WoW Forever’s announced raid destinations are Hyjal Summit and the Barrow Deeps. Blizzard describes Hyjal Summit as 20-player raid encounters and the Barrow Deeps as a planned maximum-level 10-player challenge. The What’s Next panel roadmap says new raids unlock December 9, 2026, following the game’s November 4 launch.
Announced raid sizes
- Hyjal Summit — 20 players. The new Forever raid is set in Hyjal. Do not treat its name as a confirmed copy of the TBC encounter lineup or loot table.
- The Barrow Deeps — 10 players, planned for maximum level. This is the smaller announced raid format, not a published recommendation for tank, healer or DPS counts.
Both descriptions come from the same official panel recap. Blizzard also mentions new tier sets and a legendary reward that it intends to reveal in full. The recap does not provide the item stats or set bonuses needed to build a gearing plan.
When do raids open?
The launch announcement gives November 4 for the game’s release. The panel roadmap places new raid unlocks on December 9. Treat those as separate milestones: launch is the start of the leveling and dungeon stretch, not the announced new-raid opening.
The recap does not spell out separate unlock times for each named raid, regional lockout handling or a full tier calendar. If you are arranging guild availability, the December date is the announced planning marker; wait for raid-specific details before promising a first pull at a particular hour.
What a guild can plan now
Start with who wants to play and which group size you can support. A 10-player and a 20-player raid create different attendance needs, but the announcement does not establish whether they share progression, gearing requirements or a weekly schedule. Keep those decisions open rather than assuming the smaller raid is mandatory preparation for the larger one.
There is also no reason to copy a TBC roster into Forever. Class and talent updates are part of the announced changes, and boss mechanics, tuning and support requirements will determine the eventual composition advice.
Later raids and rewards
The roadmap mentions more raids, dungeons, world content, Hardcore and a revamped iconic raid after the initial releases. It does not identify that revamped raid in the cited recap or give a complete release sequence. Boss guides, attunement instructions and BiS lists need more than a roadmap mention.
For now, the useful confirmed details are the two destinations, their announced sizes and the December unlock marker. Follow Forever news for official raid reveals and beta access if you want to follow the testing period.