WoW Forever New Zones and Map Changes, With Maps

Every new zone in WoW Forever on its map, with Blizzard's screenshots: Zephras Isle, Riverglades, Shen'dralas, Mount Hyjal and the Darkspear Islands, their towns and flight points, plus Stormwind Harbor and the Classic zones whose map changed.

By Marc · Updated October 29, 2026 · Built on the WoW Forever beta: details can still change before launch

WoW Forever doesn’t only change classes and talents: it adds land. There are four zones you couldn’t play in Classic, a new battleground, a harbor in Stormwind, nine new dungeons and, according to Blizzard, more than a thousand new quests across levels 1 to 60. Below, each new zone is on its map, taken from the game’s own map art, with the towns, flight masters and dungeons the game files place on it, and Blizzard’s own screenshots.

Where Blizzard has said something about a zone, we say so and link the source. Where a name only appears in the game files, we say that too: some of those places may belong to later updates. All the maps, the starting zones’ included, are also on one page: the WoW Forever maps.

Zephras Isle: the Skyborne starting zone

Map of Zephras Isle in WoW Forever — Zephras Isle, fully explored. Click the map for full size. Map: World of Warcraft: Forever game files, Blizzard Entertainment.

The Skyborne start here, at levels 1 to 12. In Blizzard’s story they descend from rebels who fled Eldre’Thalas after the War of the Ancients and found refuge in Skywall, the elemental plane of air, where wind spirits anchored their island. When you arrive, it’s falling apart: the elementals have vanished, the pylons that hold Zephras together are failing (the West and East Pylon Watchtowers are on the map), and the Windshapers, the High Order and the Al’Aketh are fighting over what comes next.

An airship sailing past white towers and mountains on Zephras Isle in WoW Forever — Zephras Isle, from Blizzard’s Found Photos recap. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

The island comes with the Skyborne Heroic Pack together with the race. We count 37 quests on the island that reward an item, at quest levels 1 to 13.

You don’t have to finish it: Skyborne can leave at any level. The boat leaves from the Valanaar Skydocks in the south of the island, to Dalaran for the Alliance and to Skywatcher Plateau in Mulgore for the Horde. Every quest on the island, hub by hub, is in our Zephras Isle leveling guide; the two Skyborne races and their racials are in the Skyborne race guide.

Riverglades: a new leveling zone in the Eastern Kingdoms

Map of the Riverglades in WoW Forever — The Riverglades, east of Burning Steppes and Redridge Mountains. Blue: flight master. Red: dungeon. Click the map for full size. Map: World of Warcraft: Forever game files, Blizzard Entertainment.

A whole new leveling zone on the east coast of the Eastern Kingdoms, built from a part of the Classic world you could never reach, behind Burning Steppes, Redridge Mountains, the Swamp of Sorrows and the Badlands. Blizzard calls it roughly the size of Stranglethorn Vale, with more than 150 new quests across much of the mid-30s to mid-40s (its other recap even says nearly 200). Expect gnoll camps, ogres, the Twilight’s Hammer (the game files have a Twilight’s Shroud on the map), the new Powderfuse goblins and the Brotherhood of the Horse.

Green hills, a river and red-roofed farmhouses in the Riverglades in WoW Forever — The Riverglades, from Blizzard’s Found Photos recap. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Its contested dungeon, Krol’dok Stronghold in the north of the zone, is for levels 40 to 55 according to coverage of the BlizzCon panel.

Each faction has a flight master of its own: Rog’mar in the middle of the zone for the Horde, Farholde Keep in the south for the Alliance. Powderfuse Port has one for each side, and it’s where the new Steamwheedle boat from Tanaris docks.

Powderfuse Port, a goblin harbor town with a giant wrench sign, in the Riverglades in WoW Forever — Powderfuse Port, the Riverglades’ goblin harbor, from Blizzard’s Found Photos recap. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Shen’dralas: between Desolace, Mulgore and Feralas

Map of Shen’dralas in WoW Forever — Shen’dralas, south of Desolace. Click the map for full size. Map: World of Warcraft: Forever game files, Blizzard Entertainment.

A new zone south of Desolace, reached through the Valley of Bones (at the top of its map), in the gap between Desolace and Mulgore where the Classic map only had mountains. Blizzard calls it a long-hidden mystery tied to the Shen’dralar, Eldre’Thalas (Dire Maul) and the region’s centaur tribes; the game files have a Magram Front and a Bristleback Retreat on its map. Its quests reportedly lead into Razorfen Downs and Maraudon. Desolace’s own centaur faction quests also get more content and faction rewards.

