Work with us
Blog
The Best WoW Forever Addons and Everything the Game Already Does for You
15 min read
Quick answer. WoW Forever addons need a Forever version, because the game runs on the modern client, not Classic's. Start with the built-in Damage Meter, Swing Timer, Cooldown Manager and Edit Mode. Then add Questie or a leveling guide, Leatrix Plus, Dungeon Journal, GearQuest Forever, Baganator and Auctionator. WeakAuras and TradeSkillMaster have no Forever version.
WoW Forever addons work differently from anything Classic players remember. The game looks like 2004, but it runs on the same client as modern World of Warcraft, so most Classic Era addons won't load and a new wave of Forever-only tools has taken their place. KingBoost has been preparing players for WoW Forever since the beta, and this guide covers what the game already does without addons, the best addon for every job and the old favorites that no longer work.
How addons work in WoW Forever
WoW Forever shares the modern game's interface code, including most of the addon functions from Patch 12.1.5. That has three big consequences.
- Classic Era addons show as "Out of date". An addon only works properly once its author releases a Forever version. You can tick Load out of date AddOns, but a Classic addon may throw errors or do nothing.
- The Midnight addon restrictions apply. The same limits that changed combat addons in modern WoW are active in Forever, so combat tracking addons work within tighter rules than in Classic.
- WeakAuras is gone. It was never updated for those restrictions and has no Forever version. Its jobs are now split between the built-in Cooldown Manager, ForeverAuras and EllesmereUI.
When you browse CurseForge, filter by the WoW Forever game version. On each addon's page, download the file marked for Forever rather than Retail or Classic.
Built into the game
Turn these on before you install anything. They replace several addons Classic players used to grab on day one.
| Feature | Where to turn it on | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Damage Meter | Options, Enable Damage Meter | Damage and healing per fight in a window you place with Edit Mode |
| Swing Timer | Options, Advanced Options, Enable Swing Timer | Tracks auto attacks for melee classes and hunters |
| Cooldown Manager | Options, Advanced Options, Enable Cooldown Manager | Shows your cooldowns and buffs as icons, chosen with /cdm, for every class, racials and trinkets |
| Quest objectives on the map | On by default | Marks where to go for each quest you've accepted |
| Edit Mode | Game Menu, Edit Mode | Moves and resizes the default frames, with a Classic layout preset |
| Combine Bags | Bag menu, Combine Bags | Puts all your bags in one window |
The built-in map only marks quests you've already picked up. Quests you haven't found yet still need an addon like Questie or Forever Quest Pins. There's also no built-in threat display, so tanks still want a threat addon.
The best WoW Forever addons to start with
| Addon | Job |
|---|---|
| Questie | Quest givers, objectives and turn ins on your map |
| Leatrix Plus | Auto repair, junk selling, faster loot and dozens of comfort toggles |
| Dungeon Journal | Every Forever dungeon's quests, map and loot |
| GearQuest Forever | Your best upgrades and exactly where they come from |
| What's Training? (Forever) | Every spell rank at your trainer and what it costs |
| Baganator | Sorted bags and a search across all your characters |
| Auctionator | Fast auction house scans, prices in tooltips and quick posting |
| Deadly Boss Mods | Boss timers and warnings |
Eight addons covers questing, comfort, dungeons, gear, money and bosses. Add the rest of this guide only when you miss something, since every addon is one more thing that can break after a patch.
BundleLeveling 1-60 + Mount
Hot offerWoW Forever Gold
BundleUltimate Starter Bundle
Quest and leveling addons
WoW Forever added more than a thousand new quests, so even Classic veterans will find unfamiliar quest givers in every zone.
| Addon | What it does |
|---|---|
| Questie | The classic quest helper, with innkeepers, trainers and mailboxes on the map too. Forever's new quests are still being added to its database |
| Forever Quest Pins | A yellow ! on the map for every quest you can take and haven't yet |
| Forever Quest Tint | Tints quests that didn't exist in original Classic so new content stands out |
| QuestForever | Remembers who gave you each new quest and pins it on your map from then on |
| Quest TLDR | Turns each quest into a short checklist with map waypoints |
| Kerzo Classic Quest Log | Brings back the old quest log with the map beside it |
| Zone Level: Forever | Shows each zone's level range when you hover it on the world map |
| Auto Forever | Accepts and hands in quests, repairs and sells junk automatically |
| Dialogue UI | Quest text in a large cinematic panel, with gamepad support |
Pick Questie or Forever Quest Pins, not both, since they mark the same quests. Forever Quest Tint pairs well with either.
