The Forever Open: a $100,000 duel tournament on the Forever beta

Update, November 3: the event is over. It ran on the beta weekend of October 17–18. This page keeps the rules and the level-30 toolkit as a record. We haven’t confirmed the final results here, so check Raider.IO for them. The live game starts November 4. See the release date guide next.

The Forever Open was the first big community event on the Forever beta. Every competitor levels a fresh Horde character to 30, then duels for a $100,000 prize pool.

It is not a Blizzard event. It is run by Tips Out, Esfand and Xaryu, with sign-ups and check-in on Raider.IO. Partners include Starforge Systems and RestedXP. The organizers’ own event pages and Discord have the final word on anything that changes.

Schedule, in Central time

Stage	When (CT)
Registration opened	Sept 27, 1:00 p.m.
Registration closed	Oct 2, 12:00 p.m.
Check-in	Oct 17, 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Qualifiers	Oct 17, 12:00 p.m.
Finals	Oct 18, time set by the organizers

Raider.IO publishes the key times in Pacific, Central and Central European time. The finals start time was still listed as TBD when this page was written. Check the organizers’ channels on the day.

The rules that shape the bracket

• Level 30, on the beta’s PvP ruleset, Horde only.
• A brand-new character created on or after September 27, 1:00 p.m. CT. Older characters were removed from the event.
• Every character carries the surname Foreverpvp — Forever uses a two-name system, which is what makes a shared surname possible.
• Check in on Raider.IO the morning of the qualifiers, be level 30, and pay a 15 gold entry fee.
• Submit your talent build at check-in. It is locked. No respeccing between opponents, so every build has to hold up against all nine classes.
• The top four of each class advance from the qualifiers into the finals bracket.

The prize split

Placement	Prize
Tournament champion	$50,000
Top player of each of the nine classes	$5,555 each

Ten races run at once. Even a class that goes out early still crowns a $5,555 winner.

Coverage of the announcement credits a $50,000 addition from TimTheTatman. The $100,000 total is the figure on Raider.IO’s event page.

What 30 means in Forever

Talents start at level 10, and the original tier structure is intact. A level-30 character has 21 talent points to spend. That reaches the 16-point tier comfortably. The 21-point tier needs everything in one tree. The 31st-point capstones are out of reach.

Read from the client, here is the 16-point tier each spec can reach at level 30. Bold names are new in Forever. The rest exist in Classic, with changed numbers, changed text, or a different tier.

Druid

• Balance: Insect Swarm, Vengeance, Improved Starfire
• Feral Combat: Shifting Power new, Predatory Strikes, Blood Frenzy
• Restoration: Tranquil Spirit, Improved Rejuvenation, Swiftmend

Hunter

• Beast Mastery: Improved Mend Pet, Ferocity
• Marksmanship: Mortal Shots
• Survival: Survival Tactics new, Predator’s Edge new, Counterattack

Mage

• Arcane: Arcane Shielding, Improved Counterspell, Arcane Meditation
• Fire: Improved Scorch, Improved Fire Ward, Heating Up new, Master of Elements
• Frost: Arctic Reach, Ice Block, Shatter

Paladin

• Holy: Infusion of Light new, Illumination, Divine Favor
• Protection: Swift Judgement new, One-Handed Weapon Specialization, Improved Hammer of Justice
• Retribution: Eye for an Eye, Sacred Arbiter new

Priest

• Discipline: Improved Inner Fire, Improved Mana Burn, Soul Warding new
• Holy: Holy Reach, Improved Healing, Searing Light
• Shadow: Dark Inspiration new, Vampiric Embrace, Shadow Weaving

Rogue

• Assassination: Vile Poisons, Cold Blood, Improved Poisons
• Combat: Improved Kick, Flawless Execution new, Dual Wield Specialization
• Subtlety: Heightened Senses, Premeditation, Serrated Blades

Shaman

• Elemental: Trial by Fire, Eye of the Storm, Earthbound new
• Enhancement: Toughness, Flurry, Stormstrike
• Restoration: Tidal Mastery, Restorative Totems

