Forever’s first raids: sizes, routes and getting ready

Forever’s first raid phase opens on December 9 for three different sizes of group. Barrow Deeps takes ten players underground, Hyjal Summit brings twenty to the heights near Nordrassil, and Onyxia awaits a forty-player raid. Blizzard’s October 20 overview now adds boss counts, entrances and preparation details to the calendar.

For a guild, the most useful question is what kind of evening it wants to build. These group sizes suggest different answers. A small regular team might start with a ten-player expedition. A larger community will also need to work out how to bring everyone together on the same mountain or in front of the same dragon.

Three raids at the starting line

Blizzard gives December 9, 2026 as the opening date for all three. Weekly resets are currently planned. The overview does not specify regional opening times, so check the local schedule closer to the date before organising an exact start. Official raid details.

The new ten- and twenty-player raids were introduced in the BlizzCon What’s Next recap. This announcement makes the plan more tangible. We can now put a sense of scale beside the group sizes, although a boss count alone cannot tell us how difficult or how long an evening will be.

Barrow Deeps: what remained after Illidan?

Barrow Deeps begins with the prison that held Illidan Stormrage for ten thousand years. His departure leaves a compelling question: what happened to the place and to everyone left inside it? Blizzard says the expedition explores that legacy and the wardens’ efforts to contain the dangers below.

Entrances connect through Hyjal, Winterspring and Blackmaw Hold. That also gives the raid an interesting place on the map. In our view, a connection like this can make a dungeon route matter beyond the moment a character reaches the level cap: the same world continues through the next doorway.

A ten-player expedition is a sensible starting point for friends who want to develop teamwork with a familiar roster. That is our planning advice, rather than a claim that the raid will be easy. Eight bosses could fill a substantial evening, and the preview does not prescribe a tank or healer composition.

Agree on the length of the first session and how to cover absences before setting out. Exploring somewhere new is more enjoyable when everyone knows whether the plan is to learn the opening rooms or push as far as the group can manage.

Hyjal Summit: a familiar mountain and a new expedition

Few Warcraft locations carry as much history as Hyjal. Forever’s official world-building recap places the adventure in the original Azeroth era and explores the aftermath of the Battle for Mount Hyjal. Returning to the mountain means discovering what remains to be rebuilt and defended after the great victory.

The raid overview describes an ancient guardian as the opening encounter. Beyond it, several paths lead through ruins above and below ground, eventually opening access to the final encounters. With thirteen bosses, the promised expedition makes choosing a direction part of the appeal.

Memories of TBC do not provide a tactics guide for this raid. Forever’s preview describes its own structure, and individual mechanics need current verification. The most useful preparation for a first visit is therefore a shared approach: who will lead the route, where will everyone gather, and how will observations be kept for the next session?

Communication matters in a twenty-player group. One clear instruction before a pull is more useful than ten competing instructions during the fight. Groups can start practising that habit on the way to level 60.

Onyxia: check the amulet before the gathering

For Onyxia, the first check belongs to each player: everyone needs the Drakefire Amulet in their inventory. It does not have to be equipped. The amulet comes from a faction-specific attunement chain whose later stages include General Drakkisath in Upper Blackrock Spire.

Blizzard recommends starting early and allowing time for group quests and visits to high-level dungeons. It also advises preparing for fire damage with fire resistance gear. The overview does not give a mandatory resistance number, so it would be premature to turn one into a guild entry requirement on the strength of this announcement.

A useful practical step would be to arrange a quest evening before the raid date. Have everyone share their current stage, then put players who need the same destinations together. Signing up on a calendar does not establish that the last amulet is ready.

What should your group do now?

First, agree on scale. If Barrow Deeps is the goal, plan a workable ten-player team and some substitutes. If the shared ambition is Onyxia, discuss early whether your guild has enough people or whether a joint expedition with another community makes sense. Recruitment is much easier before the evening everyone expects to enter the raid.

Second, make the journey through dungeons together. That is where players learn each other’s habits, spot missing roles and collect quests for their next outing. Our illustrated guide to the new dungeons follows that journey from beneath the capitals to Un’Goro’s titan structures.

Third, leave room for discovery. Blizzard’s earlier overview promises new tier sets and a legendary reward to be detailed later, but this announcement is not enough to establish a final loot priority list. Agree on a fair way to handle rewards, then return to the specifics when more is confirmed.

What interests us most is the route itself: from a city to a dungeon, up a mountain and down beneath it. Once the group has chosen its first shared evening, December 9 becomes a destination for an adventure that can start taking shape now.

Sources and further reading

Original Blizzard sources checked October 20, 2026. Preparation advice and interpretations are editorial. Images: Blizzard Entertainment.

World of Warcraft: Forever Raid Overview—Locations, Raid Sizes, and Attunement worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com World of Warcraft: Forever What’s Next Panel Recap news.blizzard.com World of Warcraft: Forever Found Photos Panel Recap news.blizzard.com