The Short Answer: September 17–October 21 PST, Paid Packs Only
Official start: September 17, 2026 (PST). Official end: October 21, 2026 PST. Both timestamps sit on the US Battle.net product page and Blizzard’s pre-purchase article. Icy Veins and Blizzard Watch recaps of the on-stage roadmap print October 22. When a delivery gate needs one day, use October 21.
You do not get in with a subscription. You do not get in with the Skyborne Heroic Pack ($29.99 / €29.99). You get in with the Skyborne Epic Pack ($59.99 / €59.99) or the Warcraft Forever Collection ($79.99 / €79.99). Collection is on sale through January 11, 2027. Hub: WoW Forever.
The product around the beta is still the November 4 launch, not a separate game. Launch is included in a normal sub. Beta is an upgrade window. Sibling calendar: WoW Forever Release Date. What changed versus Classic: Forever vs Classic.
How to Get In: Epic or Collection, Not Heroic
| Edition | USD / EUR | Beta | Also in the box | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Subscription / Game Time | your existing sub | no | Forever at launch (Nov 4). No Skyborne, no name reserve, no invite codes. |
 | Skyborne Heroic Pack | $29.99 / €29.99 | no | Skyborne + Zephras, name reservation, Prideclaw, transmog/toys, 1 invite code. |
| Skyborne Epic Pack | $59.99 / €59.99 | yes, from Sep 17 | Everything in Heroic + 30 days Game Time from Nov 4 + extra mounts/pets/tabards + 3 invite codes. |
| Warcraft Forever Collection | $79.99 / €79.99 | yes | Everything in Epic + Warcraft III: Reforged + Forsaken Kingdom + Housing figurines. Sale through Jan 11, 2027. |
Epic and Collection also include Early Name Reservation (October 27–November 3, three characters) and invite codes emailed from October 20. Those are launch tools, not beta tools. Skyborne contents: Skyborne guide.
Ask LFCarry →Ask whether Epic versus Collection changes anything you will actually play at cap 30. Launch 1–60 pre-orders start November 4. We will not promise a character that Blizzard has not said will transfer.
Level Cap 30 Is On the On-Stage Roadmap
Icy Veins and Blizzard Watch, recapping the on-stage roadmap, print a beta level cap of 30. That number is not yet in Blizzard’s written What’s Next, pre-purchase, or Deep Dive articles. Until Blizzard writes it, treat it as on-stage roadmap coverage.
If 30 holds, you are in the first third of a 1–60 game. Official launch cap is 60 for the foreseeable future (Carve a New Path + Found Photos). There is no flying and no level scaling (What’s Next). Quest count for the full 1–60 is “more than a thousand” / “1000+ new quests” (What’s Next + shop). XP curve numbers: unpublished. Dual spec: unpublished (Anniversary dual-spec write-ups are a different product). LFG / dungeon finder: unpublished; the stated philosophy is to be “thoughtful about convenience,” with camping and world meeting.
Riding uses a Burning Crusade-style model: gold goes into training; a mount is granted when you learn riding; pack mounts still need the skill bought in-game. Gold cost at 40 and 60, and whether those are still the unlock levels: unpublished. A level-30 beta may never see riding. Do not plan a mount test unless the client actually offers the trainer.
What You Can Reach at or Below 30
Official What’s Next lists nine new dungeon names and no level brackets. Brackets below are press — Wowhead’s overview and What’s Next BlizzCon coverage. Instance size is unpublished for all nine.
| Dungeon | Press level range | Reachable at ≤30? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hall of Thanes | 13–18 | yes, if cap is 30 | Beneath Ironforge. Alliance-leaning; Horde can enter. |
| Ruins of Lordaeron | 15–20 | yes | Horde reclaim; Alliance can enter. |
| Excavation (above Whelgar’s, Wetlands) | 24–29 | yes | — |
| City of Dalaran | overview 28–33 vs Wowhead coverage 20–35 | partial / maybe | Press conflict. If 28–33, a 30 only sees the start. If 20–35, most of it. Do not print one band as official. |
| The Drowned City | 35–40 | no, if cap is 30 | Troll ruin off Stranglethorn; naga/pirates. |
| Krol’dok Stronghold | overview 40–55; one press table 35–40 | no | Second press conflict — out of a 30 either way. |
| Alcaz Prison | 48–53 | no | Alcaz Island; Defias. |
| Blackmaw Hold | 55–60 | no | Furbolg. |
| The Shaper’s Terrace | 58–60 | no | Un’Goro / titan. |
Original Vanilla dungeons are not listed as removed. Wowhead’s BlizzCon coverage of Riverglades assumes Scarlet Monastery still exists. Scholomance / Stratholme / UBRS size changes: unpublished. Itemization note from the Deep Dive: dungeon boss uniques are now blue; every dungeon drop was re-examined.
Zephras Isle is levels 1–12 and is paid with Skyborne. A beta that includes Epic/Collection includes that start. A subscriber without a pack does not get Zephras even at launch. Zones you will not finish in a 30: Riverglades (mid-30s to mid-40s), Shen’dralas (level range unpublished), 
Mount Hyjal (60, per BlizzCon coverage). Dungeon pre-orders from $9 per leveling run / $29 endgame start delivering November 4, 2026.
What Carries Over: Blizzard Has Not Said
The official fact sheet compiled from Blizzard News and the shop has no sentence that beta characters wipe, persist, convert, or grant a launch unlock. There is also no sentence that professions, gold, or Legacy Points survive the test. Blizzard has not said whether beta characters carry over; treat beta as a test.