Blizzard hasn’t announced its level range. The one Shen’dralas quest with an item reward we know of so far is level 41, and its neighbours (Desolace, Feralas, Razorfen Downs, Maraudon) are for the 30s and 40s, so we’d expect about that, but it’s our guess, not a confirmed range.

Mount Hyjal: the endgame zone

Map of Mount Hyjal in WoW Forever — Mount Hyjal, south of Winterspring and east of Felwood. Blue: flight master. Click the map for full size. Map: World of Warcraft: Forever game files, Blizzard Entertainment.

The forest after Archimonde’s defeat, slowly recovering, with new factions to meet; the developers hinted that the wild gods play a part. It’s an endgame zone for level 60 characters, reached through Darkwhisper Gorge in Winterspring, with several questlines and reputations and both solo and group content. The game files have two flight masters here, for both factions: the Summit of Eternity in the east and the Tainted Foothills in the south.

Pine-covered peaks of Mount Hyjal under a purple sky in WoW Forever — Mount Hyjal, from Blizzard’s Found Photos recap. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Hyjal Summit, a 20-player raid, opens on December 9 together with Barrow Deeps and Onyxia’s Lair; the dates are in our raid roadmap.

Darkspear Islands: the new battleground

Map of the Darkspear Islands battleground in WoW Forever — The Darkspear Islands with the four points and the flag in the middle. Click the map for full size. Map: World of Warcraft: Forever game files, Blizzard Entertainment.

A 15-against-15 battleground off the coast of Dustwallow Marsh, where the Darkspear Raiders (Horde) and the Theramore Expeditionary Force (Alliance) fight over control points and a central flag, Arathi Basin-style flag captures included, according to Blizzard. In the game files, the four points are the Camp, the Ruins, the Abandoned Tower and Shipwreck Cove, with the Darkspear Flag on the bridge between the two islands. Each side earns reputation with its own faction.

A goblin zeppelin over a red-rock island with palm trees and a pier, from Blizzard’s Darkspear Islands preview — Shown right after the Darkspear Islands in Blizzard’s What’s Next recap. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Classic zones with a new map

Several Classic zones look different on WoW Forever’s world map. These are the four with the biggest changes; switch between the Classic map and the WoW Forever map to compare. Both are the game’s own map art.

Stormwind City on the Classic map — Stormwind Harbor takes up the west side of the city in WoW Forever, with docks and a canal of its own. The boat to Auberdine in Darkshore leaves from here.

Stormwind City on the WoW Forever map — Stormwind Harbor takes up the west side of the city in WoW Forever, with docks and a canal of its own. The boat to Auberdine in Darkshore leaves from here.

Mulgore on the Classic map — Mulgore has a new outline. Skywatcher Plateau, in the north-west, is where the Horde’s boat to and from Zephras Isle docks, and Shen’dralas lies to the west.

Mulgore on the WoW Forever map — Mulgore has a new outline. Skywatcher Plateau, in the north-west, is where the Horde’s boat to and from Zephras Isle docks, and Shen’dralas lies to the west.

Redridge Mountains on the Classic map — Redridge gets a new road out of its north-east corner, towards the Riverglades, which lies beyond its eastern mountains.

Redridge Mountains on the WoW Forever map — Redridge gets a new road out of its north-east corner, towards the Riverglades, which lies beyond its eastern mountains.

Eastern Plaguelands on the Classic map — The Eastern Plaguelands map is redrawn almost entirely, with other mountains and lakes and a coastline along the east. Blizzard hasn’t said what’s new there.

Eastern Plaguelands on the WoW Forever map — The Eastern Plaguelands map is redrawn almost entirely, with other mountains and lakes and a coastline along the east. Blizzard hasn’t said what’s new there.

Smaller changes: Desolace has new lakes in the south-east, towards Shen’dralas. Tirisfal Glades has a new area in the west, the Whispering Forest, with Bandarion Keep, where Blizzard says the Forsaken Paladins’ story is based, and the new Ruins of Lordaeron dungeon. The Wetlands gets new quests too. In the Alterac Mountains, Dalaran is back with shops of its own (Simply Enchanting, the Magical Menagerie, Talismanic Textiles and more) and a dungeon, which our City of Dalaran guide covers.

