The Research Ledger

Top findings (updated Nov 9)

1. Nov 10 class tuning is still a plan (checked Nov 9, ~3:05 PM CT): Blizzard's Blue Tracker shows no post since the Nov 8 dungeon-XP hotfix, and no Nov 9 hotfix. Planned: Voidwalker/Hunter pets back to about Classic Era durability; Siphon Life, Corruption and Bane of Agony worth casting beside Wrack at the same total damage. No numbers yet. V76105 F88103
2. Pets get 2 HP per Stamina (was 7.5) since the Nov 2 notes; Voidwalker +~40 base HP Nov 6. Drain-tank from 30; pull 2 mobs, not 3-4, until Nov 10. V778 N11 C63
3. Leveling build = Maxroll Affliction 39/12/0 (1 point per level from 10, 51 at 60), Wrack skipped. Wowhead, Mobalytics and Crix agree. F827983 C61
4. Correction: Experience Presets don't change XP. Classic vs Enhanced only sets models, quest markers, one-bag, transmog, keybinds and UI layout; all can be changed later. V5 F109
5. Alliance road 1-60: Elwynn → Westfall → Redridge → Wetlands/Duskwood → Hillsbrad → Arathi/Desolace/STV → Riverglades 35-45 (settled; quests from 36; boat from Tanaris or walk in past Redridge) → Tanaris/Feralas/Hinterlands → Un'Goro/Felwood/Azshara → Plaguelands/Winterspring → Mount Hyjal at 60. Shen'dralas (38-43, no flight path) is a detour south of Desolace. V16 F122123124
6. Felsteed is a free level-40 class quest (Strahad Farsan, Ratchet 62.6, 35.5) and needs no riding skill, so Warlocks skip the 100g; everyone else pays 100g at 40 (first mount free) and 1,000g at 60. F127128129130
7. Best dungeon loot for two Warlocks: Ruins of Lordaeron = Leftover Abomination Skin (+7 Shadow); City of Dalaran = Ephemeral Grips (+9 Shadow), Violet Sorcerer's Robes (5-piece set) and Wand of Mana Concentration (31 DPS); Drowned City = Robe of the Drowned, Briny Sash. F110111112113115
8. Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit need no attunement on Dec 9; only Onyxia keeps the Drakefire Amulet chain. V7 F141
9. Legacy: 65 challenges V145, 3 trees, 21 perks, 16 points per character; column gates at 5 and 10 points. Picks: Thrill of Adventure + Working Overtime (crafter) or Bountiful Harvest (gatherer). Reputation perk is Diplomat, not Diplomacy. V5 F71120121
10. Merchant's Favor turn-in = Marcy Baker, Three Corners (9.7, 70.9) (three databases agree; the old 10.5, 72.7 was the camp). Payouts 5/10/15 raw, 10/20/30 crafted. F100131132101
11. AH Nov 9: cloth and dust falling (Mageweave ~7s, was ~13s Nov 7; Vision Dust ~12s, was ~24s); low leather/herbs pennies; high enchanting mats (Small Brilliant Shard ~8g) are the money. F13313437
12. Party kill XP uses each player's own level, but zero XP if anyone is "vastly" higher (no number; treat as grey-mob rule, stay within 4 levels); dungeon kill XP +50% (Nov 8). V78105 N40
13. Grouping partition fix: click the blue system message → Refresh Now (Kaivax); relog only if that fails. V106 F20
14. Olympus: Asmongold claims 27,000+ members (Nov 8) and says Blizzard is blocking invites and the add-on; the add-on still updated Nov 8 (v1.5.4) and Blizzard has said nothing. C139 F75 V105
15. First Aid makes Healing Potions; Artisan trainers need level 35 (Tailoring: Timothy Worthington, Theramore; Enchanting: Annora, Uldaman). F35979596
16. Level-60 quests give no gold for unused XP (fixed quest gold still pays) F211212; WeakAuras still has no Forever build (DBM and BigWigs do). F142
17. Spellstone (36/48/60) = Shadow damage + 1/2/2% spell haste; Firestone (28) = Fire + crit. F8486 V77
18. Ritual of Summoning needs the Warlock + 2 others, so the duo can't summon each other; Meeting Stones don't summon. Two Warlocks rate A-tier as a duo; the weak spot is cloth-loot overlap. F7992939091
19. Gear plan (run 6): spell damage > Stamina > Spirit > Intellect; weapons Fang of Magmatus (13) → Emberstone Staff (17) → Staff of Soran'ruk (20) → Swinetusk Shank (30) → Hypnotic Blade (34) → Sageblade (60). Four gear planners agree. F179180181182
20. Loot split: Lock A's bind-on-pickup Shadow set fills six slots from 15-30, so cloth drops there go to Lock B; Lock A crafts bind-on-equip Felcloth pieces and wands for both; the Orb of Souls binds on pickup (correction). F185186

