Forever raid difficulty at a glance
Blizzard has described the difficulty target in several interviews. No raid boss has been killed on live servers yet, so these are the developers' stated goals. Real clear times will only be known after December 9.
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| Raid | Size | Bosses | Entry requirement | What Blizzard said |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrow Deeps | 10 players, level 60 | 8 | None published | Closer to Karazhan than UBRS; should be puggable after a couple of weeks or months |
| Hyjal Summit | 20 players, level 60 | 13 | None published | Opens with an ancient guardian, then splits into multiple paths above and below ground |
| Onyxia's Lair | 40 players, level 60 | 1 (three phases) | Drakefire Amulet in every raider's bags | Heavy fire damage; build fire resistance first |
- Unlock date: December 9, 2026, all three raids together, per Blizzard's roadmap.
- Difficulty modes: one. No Normal/Heroic split and no Flex.
- Scaling: none, so gear and levels can make content easier over time.
- Lockouts: all three raids are currently planned to reset weekly.
- Fight length: longer than typical Classic fights, per Blizzard developers in the Crix interview.
Raids from December 9WoW: Forever Raids BoostFor players who want a vetted team beside them in Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit or Onyxia from week one instead of waiting for their guild to finish progression.from 441 EURSee options How hard are WoW: Forever raids compared with Classic?
Forever raids sit between Molten Core and the harder Naxxramas fights. In the Joardee interview, Blizzard designers Josh Greenfield and Tim Jones placed the target between Season of Mastery raids and baseline Naxxramas. Lead Encounter Designer Michael Nuthals called it "beer and pretzels" raiding: prepare, execute, collect new epics, without piling on complexity.
That does not mean every boss is a free kill. The same developers promised some hard aspirational encounters, hidden bosses and secret phases. Expect a few fights to stall groups that cleared the rest quickly.
Do you need addons for WoW: Forever raids?
No. Blizzard says Forever raids are designed so that no addons are needed. Encounters follow the vanilla visual language, so mechanics should be readable on screen rather than through warning bars.
Forever also runs on the modern client API with a built-in damage meter, and the Cooldown Manager supports every class. Addons are allowed, but encounter timers are not supposed to be mandatory.
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Blizzard expects an average guild to need about two to three weeks per raid. That estimate comes from the Joardee interview and assumes a normal, organised guild, not a world-first team.
The three raids also have different sizes, and item level is meant to be equal across them. In the Crix interview Kris Zierhut said raid size does not change how hard encounters are. The Tier 1 set is split across all three raids. A 10-player group can collect a lot of it, but finishing the set needs all three.
Is Onyxia harder because it is 40 players?
Onyxia is a three-phase fight with heavy fire damage, and Blizzard tells players to build fire resistance before going in. The difficulty comes less from mechanics and more from the logistics: forty attuned, geared players who all show up.
Blizzard says 40-player Onyxia will drop a lot of loot. For many guilds the attunement and the roster, not the fight itself, will be the main hurdle.
Can you outgear Forever raids later?
Yes. Forever has no level or item scaling, so better gear makes old raids easier. Blizzard wants older raids to stay worth farming, and its example is going back to Hyjal Summit for a legendary staff for healers.
Hyjal Summit's multiple paths also mean a guild can head for a specific boss instead of clearing everything every week. Blizzard has mentioned possible future shortcuts like the Naxxramas Translocation Orb, but has not announced any.
Are Forever raids harder than Season of Discovery?
Blizzard says Forever raids will be less complex than Season of Discovery. In the Crix interview the developers called Season of Discovery a step too far in encounter complexity and named Naxxramas in Era and Season of Mastery as the reference instead.
Some mechanics have been teased: a Barrow Deeps boss where you manage a damage buff that has a cost, a pair of spider bosses, and an undead crocolisk in Hyjal Summit whose possessing creature pops out, giving two alternating phases. Boss names and loot tables are not published, and Blizzard keeps raid item data hidden from the client.
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Frequently asked questions
When do WoW: Forever raids open?
Per Blizzard's roadmap, Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia's Lair all unlock on December 9, 2026 for level 60 characters. Blizzard described it as a global launch for the raids. All three are currently planned to reset weekly, so each raid can be cleared once per lockout.
Do WoW: Forever raids have Heroic or Mythic difficulty?
No. Blizzard says instanced content in Forever has a single difficulty with no Normal/Heroic split and no Flex scaling. Casual and hardcore guilds fight the same bosses. Raid size also does not change difficulty, and item level is meant to be equal across the 10, 20 and 40-player raids.
Do you need an attunement for Forever raids?
Onyxia's Lair does: every raid member must carry the Drakefire Amulet, earned through a faction questline that goes through Upper Blackrock Spire. Blizzard has published no attunement for Barrow Deeps or Hyjal Summit. Developers said attunements will stay occasional, with Karazhan roughly the upper limit.
Is Molten Core in WoW: Forever?
Blizzard has said Molten Core will return with new mechanics, so it will not be the old tank-and-spank version. When it opens has not been announced. At raid launch on December 9 the published raids are Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia's Lair.
How many bosses are in Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit?
Blizzard's raid overview lists eight bosses in Barrow Deeps, the 10-player raid, and thirteen in Hyjal Summit, the 20-player raid. Boss names and loot tables have not been published. Onyxia's Lair is a single three-phase encounter for 40 players.
Can a pickup group clear Barrow Deeps?
Blizzard developers said Barrow Deeps should become puggable after a couple of weeks or months, once players learn the fights and gear up. They compared it to Karazhan rather than Upper Blackrock Spire, so expect organised groups to clear it first and pickup groups to follow.