What we can say about the live game instead: Forever is an implied clean slate (“begin again,” start at 1). Blizzard has not stated that gold or items import from Classic or modern. WoW Token in Forever: unpublished. Paid character transfers, clones, and paid name change: unpublished, except pack Early Name Reservation and a free Hardcore-death ruleset transfer after Hardcore exists.
Invite codes are a launch-week access pass (November 4–11), not a beta key and not a character boost. Name reservation is October 27–November 3 — after beta ends on the official clock. Do not spend beta time on a name you cannot lock until late October.
See Forever dungeons →Dungeon and leveling pre-orders deliver from launch, not from September 17. Use beta to learn the first four names; book the live character after November 4.
Beta vs Launch: What to Test
Launch is November 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST, included in a sub, cap 60, raids closed until December 9, 
Hardcore closed until a 2026–2027 window. Beta is a paid, short, low-level slice. Use it for information you cannot get from a trailer.
- Test: Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, the Wetlands excavation, and City of Dalaran as far as your level and the live bracket allow. Note which press band the client actually uses.
- Test: Skyborne on Horde or Alliance if you paid for the race —
Warrior, 
Hunter, 
Rogue, 
Druid on both; 
Horde Shaman; 
Alliance Mage. New Skyborne druid forms exist; the spell lists are unpublished. Classes guide. - Test: Camping (Cooking Fire → Basic Campfire; vendors, repairs, profession workspace, one-hour buffs) and whether profession objects appear from skill 20. Deep Dive numbers: 600+ new recipes; launch Legacy spend cap 16, earn cap 65 — you will not complete that track in a 30.
- Test: Combat pacing the Deep Dive described (10–15 seconds per mob; combined hit/crit; weapon skill nerfed per item). That is a feel check, not a parse.
- Do not test as if it were launch: Riverglades, Hyjal, the five high-level new dungeons,
Barrow Deeps / Hyjal Summit / Onyxia, Hardcore, riding (unless the trainer is live), or a gold-making circuit you expect to keep. - Do not assume: a dungeon finder, dual spec, or an XP rate. All three are unpublished for Forever.
A 1–60 plan belongs on launch day, not in beta. Leveling guide and the leveling offer from $259 (shorter brackets cost less on the same slider) start delivering November 4, 2026. Gold from $19 per 100g and professions from $89 the same day. Raid holds: raids from $149 on December 9, 2026.
After Beta: Name Reserve, Launch, Raids
Official end (October 21 PST) sits six days before Early Name Reservation (October 27). There is a gap with no play and no reserved name unless you already hold a pack. Invite codes email from October 20 — during the last days of official beta or immediately after, depending on the October 21 vs 22 conflict.
November 4 at 3:00 p.m. PST is the real start. December 9 is the first raid date. Hardcore is later. Spring and Summer 2027 are press-roadmap seasons without days. Full table: release date page.
Pre-order framing: LFCarry leveling from $259, dungeon runs from $9, coaching at $29/hour, and custom from $10 start November 4, 2026. We will not sell a raid clear before December 9 or a Hardcore run before Blizzard opens that ruleset. Beta help, if any, is only for people who already own Epic or Collection — we cannot put you in a test you did not buy.
BlizzCon update (September 13, 2026)
Official shop and Blizzard’s pre-purchase article still govern the window: September 17–October 21, 2026 PST, Epic Pack or Collection only — Heroic does not include beta. The on-stage roadmap slide (Icy Veins) prints a beta level cap of 30 — not yet in Blizzard’s written articles. A live developer Q&A is the same day beta opens, September 17, 2026 (Wowhead). Press mentions a free opt-in (Wowhead); official legal copy only guarantees Epic and Collection. Wowhead’s standalone Deep Dive coverage is out.
Read next.
What Not to Expect in This Beta
No published statement that this beta is a stress test of 
realmless rulesets at full population. Blizzard’s Deep Dive article describes Normal / PvP / Roleplaying / Hardcore as launch-and-after design. Whether all of those rulesets exist in beta: unpublished. Hardcore is explicitly after launch.
No published instant-60, paid level boost, or Token gold inside Forever packs. Packs are race, cosmetics, beta, Game Time, and invite codes. No Forever-specific anti-boosting post in this week’s official articles — older Anniversary forum policy is a different product and is not treated as Forever law here.
Physical Collector’s Edition (Blizzard’s Collector’s Edition article and Gear Store listing) includes a Collection digital code plus statue and prints. Box USD: Blizzard hasn’t published this yet. That listing is not a beta key.
Sources
- Blizzard News — Pre-Purchase World of Warcraft: Forever
- Blizzard News — Carve a New Path with World of Warcraft: Forever
- Blizzard News — Forever What’s Next Panel Recap
- Blizzard News — Forever Deep Dive Panel Recap
- Battle.net shop — US/EU footnotes on beta, name reservation, and invite codes
- Icy Veins + Blizzard Watch — roadmap recaps (cap 30, October 22)
- Wowhead — overview + What’s Next BlizzCon coverage (dungeon brackets; Dalaran 20–35 vs 28–33)
- Wowhead — Deep Dive BlizzCon coverage; beta opt-in write-up
FAQ
Ask LFCarry — free →Tell LFCarry your class and whether you already own Epic or Collection. We will map a launch plan, not a fake head start.