WoW Forever Data Methodology

Blizzard ships every World of Warcraft client through its public content network (CDN). We download the WoW Forever client build 1.60.1.70685 from it directly, the same files the Battle.net app installs, and read the game's data tables, text, icons, maps and loading screens out of them. The one exception is where items drop and who sells them, which the client doesn't contain (see below).

Names, descriptions and tooltips are the client's own text. Art is converted from the client's textures without edits: item and spell icons, zone maps stitched from their tiles, instance loading screens, talent-tree backgrounds and the race and class emblems.

A label beside each section says how its numbers were made: Game data (read as-is), Calculated (derived with a formula on this page) or vs Classic (compared with the Classic Era client).

• 12,619 item rows have no name or stats in the client yet (10,192 of them are item ids that also exist in Classic). Blizzard reveals them the first time someone loots one after launch, and our pages fill in when they do. Until then we list the 13,261 items the client does describe.
• Dungeon and boss loot tables are server-side, so instance pages show bosses and art but not drop lists yet.
• Quest text and objectives are sent by the server when you talk to a quest giver, so quest details are revealed in-game after launch.
• For 303 talents the client only describes the first ranks. The talent calculator still knows every talent's rank count and position, and shows the hidden ranks' text once it is known.
• 1 listed dungeon has no boss list in the client yet; its page says so rather than guessing.

• Stats: each stat's share of the item's budget × the RandPropPoints value for its item level, quality and slot group, divided by 10,000 and rounded.
• Armor: ItemArmorTotal for the item level and material (cloth, leather, mail, plate) × the ArmorLocation modifier for the slot × the ItemArmorQuality modifier.
• Shields: ItemArmorShield for the item level and quality.
• Weapons: DPS comes from the client's damage table for the weapon kind (one-hand, two-hand, ranged, caster), item level and quality. Damage per swing is DPS × speed, spread into a minimum and maximum by the item's damage variance.
• Classic comparisons run the same formulas on the Classic Era item, so a changed number reflects a real change to the item, not a different method.

Spell descriptions in the client are templates such as "Deals $s1 Fire damage over $d". We fill every token from the spell's own data (effect values, durations, ranges, periodic ticks and the formulas between them), the way the in-game tooltip does. Values that scale with attack or spell power are shown for a level 60 character with no gear.

386 of 7,899 spell texts contain a token that only the live game can fill (it depends on your character or on server data); we flag those in our data rather than invent a number.

A character earns the first talent point at level 10 and one more each level, so 51 points at level 60. Each row of a talent tree unlocks after 5 points are spent in that tree, and a talent with a prerequisite needs that talent first. The talent calculator applies the same rules.

• Skill-up chance follows the Classic rule: an orange recipe always gives a point, a yellow or green one gives a point with chance (grey − skill) ÷ (grey − yellow), and a grey one never does. Expected crafts per point are 1 ÷ that chance.
• The skill needed to learn a recipe comes from the recipe item when there is one. Trainer recipes carry no learn level in the client, so for 683 recipes we estimate it from the typical gap between learn and yellow levels in that profession, and mark those as estimates.
• For each skill point the route picks the learnable recipe with the lowest material cost per expected skill-up, preferring trainer recipes over ones that need a drop or vendor recipe. Material cost uses each item's base vendor value from the client, so it ranks recipes by relative cost rather than predicting auction prices.
• Training caps (75, 150, 225 and 300, where you visit a trainer for the next rank) are marked on every route.

We also download the Classic Era client from the same CDN and match every ability, talent, item, zone and reputation to it by id. A row with no Classic match is marked New in Forever; a row whose numbers differ is marked Changed from Classic.

For spells we compare ranks, costs, cast times, cooldowns, durations, ranges, level requirements and effect values; for items, item level, quality, stats, armor, damage and effects. That is how we count 3,916 new and 2,055 changed items.

The WoW Forever client doesn't contain loot tables, vendor lists or quest rewards: those live on Blizzard's servers. For items that also exist in Classic, the Where to get section uses Classic's world data instead: which creatures drop the item and how often, which vendors sell it, which quests reward it, and which chests, nodes, containers and fishing pools hold it, with every spawn placed on our zone maps.

We only use it when the item is still the same item in WoW Forever (same id and name), and every such section carries the Classic data label. New Forever items have no Classic source, so their pages skip the section until players find them after launch.

We re-extract the client whenever Blizzard pushes a new WoW Forever build, and re-check after launch as hidden items, talent ranks and quest data are revealed. The build number on every page tells you which version you are reading; this data was last extracted on October 29, 2026.

The WoW Forever client ships its text in English and German (Germany), European Spanish, French (France), Korean (South Korea), Brazilian Portuguese, Russian (Russia), Chinese (China), and Chinese (Taiwan), so pages in those languages use the game's own translated names and tooltips. In every other language our site text is translated, but item, spell and zone names stay in English, exactly as they appear in the game.