it on stats.
Ammo. Restock before every session.
GETTING AROUND
Boats and hostile roads
The new ship routes come from the BlizzCon panel recap; exact docks may shift before launch.
To Kalimdor. The Menethil boats as before, plus three new routes in Forever: Stormwind Harbor to Auberdine, a Menethil, Southshore and Auberdine link, and Tanaris to Powderfuse Port in Riverglades.
Tirisfal (Scarlet Monastery, Ruins of Lordaeron). From Southshore, north through Silverpine, with hostile guards and patrols the whole way.
Neutral auction houses. Booty Bay, Gadgetzan and Everlook as before, plus Powderfuse Port. They matter for the trading plan.
BEAST MASTERY TALENT PLAN
The bear does the work
The bear tanks and does most of the damage; the hunter supports from range. This is the consensus leveling build through level 30.
Pets scale with the hunter's stats, Agility included, so gearing up strengthens the bear. Aimed Shot is baseline and shares a cooldown with Multi-Shot.
Builds for 40 to 60 exist online, but their own authors call them theorycraft. Nothing past 30 has been played yet.
Deadly Aspects
Buffs the hunter's damage while Aspect of the Hawk is up. The standout early pick.
Focused Fire + Pathfinding
Focused Fire is new to Forever; Pathfinding adds passive movement speed.
Improved Revive Pet
So a dead bear doesn't stall the questing.
Unleashed Fury
Flat pet damage buff.
Bestial Swiftness (1 point)
Gets the bear into combat faster.
Summon Hawk (~level 25)
New signature BM ability: up to two hawks fighting alongside the bear.