WoW: Forever, twelve addons to know before launch

World of Warcraft: Forever opens on November 4, but the addon community moved long before. On the CurseForge platform there are already dozens of tools built for the new version, some made for Forever from the start, others ported from the Classic and Retail editions. We picked twelve and checked each author's page: what it does, what features it offers, what version it has reached, how widely it is downloaded and what limits it declares.

The data is current as of November 2, 2026. Versions and downloads change every day, so read them as a snapshot.

How to install an addon

Forever's addons go in a different folder from Retail and Classic: an addon installed for another version does not appear in the Forever client. The steps, from simplest:

1. With the CurseForge app. Open the app, choose World of Warcraft and select the Forever instance before searching. Search for the addon, press Install and, at the first launch of the game, open the addons menu and check that the addon and its dependencies are enabled.
2. If the app does not recognise Forever. From the app's settings use the computer scan to look for games, or add the game by hand by choosing the Forever client folder, not the executable and not the addons folder.
3. By hand. Copy the addon's folders directly into Interface/AddOns, inside the client folder. The correct path looks like this: Interface/AddOns/AddonName/AddonName.toc. If there is an extra folder, for example with the version number in the name, the addon is not loaded.
4. If you do not know where the folder is. From the gear icon next to the launch button in Battle.net you can open the install folder, and enter the Forever one.

Before replacing a setup, it is worth backing up the Interface/AddOns and WTF folders. The instructions come from community guides and the authors' pages, not from Blizzard: if something does not add up, the single addon's page is the reference.

A note on limits in combat

Before choosing, a warning that emerges from the pages of two addons. DialogKey states clearly that it does not work in combat, because of restrictions imposed by Blizzard. Musca Auras, the WeakAuras port for Forever, explains that some triggers freeze in combat, that combat log triggers never fire because the game forbids them to addons, and that enemy names and identifiers in instances are hidden.

We found no official Blizzard statement on this point for Forever, so we do not present it as a general rule: it is what the authors of individual addons declare. It is worth reading each page before counting on a feature during a fight.

Interface, bags and map

EllesmereUI

A modular interface suite, available for Retail and Forever (version 9.7.2 of October 31, about 8.4 million downloads). It includes action bars, unit and group frames, nameplates, cooldown manager, resource bars, chat, bags and a damage meter, with an "unlock mode" editor to move, snap and resize every element. The modules are independent and are enabled one at a time.

Pros

• Independent modules, enabled one at a time
• An editor to place everything by hand
• Low processor use, declared by the author
• Widely used and updated often

Cons

• It covers many areas and overlaps with other addons (bags, chat, damage meter)

Baganator

Bags in categories or in a single view, by plusmouse (version 12.1.5 of October 28, almost 40 million downloads). It also handles the bank and guild bank with the same search, lets you browse any character's bags from wherever you are, shows in tooltips how many copies of an item you have across bags, bank, mail and auctions, and sorts automatically. Search understands names, tooltip text, categories and item level, and can be combined with the symbols &, | and !. There are custom categories, a button to move or sell the items found, icon indicators (for example whether an item is bound on equip) and themes, including a dark one and those for ElvUI.

Pros

• Two ways to see bags: by category or single view
• Powerful search and custom categories
• Sees the bags of all characters
• A widely used, maintained project, valid on several game versions

Cons

• It requires the Syndicator addon, which the CurseForge app installs by itself
• According to a third-party guide, Forever already has unified bags, so it may not be essential
• EllesmereUI already includes a bags module

OpenMap

A continuous Vanilla-style world map, open source (about 192,000 downloads, version 0.7.5 beta for Forever of October 23). You zoom from the whole world down to street level, neighbouring zones blend together, and areas with no map in Forever are redrawn using Blizzard's classic maps. It shows dungeon and raid entrances with levels, boat and zeppelin routes (a click takes you to the other end) and flight paths: learned ones are coloured, the others grey, and with two flight masters you see the route with an approximate time. It has search for zones, cities, dungeons and flight masters, a button to find yourself, memory of your last position and party members on the map. A button lets you report a problem by circling the spot.

