Start with the base UI, then add one addon at a time
Short answer for the beta we checked on 2026-09-25 (the build from Blizzard’s development notes updated 2026-09-24, which give no build number): play the base interface first and add an addon only when you can name the feature it replaces.
The order that holds up: solve it with the base UI → check whether the addon has an official Forever build → verify who published the file → enable one addon at a time → check whether the settings it stores actually persist.
The order for adding an addon
- Solve it with the base UIAdd an addon only when you can name what it replaces
- Official Forever build?Check whether the addon has one
- Who published it?Verify who published the file
- One at a timeEnable a single addon at a time
- Settings persist?Check that its stored settings actually persist
This guide deliberately avoids a ranked list of must-have addons.
Forever is a separate client under active testing, so a package that works today can break with the next build; the decision order keeps working after the names change.
Your Classic AddOns folder is not a safe starting point
Forever pairs Classic-era content with the modern UI API, and Questie pull request #7848 spells out the practical consequence: Forever reports the same project ID as Retail.
Addons that identify the client from that ID selected the wrong content and map behaviour, or called legacy APIs that were missing or broken.
That pull request was opened on 2026-09-18 and merged on 2026-09-23.
It is evidence that Forever support has to be written deliberately — explicit client detection, converted API calls, corrected map geometry — and the first build that contains it was a pre-release, followed by the stable release covered below.
That is a finding from an addon project, not a statement of policy — and the policy says something narrower.
Asked about addon restrictions in a BlizzCon interview published on 2026-09-15, senior game designer Josh Greenfield said Forever would mostly follow the modern game and that the team would adjust if the rules proved too strict or too loose during beta and after launch.
He also expected both Classic-style and modern-style UI reskins to appear. Read that as the rule set Forever inherits, not as a verdict on whether any particular addon loads.
What the base UI already replaces — and what it does not
Some of the replacements are already in the client.
In the BlizzCon interview published on 2026-09-15, Greenfield identified the built-in damage meter as one of the modern conveniences Forever inherits; his point was that Forever can include functions that previously required an addon.
The interviewer separately mentioned noticing quality-of-life additions such as Edit Mode in the build.
The Cooldown Manager was the open question in that interview: Greenfield said it might not be in that beta build but was planned for the near future.
Blizzard’s beta development notes updated on 2026-09-24 settle it — the Cooldown Manager is now in the beta, and the next section covers how to turn it on and what it cannot track yet.
The same notes change the base UI for controller players.
Class-specific flyouts were added to the gamepad action bar: shapeshift forms for Druids, pet control and pet spells for Hunters and Warlocks, auras for Paladins and stances for Warriors.
The pet bar no longer replaces the bottom gamepad action bar for Hunters and Warlocks, and Blizzard fixed a bug that stopped Edit Mode layouts from applying while the gamepad UI is enabled.
The Gamepad (Alpha) section of the game options also gained new settings.
Use Compact Action Bar shows only the currently active action bar, and Fixed Party Targeting assigns each directional-pad button to a specific party member while you are in a non-raid party.
Three more options swap sides: Swap Target Modifier Sides, Swap Friendly Target Action Sides and Swap Hostile Target Action Sides.
| Feature | What the evidence is |
|---|---|
| Built-in damage meter | Interview: a modern convenience Forever inherits |
| Cooldown Manager | Blizzard’s beta notes: in the beta, off by default, five classes testable |
| Edit Mode | Blizzard’s beta notes: layouts now apply with the gamepad UI |
| Gamepad class flyouts | Blizzard’s beta notes: Druid, Hunter, Warlock, Paladin, Warrior |
Based on the 2026-09-15 BlizzCon interview and Blizzard’s beta development notes updated 2026-09-24.
The Cooldown Manager in the beta: turn it on, then check what it cannot track
Blizzard’s beta development notes updated on 2026-09-24 put the Cooldown Manager into the Forever beta. It pulls critical information from the buff bar or the action bar and places it in a location you can fully customize.
It is disabled by default. Turn it on in Options, under the Gameplay Enhancement settings.
Turning on the Cooldown Manager
- Open OptionsThe game options menu
- Gameplay EnhancementThe settings group named in Blizzard’s notes
- Enable the Cooldown ManagerIt is off by default
- Check your classDruid, Mage, Priest, Warrior or Warlock for now
So far only Druid, Mage, Priest, Warrior and Warlock can test it. Blizzard says more classes will become testable in future updates, and its known-issues post still calls the Cooldown Manager a work in progress whose implementation varies from class to class.
It does not support spell ranks yet. Blizzard says a future beta update will resolve that, without giving a date.
The same notes list known issues new to this build that affect tracking. Healthstone cooldowns, pet cooldowns and Arcane Blast cannot be tracked, and neither can item enhancements such as Windfury or rogue poisons.
A Mana Gem only starts tracking its cooldown after the mage casts an additional spell, Priests track every spell by default, and Banes and Curses stop tracking properly if you drop your target and re-acquire one that already has them.
| Item | Status in Blizzard’s notes |
|---|---|
| Healthstone cooldown | Cannot be tracked |
| Pet cooldowns | Cannot be tracked |
| Arcane Blast | Cannot be tracked |
| Item enhancements (Windfury, rogue poisons) | Cannot be tracked |
| Mana Gem | Tracking starts only after the mage casts an additional spell |
| Priest | Tracks every spell by default |
| Banes and Curses | Break after you drop and re-acquire the target |
| Spell ranks | Not supported yet |
Known issues and limits listed in Blizzard’s beta development notes updated 2026-09-24.
What that means for addons: on one of the five testable classes, try the built-in Cooldown Manager before you install a cooldown-tracking addon. For the other classes and the gaps above, the base UI does not cover it yet.
