WoW Forever Previews Three of Its Nine Launch Dungeons

World of Warcraft Forever is not planning a light launch.

The project opens its doors on November 4th, and when it does, players will have nine brand new dungeons waiting for them. That's not one or two token additions bolted onto familiar content. Nine is a real chunk of fresh instanced content for a game built on such well-worn foundations, and a new preview video now gives us a first proper look at three of them.

Each of the three takes a different approach. One is a starter dungeon for the Alliance, one is an outdoor fight through a ruined capital, and one sends players into a swamp. Together they hint at what the rest of the lineup might look like.

Hall of Thanes: The Alliance Finally Gets Its Starter Dungeon

The first dungeon in the video is the Hall of Thanes, and it fills a gap that Alliance players will recognise right away. The Horde has always had Ragefire Chasm as an early, low-level introduction to group content. The Hall of Thanes is designed as the Alliance's answer to it.

The setting is very Dwarven. Players fight their way past Dark Iron Dwarves, the rival clan that has long been a thorn in the side of Ironforge's people, along with restless spirits that haunt the halls. Between fights, there are treasures to collect that once belonged to old Dwarven rulers. The name is a clue here: in Dwarven culture, thanes are nobles and clan leaders, so this is effectively a trip through the resting place of past lords.

For new characters, it should be a welcome first taste of dungeon running. For veterans, it's simply something they've never seen before in this part of the world.

Ruins of Lordaeron: An Outdoor Dungeon in a Fallen Kingdom

The second preview is arguably the most interesting one. Ruins of Lordaeron is set in the courtyard and broken remains of Lordaeron's castle, once the seat of one of the great human kingdoms before it fell to the undead.

What makes it stand out is the format. This is an outdoor dungeon, played out across the open grounds and not in a series of underground corridors. The enemy is the Scourge, the undead army that has been central to Warcraft's story for decades, and they are being directed by a necromancer pulling the strings.

Outdoor dungeons are rarer than their indoor counterparts, and setting one in a place so tied to the series' history is a smart choice. Lordaeron's ruins carry real weight for longtime fans, and turning them into a group challenge is a natural fit.

The Wetlands: Following a Dwarven Expedition

The third dungeon takes players into the Wetlands, a zone already known for being damp, dangerous and full of things with teeth. Players will deal with dangerous reptiles while working through tall grass and waterways, all in pursuit of one question: what exactly did a Dwarven expedition dig up out there?

The video doesn't spell out the answer, which is probably the point. It's a mystery hook, and Dwarven expeditions uncovering things they shouldn't have is a very familiar Warcraft setup. The environment itself also sounds like it will play a role, with grass and water shaping how players move through the fights.

Launch Is Close

That leaves six of the nine dungeons still unrevealed, at least in this video. With launch set for November 4th, there isn't much time left before players see the rest for themselves.

The build-up has been busy. The project's beta recently passed a million characters created, and the team is also running a free stress test on October 19 before the gates open for good.

Our Take

What stands out here is the confidence. Nine new dungeons at launch suggests the team behind World of Warcraft Forever isn't content with polishing nostalgia. It wants to add to the world, not just restore it. The Hall of Thanes in particular feels like a fix for a long-standing imbalance, giving Alliance players a proper equivalent to Ragefire Chasm. That kind of change shows attention to how the game actually plays, not just how it looks.

The variety across these three previews is also encouraging. A classic starter crawl, an outdoor siege and a swampy mystery are three quite different experiences, and that suggests the full set of nine won't all feel the same. Still, three dungeons in a short video is not the same as three dungeons tested by thousands of players. Pacing, difficulty and rewards are the things that will decide whether they stick, and the team has already shown it's willing to adjust things like dungeon XP during the beta.

It's worth watching whether the remaining six dungeons get previews before November 4th, and how the outdoor format of Ruins of Lordaeron holds up when crowded launch-week groups pour in. If these dungeons land well, they could be one of the strongest reasons for players to give Forever a look, rather than just revisiting the old ones.