Leveling guide addons
Leveling guides take the routing decisions away and give you a step by step path with an arrow to follow.
| Addon | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| RestedXP Guide | Free addon, paid routes | The early levels are free, the full routes are paid |
| 4Ever Leveling | Free | Step by step 1 to 60 routes for both factions, plus BiS lists and dungeon planning, opened with /4ever |
| Wayfinder Forever | Free | Built-in guides for every race, and you can write and share your own |
| BuddiesQuestForever | Free | A 1 to 60 tracker with an arrow and map pins, with Forever's new quests built in |
| Leveldon | Free | Fast routes for your race and class with a speedrun timer |
Several of the free guides were built during the beta, which stopped at level 30, so expect their later levels to fill in after launch. Questing players who enjoy exploring can skip guides entirely and use Questie.
Voiceover and lore addons
These won't level you faster, but they're some of the most popular addons in WoW Forever.
- Forever Voiceover voices quest text and NPC chatter.
- Spoken reads quests aloud with different AI voices per NPC. Install the core addon plus the audio packs you want, and expect a large download.
- Lore Forever tells you the history of every zone you enter and keeps a library of what you've unlocked.
Every one of them can be muted or turned off in a click.
Talents, training and gear
| Addon | What it does |
|---|---|
| Talents Forever | Plans builds on Forever's reworked talent trees and loads popular builds, opened with /tf |
| What's Training? (Forever) | Every spell your class learns level by level with its trainer price, from a spellbook button |
| GearQuest Forever | Right click a gear slot for the best upgrades at your level and their source, then track one like a quest |
| ForeverGear | Scores your gear and highlights upgrades in bags and quest rewards |
| GearScore Forever | A GearScore number on your sheet, inspected players and tooltips |
| ExtraStats | A fuller character sheet with resistances and spec based gear sets |
| AtlasLoot Classic Forever | Forever's loot tables and BiS lists by class |
| OneForAll Forever | Dungeons, quests, loot, library books, mage scrolls, professions, maps and a talent calculator in one window, opened with /ofa |
Run GearQuest Forever every five to ten levels rather than every level. Items that keep coming up across several checks are the ones worth a detour, and filtering out world drops keeps the list to gear you can plan for.
Interface and unit frames
WoW Forever uses the modern interface with a bronze action bar and a modern minimap. These addons cover both players who want 2004 back and players who want a modern look tidied up.
| Addon | Style |
|---|---|
| ClassicUI Forever | Restores the original gryphon bars, frames, spellbook and minimap, every piece toggled separately in /fcui |
| Classic UI (Forever) | Brings back Classic nameplates, cast bars, combo points and frames, each on or off |
| EllesmereUI | A full suite of frames, nameplates and raid frames with its own editor, in a Classic or a bronze Forever style |
| ForeverUI | A complete flat interface made for Forever, with click casting, bars, nameplates, bags and chat, opened with /fui |
| BetterBlizzFrames | The default frames with dark mode, class colors and cleaner cast bars |
| Z-Perl Forever Fork | The X-Perl unit frames reworked for Forever |
| Bartender4 | Fully custom action bars for players building their own interface |
Several projects share almost the same name as ClassicUI Forever, so check the author is justawower before you install it.
Three small addons fix what bothers most players in the first hour.
- BlizzMove and MoveAny move the windows Edit Mode leaves locked, like the spellbook and character panel. Pick one.
- MinimapButtonButton gathers every addon's minimap button into a single one.
- Forever Mouse Tooltip puts tooltips at your cursor.