New boats and routes

A sailing ship moored at a wooden pier in WoW Forever — One of the new ships, from Blizzard’s Found Photos recap. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Route	Faction	Note
Stormwind Harbor ↔ Auberdine (Darkshore)	Alliance	Boat; Stormwind Harbor is new
Auberdine → Menethil Harbor → Southshore → Auberdine	Alliance	One-way loop between the Wetlands, Hillsbrad and Darkshore
Steamwheedle Port (Tanaris) ↔ Powderfuse Port (Riverglades)	Both	Neutral boat
Zephras Isle ↔ Dalaran	Alliance	Skyborne boat; Dalaran has a Skyborne-only portal to Stormwind
Zephras Isle ↔ Skywatcher Plateau (Mulgore)	Horde	Skyborne boat; no portal on the Horde side

The routes as Blizzard describes them, with the details from Method’s travel guide. WoW Forever has no flying outside flight masters, so these and the new flight masters above are how you get around the new zones.

New places in old zones

These names are in WoW Forever’s game files and not in Classic’s, inside zones that already existed. Blizzard hasn’t described most of them, and some may be for later updates, so treat this as a list of places to look out for rather than a promise.

Zone	New places
Azshara	Legashi Stronghold, Thalassian Vanguard Camp
Burning Steppes	Poacher’s Den
Dun Morogh	Ironforge Submarine Facility, and the Tidegear Coast flight master (Alliance) in the north-west
Mulgore	Skywatcher Plateau, Camp Gev’rek, Gloomrise
Stranglethorn Vale	Sunken Hollow
The Hinterlands	Martsirt
Thousand Needles	Scalding Ridge
Tirisfal Glades	Bandarion Keep in the Whispering Forest (in the west), where Blizzard says the Forsaken Paladins’ story is based; Shadowvale
Un’Goro Crater	The Shaper’s Terrace (one of the nine new dungeons), Pillar of Assimilation, Stomping Grounds
Wetlands	Dragonmaw Retreat, The Drunken Dwarf

Blizzard’s nine new dungeons are the Hall of Thanes beneath Ironforge, the Ruins of Lordaeron, an excavation site above Whelgar’s Excavation in the Wetlands, the City of Dalaran, Blackmaw Hold, the Drowned City, Krol’dok Stronghold, Alcaz Prison and the Shaper’s Terrace in Un’Goro Crater.

Plan your leveling route

The new dungeons, their levels and their loot are on the WoW Forever dungeons page.

Open the dungeon list →

Frequently asked questions

What are the new zones in WoW Forever?

Four zones you couldn’t play in Classic: Zephras Isle (the Skyborne starting zone, levels 1 to 12), the Riverglades (a leveling zone for the mid-30s to mid-40s on the east coast of the Eastern Kingdoms), Shen’dralas (south of Desolace, between Desolace and Mulgore) and Mount Hyjal (an endgame zone). The Darkspear Islands are new too, as a 15-against-15 battleground off the coast of Dustwallow Marsh.

Where is the Riverglades in WoW Forever?

On the east coast of the Eastern Kingdoms, east of Burning Steppes and Redridge Mountains and south of the Badlands. It has flight masters at Rog’mar (Horde), Farholde Keep (Alliance) and Powderfuse Port (both), and a boat from Powderfuse Port to Steamwheedle Port in Tanaris.

What level is the Riverglades?

According to Blizzard, its quests cover much of the mid-30s to mid-40s. Its contested dungeon, Krol’dok Stronghold, is for levels 40 to 55, according to coverage of the BlizzCon panel.

How many quests does the Riverglades have?

Blizzard’s BlizzCon recaps say more than 150 new quests in one place and nearly 200 quests for Horde and Alliance players in the other. Either way it’s a full zone, roughly the size of Stranglethorn Vale.

How do you leave Zephras Isle?

By boat from the Valanaar Skydocks in the south of the island: to Dalaran for the Alliance, to Skywatcher Plateau in Mulgore for the Horde. Skyborne can leave at any level.

Where is Stormwind Harbor?

On the west side of Stormwind City, which WoW Forever’s map redraws with docks and a canal. The Alliance boat to Auberdine in Darkshore leaves from there.

More WoW Forever guides

WoW Forever Skyborne Race Guide: Racials, Classes and AccessEverything about WoW Forever's new Skyborne race: the Alliance's High Order and the Horde's Windshaper Skyborne, their racial abilities, which classes they can be, and how to unlock them.

WoW Forever Dungeon List by LevelEvery dungeon in WoW Forever in level order, from Ragefire Chasm to Scholomance, with the new dungeons, their quest levels, group size and how much of their loot is known, and the ones Blizzard announced for later.

City of Dalaran Dungeon GuideWoW Forever's City of Dalaran dungeon: its level and every quest with its rewards for Alliance and Horde.

WoW Forever Raid Release Dates and Roadmap 2026–2027When WoW Forever's raids open: Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit and Onyxia's Lair on December 9, then Hardcore, and the new raids, dungeons and updates on Blizzard's roadmap through summer 2027.