World of Warcraft: Forever being a redo of OG WoW means going back to the good ol’ days of the never-ending conflict between the Alliance and the Horde. You’re either lok’tar ogar or you scream “for the Alliance!” There was hardly any in-between, and we missed that from the older expansions.
And since WoW: Forever does want to recapture that 2004 vanilla “spirit” without messy expansions getting in the way, part of that effort is to make PvP a lot more enjoyable and replayable. But first, let’s take a quick look at what Forever offers in the player-versus-player department.
Table of contents
Explaining World PvP
Not everyone is playing WoW to fight other players, and we don’t want to ruin anyone else’s time. So the best way for you to enjoy PvP is to find others who are willing to duke it out just as much as you do.
This is where World PvP comes in, which is the sub-setting you can play with to toggle your PvP options in the main game world. You can enable PvP in any area by:
- With the HUD: Go to your target frame (with your name and bars), right-click, hover over “Player vs. Player” and enable (or disable) it.
- With the chat: Type
/pvpin the chat. - With the controller: Click your settings button, press RB to switch tabs, then flick the joystick to the “PvP” node.
You can only unflag yourself for PvP if you wait for five minutes inside Friendly territory. If you enabled PvP via chat, you have to type it again before it starts the five-minute timer. There are also some places where PvP is automatically turned on.
Does the PvP Ruleset make a difference?
When you make a character in Forever, you choose a ruleset instead of a realm. And among those rulesets are the PvP and Roleplay-PvP variants. Simply put:
- In PvP, everyone is encouraged to engage in player-versus-player combat
- In Roleplay-PvP, everyone is encouraged to roleplay as their character, and they’re expected to engage in fights more frequently
The only main difference between PvP and PvE (Normal, Roleplay) is that World PvP affects these characters in a slightly different manner:
| Ruleset | Friendly Territory | Contested Territory | Enemy Territory |
|---|---|---|---|
| PvP, Roleplay-PvP | Disabled unless you enable it, help a fellow friendly, or attack an enemy player | Enabled on entry | Enabled on entry |
| Normal, Roleplaying, Hardcore | Disabled unless you flag yourself, help a fellow friendly, or attack an enemy player | Same as Friendly rules | Enabled on entry |
There is Honor in a good fight
All PvP activities in Forever give you something called Honor Points. You earn this exclusive PvP currency through Battlegrounds, PvP Quests, and even defeating other players. Spend your Honor by finding PvP vendors at:
- Champions’ Hall, Stormwind (Alliance)
- Dalaran Sewers, Dalaran (Alliance)
- Hall of Legends (Horde)
You can only carry a maximum of 15,000 Honor at any given time.
Ranks show how you rise to the top
PvP battles are no walk in the park, and Forever plays its part in honoring (pun intended) that participation. You start your journey as a Civilian and earn Rank Points as you do PvP activities. Earning enough points will raise your rank for the Season, which is separate from the MMO’s core leveling dynamic.
| Rank | Alliance Term | Horde Term |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Civilian | Civilian |
| 1 | Private | Scout |
| 2 | Corporal | Grunt |
| 3 | Sergeant | Sergeant |
| 4 | Master Sergeant | Senior Sergeant |
| 5 | Sergeant Major | First Sergeant |
| 6 | Knight | Stone Guard |
| 7 | Knight-Lieutenant | Blood Guard |
| 8 | Knight-Captain | Legionnaire |
| 9 | Knight-Champion | Centurion |
| 10 | Lieutenant Commander | Champion |
| 11 | Commander | Lieutenant General |
| 12 | Marshal | General |
| 13 | Field Marshal | Warlord |
| 14 | Grand Marshal | High Warlord |
To check out your current rank, open your Character sheet and find the “Player vs. Player” tab. This will show you your current rank, the Rank Points you have, and rewards you can purchase based on your ranking.
Treat random duels as unranked PvP
You might be confused about why your PvP actions may or may not earn Rank Points in Forever. How come your Battlegrounds skirmishes net you Rank Points, but somehow a difficult duel against this Alliance Rogue didn’t give you anything?
The key distinction is that you don’t earn Rank Points in casual combat.
Getting Rank Points
So if not casual combat, what exactly does give your character Rank Points? Forever only lets you farm Rank Points through these events:
- Battlegrounds: Instanced team-based zones where two teams try to dominate each other in unique locations with different mechanics.
- PvP Quests: These are special quests that will be labeled as PvP Quests.
Read what’s behind the latest news in gaming (with a bit of snark) by subscribing to the Destructoid Checkpoint newsletter!
Rank Points have a weekly cap
The prospect of PvP giving Epic Gear can make a weekend marathon worthwhile, but you might want to hold your horses. You only get to earn a certain amount of Rank Points per week, based on your current rank. This means you’ll have to, at minimum, engage with the PvP Season for at least 10 weeks before completing it.
| Rank | Weekly Rank Cap |
|---|---|
| 0 | 3 |
| 1 | 3 |
| 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 7 |
| 5 | 8 |
| 6 | 9 |
| 7 | 11 |
| 8 | 12 |
| 9 | 13 |
| 10+ | 14 |
Rewards demand Ranks
As you progress as a PvP enthusiast in Forever, you can also indulge in the rewards of fighting other players. But you can’t just spend your Honor willy-nilly, as these rewards are also locked behind rank tiers. Here are shop items you raise your rank:
| Rank | PvP Item Reward |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tabard |
| 2 | PvP Trinket |
| 3 | Cloak |
| 4 | Necklace |
| 5 | Combat Potions |
| 6 | Tabard |
| 7 | Battle Standard (drop to give nearby allies +15 percent Health) |
| 8 | Epic Bracers or Epic Belt (Upgrade Token) |
| 9 | Epic Boots (Upgrade Token) |
| 10 | Epic Gloves (Upgrade Token) |
| 11 | Mounts |
| 12 | Epic Legs or Epic Shoulders (Upgrade Token) |
| 13 | Epic Chest or Epic Helm (Upgrade Token) |
| 14 | Epic Weapons |
You might notice the word Upgrade Token there. That’s because there are two different PvP gear sets you can purchase with Honor. By default, you can buy a Rare Set and an Epic Set. The catch is, you can only access the Epic Set by bringing in its Rare equivalent and upgrading it with the Emboldened Seal, which is the upgrade token you can purchase for that specific gear type.
PvP Seasons enter the mix
Blizzard wants to give Forever players a reason to go back to the game all the time, and they are using PvP Seasons for our dueling enthusiasts. Similar to most other live service games, PvP Seasons happen over a set duration and feature limited-time events and rewards. Here are things to take note:
- Ranks last per Season: Ranks that reset per Season provides a replayability element.
- Seasons come with Weekly Tasks: Finishing these tasks gives you Honor and Rank Points.
- Earn Legacy Points: Three tasks within the Season will grant you a Legacy Point. Blizzard promised that these tasks will carry over in future Seasons if you didn’t get to finish them.
World of Warcraft: Forever launched on Nov. 4, 2026 and is playable on PC and macOS.