Pros

• One map instead of many zone screens
• Flight paths with approximate time, boats and zeppelins
• Search and problem reporting directly on the map
• Open source

Cons

• It is still in beta
• Icons for vendors, innkeepers, trainers, bankers and rare mobs require Questie, and the author says the performance of these icons is still being improved
• It must be used alone: other maps like Leatrix Maps, Mapster or Magnify must be disabled to avoid conflicts, and it warns you at login if one is active

Quests, levelling and professions

Questie

The most widespread addon on the list, with over 210 million downloads overall (version 12.4.0 of November 2, with a file for Forever). It marks on the map the start, turn-in and objective points of quests, with lines showing NPC paths. The quest tracker follows accepted quests automatically, can show all of them and not only the default five, and with TomTom it points an arrow at the objective. Tooltips show party members' progress, and holding Shift shows details like the quest's experience. There are also a journey log, a list of quests by zone and database search. It opens with /questie, and translations cover the official WoW Classic languages.

Pros

• Updated on the day of the check
• Complete tools: map, tracker, journal and search
• Shows group progress
• Very extensive settings, according to the page

Cons

• The page lists no release notes, so you cannot see what changes for Forever
• A third-party guide says Forever's new quests are still being added to the database

RestedXP Guide

A levelling addon that follows the routes of the fastest players (version 4.11.29 of October 29, over 28 million downloads). It accepts and turns in quests automatically, points at objectives with a customisable arrow, marks and selects targets with a dedicated macro and keeps the levelling time. There are routes for both factions and a survival guide for Vanilla Hardcore with safer routes. You can also build your own guides. It opens with /rxp or /rxpg.

Pros

• Optimised routes to level up fast
• Automation to accept and turn in quests
• Customisable interface and levelling timer
• Free to download

Cons

• The page cites free routes up to level 20 for Vanilla, and it is unclear how much it covers for Forever
• The full guide is a separate product and the page gives no price
• "All rights reserved" licence, not open source

DialogKey (Numy Edition)

It handles dialogs, quest windows and popups from the keyboard (version 1.2.62 of October 14, about 165,000 downloads). By default it clicks the top option in NPC conversations, the accept, continue and complete buttons, and the confirm buttons of popups (currency exchanges, bind-on-pickup warnings, hearthstone changes, group invites). Number keys choose NPC options: 1 the first, 2 the second. The default key is the space bar, which keeps working normally (for example to jump) when there is no button to press, and can be changed or paired with a second key. With /dialogkey add you add the button under the cursor. It is the continuation of a version updated by ItsNoich, because the original by Foxthorn is no longer maintained.

Pros

• Speeds up quests a lot
• NPC options chosen with numbers
• Clicks are performed securely, to avoid action-blocked errors
• Widely downloaded

Cons

• It does not work in combat, because of Blizzard's restrictions, and resumes when the fight ends
• There is also the Aeonzara variant, only for Forever: the two must not be enabled together
• Last updated October 14

SkillUp Forever

It adds skill-up chances, costs and colour thresholds to rows and tooltips in the Professions window (version 1.0.0 of November 2, almost 148,000 downloads). It lets you sort recipes by difficulty range, chance or lowest cost per skill-up. It computes levelling routes to a target skill, with trainer visits, books, rank quests, costs and tools, accounting for unlucky skill-ups, and a right-click excludes a recipe. Shopping lists count reagents in bags and bank, can be followed beside quests and used to search the auction house. Prices come from the vendor or from Auctionator; the addon never scans the auction house, so you need a scan with Auctionator, and recipes without a price are left out of routes. It opens with /su. With the optional addon Shortest Path Forever, a click on a trainer or vendor plans the trip to the nearest one.

Pros

• Shows when it is worth crafting an item and where to find materials
• Routes, shopping lists and trainer annotations
• Computes profit from vendor sale or auction, with the 5% cut
• Frequent updates, free (with an optional donation)

Cons

• The page declares it was built with AI assistance
• Machine translations in seven languages, Italian excluded
• Up-to-date prices need Auctionator
• Version 1.0.0 came out on November 2, so it has little track record

Gear, memories and threat

Naowh Forever

An addon by Naowh Gaming (version 1.1.55 of November 2, about 102,000 downloads), available only for Forever. The dungeon journal shows boss loot, maps and quests, including chains, and covers Forever's new dungeons with boss tips, plus reputation and PvP tabs and kill counts. The best-in-slot list follows each specialisation, with the source of every item, whether you already own it, ranked suggestions per slot and adjustable stat weights; you can save, import and export several lists and get alerts when a wanted item drops. There are also a training planner with trainer locations, profession recipes with materials, gear and action bar sets, reminders for food and flasks, a threat meter, a swing timer, automatic selling of junk and automatic repair. Commands: /nf for settings, /nfjournal for the journal, /nfbis for the gear list.

