World of Warcraft Forever has had “a massive re-itemization across the entire game,” Kris Zierhut, principal game designer for combat, items, classes and talents, said during the World of Warcraft: Forever Deep Dive panel at BlizzCon 2026. His slide broke the pass into four parts: dungeon drops improved, quest rewards added, world drop epics improved and added, and rare creature drops added.
Dungeon drops
“Every single dungeon boss has had their loot reexamined,” Zierhut said. “Everything is upgraded to rare quality. Many new items have been added,” and “the really standout items are also still there.”
Blackened Defias Leggings (level 14) belong to the five-piece Defias Leather set, whose bonuses top out at a 5 percent chance for melee attacks from behind to bleed the target for 71 to 82 damage. Footpads of the Fang (level 17) sit in Embrace of the Viper, which at five pieces gives melee attacks a chance to inflict Dream Venom, a 1 second stun.
Quest rewards
New quest rewards were added “across the board” so every class gets something. Zierhut’s example was Duskwood’s Mor’Ladim, whose quest paid out a sword: “great if you’re a warrior or a paladin. What about everybody else?” It now also hands back the Ladimore Heirloom Ring, +6 Intellect with up to 5 spell damage and healing. Hemet Nesingwary’s Stranglethorn chain adds a Master Hunter’s Wand (spoken of, not shown) and the Master Hunter’s Spellsword, a two-hander with +12 Strength and up to 14 spell damage, built, he said, for Paladins.
World drop epics
“We’ve gone through all of our world drop epics, and they’ve all been revisited,” Zierhut said. All are now “much stronger, much more useful,” and a few are new, including the thrown weapon on the slide. The cards: Ankle Slicers (level 58, a chance on hit to slow movement by 30 percent for 6 seconds); Skullflame Shield (level 54, a chance when struck to steal 275 life); Stonerender Gauntlets (mail, level 46, +20 Strength with spell damage); and Hurricane, a level 48 bow whose every auto-attack adds 6 to 11 Frost damage.
Rare creature drops
A last slide listed four rare creature drops: Broken Tooth’s Flayed Hide (leather chest, level 34), Cliff Jumpers (level 39 boots that reduce falling damage), Spider Swarm (a five-charge item that summons spiders to protect you for 10 minutes, level 21), and Wintersaber Hide Lined Gloves (level 54, mount speed up 6 percent in Winterspring).
The panel did not say how many items the pass touched, which bosses the set pieces drop from, or whether the numbers on the cards are final ahead of the September 17 beta.