Nameplates
| Addon | Best for |
|---|---|
| Plater Nameplates | Full control over every part of the nameplate, with threat colors |
| Platynator | Simpler nameplates with fewer settings to learn |
| BetterBlizzPlates | The default nameplates with more options |
Bags and loot
| Addon | What it does |
|---|---|
| Baganator | Category or single list bags, searchable across every character |
| Bagnon | Bags and bank, each in one window |
| Forever Bag Mover | Lets you move the built-in combined bag window, which can't be moved by default |
| Scrap | Sells junk automatically at any merchant |
| Speedy AutoLoot | Loots faster than the default window |
Maps, rares and collectibles
| Addon | What it does |
|---|---|
| TomTom | Waypoints and an arrow, used by many other addons |
| Leatrix Maps | Reveals unexplored areas, adds zone levels and resizes the map |
| RareScanner | Alerts you when a rare, treasure or event appears nearby |
| SilverDragon | Scans for rares and shows what they drop |
| Books on Map Forever | Every known library book on your map, hidden once you've collected it |
| Mage Books for WoW Forever | Every mage book marked on the map |
| AzerothArchive Campsite Tracker | Saves campsites with their buffs and shares them with your group and guild |
| HandyNotes: WoW Forever | Map notes for Forever's points of interest, needs HandyNotes |
| Atlas Forever | Dungeon and raid maps plus flight, boat and zeppelin routes |
| MapUtils | Inside maps for every dungeon floor with bosses and quest items marked |
Dungeon and combat addons
| Addon | What it does |
|---|---|
| Dungeon Journal | Each dungeon's level range, entrance route, boss map, loot and quests for both factions |
| Attune | Tracks attunements and dungeon quest chains, checked with /attune before a run |
| Deadly Boss Mods | Boss timers and warnings, with Vanilla and Dungeons modules |
| BigWigs | A lighter alternative to Deadly Boss Mods |
| GTFO | An alarm when you stand in something harmful |
| Details! Damage Meter | The familiar meter windows, built on the game's own meter |
| ForeverMeter | Damage, healing and threat in one small window |
| ThreatClassic2 | A simple threat meter |
| ForeverThreat | An Omen style group threat meter with a warning before you pull aggro |
| ForeverAuras | Custom icons and bars for buffs, debuffs and cooldowns, built as a WeakAuras replacement |
| DamagePreview | Shows on each button how much a spell will hit or heal for, great for downranking |
| Does It Die | Marks how much damage your DoTs still have to do on the target's health bar |
| ItemRack TBC Classic & Forever | Quick swap buttons for trinkets and saved gear sets |
Pick Deadly Boss Mods or BigWigs, not both. Tanks should add ThreatClassic2 or ForeverThreat, since the built-in meter has no threat mode.
Hot offerHourly Driving Service
Hot offerProfession Kit
Embrace of the Viper Set
Class tools
| Addon | Class | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| PP Forever | Paladin | Assigns blessings and auras across your group |
| SwedgeTimer Forever | Paladin | Swing timer, seal tracker and seal twisting planner |
| Swing Queue | Warrior, Druid, Hunter | Colors the built-in swing timer when Heroic Strike, Cleave, Maul or Raptor Strike is queued |
| AppelSwingsForever | Melee and Hunter | Separate swing timers with a range check |
| Forever_DruidManaBar | Druid | Shows your mana while shapeshifted |
| Forever Combo Points | Rogue, Druid | Bigger, clearer combo points |
Profession and gathering addons
WoW Forever reworked professions with hundreds of new recipes and Camping, so profession addons matter more than in Classic.
| Addon | What it does |
|---|---|
| ForeverArtisan | All twelve professions plus Camping, with leveling plans, priced shopping lists and recipes ranked by profit |
| Mastercraft | Profession guides, live recipe picks, real auction house costs, gathering nodes and an alts overview, opened with /mc. English client only |
| GatherLite | Remembers herb, ore and fishing spots on your map |
| FishMaster | One click fishing outfit, double click casting and catch counts |
Open each profession window once per character so profession addons can learn your recipes.
Auction house and gold
- Auctionator is the auction house addon that works in WoW Forever, with full scans, tooltip prices and quick posting.
- Syndicator finds any item across your characters' bags, banks and mail.
- TradeSkillMaster has no Forever version, so don't plan your gold making around it.
Chat addons
| Addon | What it does |
|---|---|
| Prat 3.0 | Timestamps, class colors, filters and chat copying |
| CrossIgnore | An unlimited ignore list and a spam filter |
| GuildMute: Forever | Hides a whole guild's chat, or a family of guilds, with one rule |
PvP addons
| Addon | What it does |
|---|---|
| Overlord Forever | Turns world PvP into a meta game with capturable zones, guild keeps and war fronts |
| Spy (Forever) | Warns you when enemy players come near |
| MiniAuras | Shows crowd control and defensive cooldowns on players |
| DBM PvP Mods | Battleground objective and capture timers, needs Deadly Boss Mods |
| Capping Battleground Timers | A lighter battleground timer |
How to install WoW Forever addons
The CurseForge app is the easiest route, since it also keeps your addons updated through the frequent patches after launch.
- Install the CurseForge app and open World of Warcraft.
- Choose WoW Forever in the version selector. If it's missing, use the app's scan for games option or add your Forever folder by hand.
- Search for an addon and click Install.
- Restart the game or type /reload.
To install by hand:
- In the Battle.net launcher, select WoW Forever, click the gear icon and choose Show in Explorer.
