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When it comes to the PVE end-game and raiding in WoW Forever, Blizzard isn't messing around. There are currently three raids scheduled for launch (well near enough launch anyway), with another two raids in Spring and two more in Summer.
The approach to raids in WoW Forever seems to be a hybrid approach: some old raids, some 'revamped raids' and a whole bunch of new raids. Let's dive in and see what they have planned for the first few.
When Are The WoW Forever Raids Released?
All three of the 'launch raids' in WoW Forever will be released on 9th December. That is exactly five weeks following the launch of WoW Forever on November 4th and here's the launch line-up.
WoW Forever Launch Raids: Overview
The first set of raids we will be getting in WoW Forever are as follows:
| Raid | Group Size | Bosses | Location |
| Barrow Deeps | 10 Players | 8 | Mount Hyjal, Winterspring or Blackmaw Hold) |
| Hyjal Summit | 20 Players | 13 | Summit of Mount Hyjal (Nordrassil) |
| Onyxia's Layer | 40 Players | 1 | Dustwallow Marsh |
Thanks to a proper raid overview from Blizzard on October 20, we do know a bit about each of these raids now, and we've broken that down in this article.
Barrow Deeps
Barrow Deeps is the smaller of the two new raids, and it's the one we've seen the most of so far. Episode three of the WoW Forever Podcast gave us a few very brief looks at the new raid, images of which are in this section.
Barrow Deeps will feature multiple paths that players can take.
Barrow Deeps is the prison that held Illidan Stormrage for 10,000 years, and now its passages have been cracked open. We’re heading down to find out what happened to everyone else left rotting in there, and how the wardens plan to keep whatever’s down there contained.
Barrow Deeps features a mix of different 'themes' as you move through the raid.
Barrow Deeps is an interesting raid in that it will feature three entrances, and Blizzard has now confirmed all three: Mount Hyjal, Winterspring and Blackmaw Hold. Blizzard hasn’t said if each one drops you into a different wing, but maybe we'll see something Dire Maul-ish.
Inside, your group of 10 will take on eight bosses. Forever’s Legacy Challenges have already given us the names: Deepscar Matriarch, Khalith the Dreadspinner, Amethrax, Ravus and Darlissa, Elder Tangleclaw, Well of Sorrow, Del’lynar Songwood and Sonya Darkhallow, who looks to be the final boss.
We're super excited to jump into this one.
Hyjal Summit
An iconic zone returns in WoW Forever.
Hyjal Summit is the 20-person raid of the two new raids. It's also the most interesting, because we’ve been here before. The Burning Crusade had its own Hyjal Summit raid, where you time-travelled back to fight Archimonde. Forever is set after he’s already dead, so this is going to be a whole new experience!.
The raid sits at the top of Mount Hyjal, right by the World Tree Nordrassil, and it’s packing 13 bosses. You open against an Ancient Guardian, then the raid branches out. Your group picks from multiple paths across the mountain, through ruins both above and below ground, before everything funnels into the final encounters.
This sounds a bit like a Karazhan-style raid, and we might see guilds opting to split it over a couple of nights early on.
The boss list from the Legacy challenges: Bandalar, Ancient of Decay, Time-Lost Battalion, Sylvestris Dusksong, Old Gloomlurker, Gharalis the Abyssal, Kathris the Haunted, Anara Chillwind, Elder Minderel, Tracker Stillwind, Council of Thorns, Nythus the Dreambound, and The Wild King as the final boss.
Onyxia's Lair
Onyxia's Lair returns as a 40-player raid in Forever, and will feature an attunement; Blizzard has confirmed it’s the Drakefire Amulet chain, and it’s nearly the same as Classic.
The only returning raid at launch, Onyxia's Lair brings the nostalgia.
Blizzard describes the same three-phase fight with plenty of fire flying about, so stack your fire resistance before you go in, though the rewards will likely change considerably.
WoW Forever Future Raids
Blizzard’s roadmap has two more brand new raids landing in spring 2027, one for 10 players and one for 20, so the same setup we’re getting at launch.
They’re arriving with two new dungeons, a new playable area and a legendary questline, and we’d put money on that questline tying into the Legendary thatBlizzard teased for Hyjal Summit.
As you can see from the roadmap above, Summer 2027 is where things start to ramp up. While we get another new raid, Blizzard has also confirmed one Classic raid is getting a revamp.
We don't have confirmation of which raid it will be yet, so we'll just have to wait and see!