Warlock

• Affliction: Malevolence new, Nightfall, Curse of Exhaustion
• Demonology: Decimation new, Fel Domination, Demonic Brand new
• Destruction: Intensity, Agonizing Flames

Warrior

• Arms: Spearing Strike new, Two-Handed Weapon Specialization, Impale
• Fury: Dual Wield Specialization, Raging Blows new, Enrage, Improved Execute
• Protection: Improved Sunder Armor, Vanguard new, Improved Shield Bash

Every one of these is on the talent calculator. Each class page also has its own talent changes list against Classic.

New buttons available before 30

Duelists are not playing Classic at 30. These abilities exist in Forever. All of them train at or below the bracket’s level cap:

Class	New since Classic, at or below 30
Druid	Revive (12+)
Hunter	Counterattack (30), Lacerate (30)
Mage	Frost Blast (24), Ice Lance (28), Arcane Blast (30)
Paladin	Holy Strike (6+), Seal of Fury (10+), Revoke (26)
Priest	Confounding Flash (10), Divine Grace (10+), Chastise (20+), Contingency Plan (20+), Dark Sacrifice (20+)
Shaman	Fire Nova (12+), Call of the Elements (20), Totemic Recall (20), Totemic Projection (22), Call of the Ancestors (30)
Warlock	Curse of the Elements (20)
Warrior	Slam (20), Victory Rush (20)

What misses the bracket

Abilities that arrive late are simply not in play. That rules out Frostfire Bolt (40), Shadow Word: Death (32), Binding Heal (32), Conflagrate (32), Trueshot Aura (32), Mutilate (40), Lava Burst (40), Summon Hawk (36) and Riptide (50). The client puts the Druid Lacerate at 42 as well.

One correction, because coverage of this event repeats it: Hunter Lacerate is available. The Survival talent’s own ranks start at level 30. It is the Druid version that waits.

Details a viewer can check

All of these come from the client’s own spell text. Every one of them matters in a duel:

• Sap no longer requires stealth and no longer breaks it. Classic: “Must be stealthed.” Forever: “Does not break Stealth.” Combined with Cheap Shot it changes what an opening looks like.
• Traps lost the out-of-combat restriction. The Classic text for Immolation Trap ends with “Traps can only be placed when out of combat.” The Forever text drops that line, and Frost Trap is a level-28 trainer spell.
• Fear Ward is a level-20 priest spell with a 3-minute duration (Classic: 10 minutes). Every Horde priest race has it, so racial choice no longer decides who can break fear.
• Priests have new low-level tools: Confounding Flash (10, confuses up to five enemies), Divine Grace (10, heals below 50% and strips Weakened Soul, not usable on yourself), Chastise (20, immobilises for 2 seconds).
• Shamans drop four totems at once. Call of the Elements (20) and Call of the Ancestors (30) place a full set, Totemic Recall (20) refunds 25% of their mana, and Totemic Projection (22) moves them.
• Victory Rush heals 10% of maximum health, but only within 20 seconds of killing a non-trivial enemy. In a duel nothing dies except a player, so it rarely fires.
• Insect Swarm was toned down on the way in: 138 damage over 12 seconds in Classic, 90 in Forever, with the 2% miss debuff unchanged. That is the Balance druid’s 16-point tier.
• Ice Block moved into the 16-point tier of Frost, which is why mages can have it at 30.

Where to watch, and where results land

Esfand and Xaryu run the main broadcast on their Twitch channels. Co-streaming is welcome, so you can follow the bracket from several angles. Bracket progress, standings and rule changes land on the Raider.IO event hub.

This page covers the format, the rules and the toolkit, not live results. A page that claims a winner mid-final is wrong an hour later. The bracket stays the source of truth.

After the tournament

The finals land three days before the beta closes on October 21. The game launches on November 4. The full launch timeline covers name reservation and what the upgrades include.