Mechanics
How combat works in WoW Forever, rule by rule. Where nothing published says Forever changed a rule, it's Classic's, until logs show otherwise. These are the exact rules the sim uses.
Hit and crit
Against a raid boss (level 63), from a level 60 character.
One hit stat, one crit stat
Forever changeOne of each
Classic: Separate spell hit and spell crit
Hit and crit from gear and effects count for melee, ranged and spells alike.
Source: BlizzCon 2026 deep dive on WoW Forever
Melee hit needed
As in Classic9%
Special attacks miss a raid boss 8% of the time, and the first 1% of hit doesn't count against it. A dual wielder's white swings miss 19% more.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules; NewAttackTable in ElliotWood/Forever
Spell hit needed
As in Classic16%
Spells miss a raid boss 17% of the time, and 1% always misses, whatever the hit.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
Crit against a raid boss
As in Classic−4.8%
Melee and ranged crit chance against a raid boss is this much lower than the character sheet says.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules; NewAttackTable in ElliotWood/Forever
Crit damage
As in Classic200% · 150%
A melee or ranged crit does double damage; a spell crit one and a half times, before talents that raise it.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
Damage over time can crit
Forever changeYes
Classic: No
Each tick of a damage or healing over time spell can crit on its own.
Source: The game client's spell flags
The melee attack table
A white swing or special attack from behind a raid boss, at 300 weapon skill: it can't be parried or blocked from there.
Miss
As in Classic8%
Before hit. Dual wielding adds 19% to white swings.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules; NewAttackTable in ElliotWood/Forever
Dodge
As in Classic6.5%
A dodged special attack refunds most of its cost (below).
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
Glancing blows
As in Classic40%
White swings only. A glancing blow does 55% to 75% of its damage, 65% on average.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules; NewAttackTable in ElliotWood/Forever
Cost back on a miss or dodge
As in Classic80%
Of a special attack's rage or energy, when it misses or is dodged.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
Armor and resistance
How much of a hit the target shrugs off.
Armor
As in Classic40.4%
Physical damage taken drops by armor ÷ (armor + 5500) for a level 60 attacker, at most 75%. The value is for 3,731 armor, most raid bosses', before armor reduction from debuffs.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
Spell resistance from level
As in Classic6%
A target above the caster's level resists part of each spell, 8 resistance a level: 6% of the damage on average from a raid boss with no resistance of its own.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
Rage, energy and mana
Where each resource comes from.
Rage from white swings
Forever change3.46/s · 4.5/s
Classic: By damage dealt
Rage a landed swing gives per second of weapon speed, one-handed and two-handed: a 2.6 s one-hander gives 9, a 3.6 s two-hander 16.2. Misses, dodges and parries give none, a crit 75% more. The off hand's 50% is an assumption until logs show it.
Source: Beta logs, as magey/forever-warrior #3 and ElliotWood/Forever #252 record them; WoW: Forever Podcast, episode 2 (crits); ElliotWood/Forever (MIT)
Energy
As in Classic20 every 2 s
Up to 100, on the character's own timer.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
Mana from Intellect
As in Classic15 a point
Above the first 20 points, which give 1 each.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
The five-second rule
As in Classic5 s
Spirit restores mana every 2 s, but not for this long after spending any.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
Timing and modifiers
How fast things go, and how bonuses add up.
Global cooldown floor
As in Classic1 s
No haste takes the global cooldown below this.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
Attack power
As in Classic14 AP = 1 DPS
Each 14 attack power adds 1 damage per second to a weapon. Instant attacks count it at a fixed speed, not the weapon's: 1.7 s for daggers, 2.4 s for other one-handers, 3.3 s for two-handers.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
Off-hand damage
As in Classic50%
Of the off-hand weapon's damage, before talents that raise it.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
Percentage bonuses add
As in ClassicAdded
Bonuses of the same kind add up: two talents giving 10% more damage give 20%, not 21%.
Source: Classic 1.12's rules
The attack table and rage research build on ElliotWood/Forever (MIT). Something here wrong for Forever? Logs settle it: how Guild Golem sources its numbers.