The feedback Blizzard wants most right now is which spells you wish were tracked by default.
Questie: the stable Forever release 12.0.1 is out
On 2026-09-20, a Questie maintainer answered issue #7858: an official Forever release was in the works but not yet published.
The reasons given were a major database rework, an unstable beta, and the many Lua errors caused by the changes to how addons work.
The same reply addressed a package uploaded to CurseForge under a Forever name: the maintainer said they did not know who published it and that its author had not spoken to the Questie team.
That is a statement about provenance, not a claim that the file is malicious — but the name alone is no evidence that the Questie team built it.
On 2026-09-23 the project published a pre-release, v12.0.0-pre.c24dba5+v1.0.3, with Forever client support.
On 2026-09-25 it followed with Questie 12.0.1, a stable release whose changelog lists Forever client support; its release metadata names the Forever flavor with interface 16001.
The same file is on Questie’s official CurseForge project, curseforge.com/wow/addons/questie, which the GitHub page links to. The zip holds two folders, Questie and QuestieDB.
Questie’s own Forever work list still marks many in-game checks as pending validation, so a stable label does not yet mean every quest behaves correctly.
Map addons: which have a Forever file and which do not
We checked each addon’s official download page and repository on 2026-09-25.
The base world map only reveals areas you have explored, and Blizzard’s beta known-issues list includes Coldridge Valley not revealing on the map when explored.
The same list says the minimap may be partially off the screen (work in progress), so a strange map or minimap may be a game issue rather than an addon.
Leatrix Maps, which includes map reveal, published a Forever-only file, 1.60.05-forever, on 2026-09-24. Its changelog says the map reveal data was updated for Forever and that a few zones do not have icons yet.
Leatrix Plus, which carries the minimap tweaks, published its Forever file 1.60.05-forever on 2026-09-23.
TomTom, the coordinate waypoint addon, lists Forever as a supported game on its v4.3.11 file from 2026-09-23.
Carbonite’s 2026-09-25 file also lists Forever, but its changelog never mentions Forever, so treat that as a flag rather than a declared release.
| Addon | What it does | Forever file |
|---|---|---|
| Leatrix Maps | Map reveal and map tweaks | Yes · 1.60.05-forever (2026-09-24) |
| Leatrix Plus | Minimap and other tweaks | Yes · 1.60.05-forever (2026-09-23) |
| TomTom | Coordinate waypoints | Yes · v4.3.11 (2026-09-23) |
| Carbonite | All-in-one map | Listed, not mentioned in changelog |
| Questie | Quest markers on the map | Stable 12.0.1 (GitHub and CurseForge) |
| HandyNotes · Mapster | Map notes · map styling | No |
HandyNotes (map notes) and Mapster (map styling) have no Forever build: the files in their official repositories do not list the Forever client.
A Forever plugin for HandyNotes exists, but it cannot work until HandyNotes itself supports Forever.
Questie’s quest markers on the map arrived with the Forever support described in the previous section: a pre-release on 2026-09-23, then the stable release 12.0.1 on 2026-09-25.
When you download, check that Forever appears under the supported game versions in the CurseForge file details. While the beta does not keep addon settings reliably, recheck your map addon settings every time you log in.
Installing during the beta: one at a time, on purpose
Beta-only detail, checked 2026-09-23.
The path comes from the Questie maintainer’s comment, not from a Blizzard announcement: the beta client folder `_classic_beta_`, then `Interface/Addons` as the comment spells it, with the unpacked folder renamed to exactly what the addon expects — `ExampleAddon`, not the branch- or version-suffixed name an archive usually unpacks to. The folder name for the launch client has not been announced, so do not build a routine around this path.
Enabling addons in the beta
- Log in with all addons offReported beta risk: the character may be unable to use them
- Wait until you can moveOnly once your character can move in the world
- Esc → AddOns: enable oneA single addon at a time
- Watch it, then the nextIf an error appears, you know which addon caused it
- Note what to reportClient build, addon version and the one enabled addon
The Questie maintainer’s beta advice is to log in with every addon disabled and to enable addons from Esc → AddOns only after your character can move in the world.
In the same reply they warn that logging in with addons already enabled can leave a character unable to use them until Blizzard fixes the underlying problem.
Treat that as a beta precaution reported by a developer, not as a permanent rule.
Add addons one at a time inside that session.
Once the character can move, open Esc → AddOns, enable a single addon, and watch what it does before you enable the next one; if an error appears, you know which addon produced it. While this beta report stands, do not log out and back in with addons left enabled — and when you report the error, the client build, the addon version and that one enabled addon are exactly what a developer can act on.
Settings persistence: players report a fix, Blizzard has not confirmed one
On 2026-09-20, the Questie maintainer reported that addon settings did not persist in their beta client. That is one project maintainer’s test report, not a Blizzard confirmation that every addon or current build is affected.
Blizzard’s known-issues list updated on 2026-09-24 does not list SavedVariables. The development notes published the same day also contain no saved-variables entry.
On 2026-09-25, a player in the Blizzard forum thread on the bug reported that the latest patch seems to fix it; Blizzard staff have not replied in that thread.
The official 2026-09-22 client update identifies version 1.60.1, build 69977, and lists Mac display and stability fixes, gamepad fixes and other fixes that are not testable in-game.
It neither confirms nor resolves an addon-settings issue.
Do not reinstall the same addon repeatedly or apply unverified filesystem workarounds.
Test persistence again after each client update; if settings still reset, report the client build and addon version without claiming that Blizzard has confirmed the cause.
A three-column checklist for launch
| Which addons | |
|---|---|
| Install now |
|
| Wait |
|
| Re-check after launch |
|
Everything here was checked against the beta on 2026-09-25 and should be re-read against the launch client.