Pros

• Many functions in a single addon, with tools that can be switched on one by one
• Free, with no ads or subscriptions
• Gear list with sources and drop alerts
• Support through Discord to report problems

Cons

• Group search is still "coming soon"
• It overlaps with other addons (threat meter, experience bar)
• The site calls it open source, while the CurseForge page lists an "all rights reserved" licence (the code is public on GitHub)

BiS>Memories

It takes a screenshot at notable moments and saves a note (version 0.9.3 of October 23, about 1,900 downloads, by Blankfer). The moments are many: levels gained, first boss kills and new records, epic items, achievements, exalted with a faction, notable deaths, duels won, new zones, first mount, and a random "candid" shot once a week. Each cause can be switched on or off in the options, and the interface is hidden during the capture. The in-game journal is sorted by day and shows the character in 3D with the gear of the time, group members, a map of places, "on this day" a year earlier and a yearly summary. With /bism journal an album opens in the browser, built from the screenshots folder, with search by zone, boss, item or friend.

Pros

• An original idea: a diary of your own adventure, with an album you can browse offline
• Each cause of capture can be switched on or off
• Every character keeps its own memories
• Part of a family of addons by the same author (BiS>Tools, BiS>Healing and others)

Cons

• Very small: about 1,900 downloads
• Version 0.9, still being polished
• The steps for the browser album are described for Windows
• It talks with the other BiS addons on a shared channel (switched off with /biscomm off), but the page does not say what data passes

Threat Display

It shows the player's threat percentage on the target frame, with adjustable position, scale and font size (about 35,000 downloads, version 2.2.4 of November 2, by Foofi). It is light, with no external dependencies, and ElvUI compatible.

Pros

• Light, with no external dependencies
• ElvUI compatible
• Simple settings

Cons

• It shows only your own percentage, not the group's threat
• A full meter needs other addons, like ForeverThreat by Loyftwa

Musca Auras

A WeakAuras 5.22.0 port for Forever, created by the community (version 1.14.0 of October 22, about 22,000 downloads, by Dldvlpr). With one click it imports a complete HUD for each of the nine classes, with buffs, procs, cooldowns, resource bar and timer bars. It offers low health and resource alerts that work in combat, damage-over-time timers for your own spells, undo and redo up to 50 steps, find and replace across auras, tags and placement with Blizzard's Edit Mode. Auras from Wago or WeakAuras import as usual: those that depend on the combat log need updating, and a check warns about the ones that cannot work. It opens with /wa, and /wa demo shows all auras with sample values to set up the HUD without fighting.

Pros

• An alternative to WeakAuras for Forever
• A ready HUD for every class and import of existing auras
• It works in combat, where the game allows it, and cuts the Lua errors regular WeakAuras would produce
• Handy editing features: undo, redo, search

Cons

• Not official: it is a community port
• In combat the classic Aura trigger freezes: you have to use "Aura (Modern)"
• Combat log triggers never fire
• Enemy names and identifiers in instances are hidden
• It must not be installed alongside another WeakAuras build

Errors

BugSack

It shows the session's Lua errors with the full trace, so they can be copied and reported to authors (version 12.1.9 of October 26, about 17.9 million downloads, by Funkeh).

Pros

• Useful to find which addon causes trouble
• Widely used
• Has a file for Forever

Cons

• It requires BugGrabber, installed separately
• The page does not say whether BugGrabber supports Forever
• It adds no game features: it is only for problems

How to choose

These are the editors' suggestions, drawn from the data above, not the authors' opinions.

• To level up fast: Questie for the quest map, RestedXP for routes, DialogKey to speed up dialogs, OpenMap for the continuous map.
• For professions: SkillUp Forever, with Auctionator if you want up-to-date prices.
• For tanks and groups: Threat Display if the percentage is enough, Naowh Forever's meter or ForeverThreat if you want to see the group.
• For a single install that does a lot: Naowh Forever, which gathers the dungeon journal, best gear, professions and reminders.
• To change the look of the game: EllesmereUI. If you choose it, you do not need a separate addon for bags or chat.
• For those who like auras: Musca Auras, knowing its limits in combat.
• For everyone: BugSack, to notice right away what is wrong.

Watch out for overlaps and conflicts: do not enable two world maps (OpenMap and Leatrix Maps, for example), nor two versions of DialogKey, nor Musca Auras together with another WeakAuras.

In short

Before installing, it is worth checking each author's page: they are the data we relied on, and they change with every version.