- Open Interface, then AddOns inside your Forever folder, creating them if they don't exist.
- Download the Forever file from the addon's Files tab and unzip it there, with the addon's own folder sitting directly in AddOns.
- Check the addon is ticked in the AddOns list at character select.
Moving your beta addons to live
If you set up your interface during the beta, you can carry it over instead of rebuilding it. Do this before you install any addons on the live client, because copying folders can overwrite newer files and settings.
- Launch WoW Forever live once and reach character select, then exit. This creates the live folder.
- Open your beta folder, World of Warcraft\_classic_beta_, and copy the Interface and WTF folders. Keep the originals as a backup.
- Paste both into your live Forever folder, found through the launcher's Show in Explorer option.
- Update everything in the CurseForge app, since beta versions may need updates for live.
- Log in and check your addons are enabled, then pick your old profile in any addon that uses profiles.
Leave Config.wtf behind, since it stores the beta client's own settings rather than your interface. If you already installed addons on live, back up the live Interface and WTF folders first. Your Edit Mode layouts can also come across separately: export each one as a string in the beta and import it on live.
Fixing addons that won't load
- Out of date. The author hasn't updated it for the current build. Tick Load out of date AddOns to try it, or wait for an update.
- Wrong version. A Classic or Retail file is in your Forever folder. Replace it with the Forever file.
- Missing dependency. Some addons need another one, like DBM PvP Mods needing Deadly Boss Mods or Spoken needing its voice packs.
- Silent errors. Install BugSack and BugGrabber to catch Lua errors quietly and copy them for the addon's author.
Back up your WTF folder, next to Interface, once your setup is finished. It holds your addon settings, so a reinstall won't wipe hours of setup.
What to do first
- Turn on the built-in Damage Meter, Swing Timer and Cooldown Manager before installing anything.
- Move your beta setup to live before installing new addons, if you played the beta.
- Install the eight starter addons from the table above.
- Choose one quest helper, either Questie, Forever Quest Pins or a leveling guide.
- Add a threat meter if you plan to tank.
- Grab ForeverArtisan or Mastercraft if you're taking professions seriously.
- Skip WeakAuras and TradeSkillMaster, since neither has a Forever version.
- Keep your list short and back up your WTF folder.
Addons make WoW Forever smoother, but the climb to 60 is still long. WoW Forever leveling gets your character to the level cap faster, and WoW Forever gold covers the cost of training, mounts and profession materials along the way.
FAQ
WHAT ARE THE BEST WOW FOREVER ADDONS?
Questie, Leatrix Plus, Dungeon Journal, GearQuest Forever, What's Training? (Forever), Baganator, Auctionator and Deadly Boss Mods cover almost everything most players need.
DO CLASSIC ADDONS WORK IN WOW FOREVER?
Only if the author has released a Forever version. WoW Forever runs on the modern client, so Classic Era files show as out of date and often fail to load.
IS WEAKAURAS IN WOW FOREVER? No. WeakAuras has no Forever version. The built-in Cooldown Manager, ForeverAuras and EllesmereUI cover most of what it did.
DOES WOW FOREVER HAVE A BUILT-IN DAMAGE METER?
Yes. Turn it on in Options. WoW Forever also has a built-in Swing Timer and Cooldown Manager.
DOES QUESTIE WORK IN WOW FOREVER?
Yes. Questie has a Forever version, though Forever's new quests are still being added to its database.
IS THERE A THREAT METER IN WOW FOREVER?
Not built in. Use ThreatClassic2, ForeverThreat or ForeverMeter.
DOES TRADESKILLMASTER WORK IN WOW FOREVER?
No. TradeSkillMaster has no Forever version, so use Auctionator for the auction house.
WHERE IS THE WOW FOREVER ADDONS FOLDER?
Open the Battle.net launcher, select WoW Forever, click the gear icon and choose Show in Explorer, then go to Interface and AddOns.
HOW DO YOU MOVE ADDONS FROM THE WOW FOREVER BETA TO LIVE?
Copy the Interface and WTF folders from your _classic_beta_ folder into your live Forever folder before installing anything on live, then update your addons in CurseForge.
CAN ADDONS GET YOU BANNED IN WOW FOREVER?
No. Addons from CurseForge run through the game's own addon system, and the game limits what they can do rather than banning players for using them. Outside programs that automate gameplay are a different matter.
DOES KINGBOOST OFFER WOW FOREVER SERVICES?
Yes. KingBoost covers WoW Forever leveling, gold and more from launch day.
Home button in top-left corner of discord.
at the side bar.
button in top middle corner of Discord.