World of Warcraft: Forever will launch without Shamans or Warlocks in tanking roles, despite Blizzard's experiments with alternative class specializations in WoW Classic's Season of Discovery. Senior game designer Josh Greenfield stated in an interview with GameSpot that while many lessons learned from Season of Discovery have informed Forever, more radical changes like Warlock or Mage tanks are being scaled back to preserve the core identity of classes.
“I think in spirit, a lot of the lessons we learned are carried over, but some of the more out-there things that weren’t originally in original WoW, we tone them back a little bit,” Greenfield explained. “Because it’s one of those things…It’s in the name: It’s Forever. We can do a lot of things over years, but we wanted to kind of start from a place where the soul of the class is very coded and original-WoW-centric. But there’s still meaningful changes and really exciting kinds of ways to play, the existing ways to play your class and new ways to play your class. But some of [those], like Warlock tank, Shaman tank, not quite yet, but never say never.”
In the original WoW, Shaman tanks were on the periphery of viability, often hindered by a lack of a strong taunt ability and adequate damage mitigation. While these classes could potentially be viable tanks with further adjustments, their inclusion in Forever's launch lineup is not planned.
However, World of Warcraft: Forever will incorporate some elements from the experimental Season of Discovery. Confirmed additions include new class quests, the Undermine Reals endgame currency, and the cozy sleeping bag quest chain. Notably absent from the initial launch will be Season of Discovery-exclusive content such as the Scarlet Enclave raid and the Kharazan Crypts dungeon.
Blizzard's hands-on preview at BlizzCon 2026 showcased exciting modifications to the classic Azeroth experience in WoW: Forever, including the potential for controller play. The beta for World of Warcraft: Forever is currently accessible to players who preorder the game and its new Skyborne elf race, with a full release scheduled for November 4.