Classic or Enhanced in WoW Forever: what each Experience Preset turns on, and how to switch later

WoW Forever asks you to pick an Experience Preset, Classic or Enhanced, the first time you log in. It sets your starting options and nothing else: it doesn’t change your ruleset, your character or what you can do in the game, and you can switch at any time. Here’s what each one turns on, from the client’s own text in build 70755.

Classic and Enhanced side by side

Setting	Classic	Enhanced
Character models	Standard Definition	High Definition
Quest points of interest and objective areas on the map	Off	On
One bag (all bags shown as one)	Off	On
Transmog	Off	On
Movement keys	Camera turning	Strafe
Screen layout	Classic	Centralized

The game describes Classic as “a more traditional presentation” with “less automatic guidance”, and Enhanced as “an updated presentation with higher visual fidelity and additional interface features enabled by default”. Blizzard’s article of November 3 adds that “the preset names describe defaults, not player skill.”

When you choose it

The preset screen comes right after you log in, before character select. You can’t go on until you’ve ticked one and pressed Select. It comes before you pick a character, so it’s set for your account, not for each character.

How to switch later

Open Game Menu > Options and find the Preset page. At the top it shows your current setting, with two buttons, Set to Classic and Set to Enhanced. Under them, each part can be set on its own:

• Combine Bags (the one-bag view)
• Show Quest POIs & Blobs (the quest markers and shaded objective areas)
• Classic Turn/Strafe Keys or Enhanced Turn/Strafe Keys
• Character Models: Standard Definition or High Definition
• the toast windows for loot, collections and new recipes

So you can play Classic with high-definition models, or Enhanced with separate bags. Mixing them is fine.

Which one should you pick?

• Coming from modern WoW: Enhanced. Strafe keys and quest areas on the map are what your hands and eyes expect.
• Coming from Classic Era or Hardcore: Classic. The quest areas are the biggest change: with them on, the map shows you where every objective is, which is a lot of what made questing in 2004 feel like exploring.
• New to WoW: Enhanced, at least for the first zones. You can turn the markers off once you know your way around.

If you go Classic and still want to know where to go next, the BoF Guide draws its own arrow and tells you each step, with or without the game’s markers, and the WoW Forever leveling guide lays out every zone from 1 to 60.

Blizzard’s article also lists the newer options it calls Advanced, the Cooldown Manager and a Damage Meter, and controller support. Everything else to do before November 4 is on the WoW Forever launch checklist.

Questions

Should I pick Classic or Enhanced in WoW Forever?

Pick Classic if you want the game to look and feel like 2004: standard models, no quest markers on the map, separate bags and camera-turning keys. Pick Enhanced if you play modern WoW: high-definition models, quest areas on the map, one combined bag, transmog and strafe keys. It only sets your starting options.

Does the Experience Preset change my ruleset?

No. Blizzard says the choice affects presentation, not which ruleset you play on. Normal, PvP, Roleplay and Hardcore characters all pick their preset the same way.

Can I change my preset later in WoW Forever?

Yes. In the game's Options there's a Preset page with Set to Classic and Set to Enhanced buttons, and every setting the preset covers can also be changed on its own on the same page.

When do you choose the Experience Preset?

The first time you log in, before you reach your characters. The game asks once and won't let you continue until you've picked one.

Sources

1. Blizzard, WoW: Forever, What's New and What Feels Familiar (Nov 3)