Sources cited above

1. 1 B news.blizzard.com: Launch post: Forever live Nov 4 2026; 1,000+ new quests; Mount Hyjal, Shen'dralas, Riverglades, Zephras Isle.
2. 5 B news.blizzard.com: Experience presets (Classic/Enhanced), Cooldown Manager + damage meter, gamepad beta, 9 new dungeons, Skyborne race, Legacy 16-pt cap, Camping.
3. 6 B news.blizzard.com: The nine new dungeons with level ranges and locations.
4. 7 B news.blizzard.com: Dec 9 raids: Barrow Deeps (10, 8 bosses), Hyjal Summit (20, 13 bosses), Onyxia (40); Drakefire Amulet attunement steps; weekly reset.
5. 8 B news.blizzard.com: Nov 6 hotfixes: Voidwalker +~40 base HP, Soul Siphon no longer boosts Wrack, Tanning Rack 125 and Vorsha fix.
6. 11 N gamespot.com: Nov 3 launch dev notes: all classes more damage + creatures more HP; Warlock pet HP 7.5→2 per Stamina; Drain Soul shard-on-damage cut; Wrack coeff doubled.
7. 20 F wowforever.vi.ki: Realmless design, partitions, world refresh, faction locks, launch-night queues (from Blizzard podcast ep. 6, Oct 29).
8. 35 F foreverspec.com: First Aid 1–300: Healing Potions are First Aid recipes; poultices/tourniquets; full mats list.
9. 37 F timesaver.gg: Nov 7 AH price sweep (45 mats, 16 markets), 1-silver minimum deposit, RP markets pricier, AH bugs.
10. 40 N outputlag.com: Nov 8 hotfix: dungeon kill XP +50%; Oct dungeon XP history; party-level rule.
11. 61 C youtube.com: Crix Forever, Affliction 1–60 leveling guide (Nov 3). Metadata only.
12. 63 C youtube.com: JCServant, "Solo'ing With Warlocks Just Got MUCH harder!" (Nov 4). Transcript read Nov 9: 7.5→2 HP/Stamina = -73% of the Stamina part; lvl-30 example ~2,000 → ~1,100 pet HP; advises 2-mob pulls, not 3-4.
13. 71 F wowfdb.com: Legacy perks from client 1.60.1.70862: ranks, gates, costs, Talented 5-choice, trainer reset.
14. 75 F github.com: Olympus add-on v1.5.4 (Nov 9).
15. 76 B us.forums.blizzard.com: Kaivax, Nov 6 3:11 PM CT: Nov 10 hotfix plan (Voidwalker/Hunter pet durability to Classic Era level; Affliction DoTs worth casting with Wrack at same total damage; Enhancement Strength). No numbers.
16. 77 B* us.forums.blizzard.com: Player thread quoting Blizzard's Nov 2 Warlock dev notes verbatim: pets 2 HP/Stamina (was 7.5), Spellstone Shadow-only, Drain Soul tick shards cut, Wrack coeff 0.286/s (36→86 DPS), Improved Drains→Drain Mana, Shadow and Flame 4-20%.
17. 78 B* foreverdb.app: Mirror of Blizzard Oct 8 beta notes (Kaivax): party kill XP by own level, "vastly higher" member = no XP; dungeon kill XP +20%; pet stunned on new summon; Demonic Brand threat.
18. 79 F wowhead.com: Wowhead Affliction leveling (Zephan, Nov 6): core talents, no Wrack, Voidwalker to 20 then Sayaad, trainer-stop table, shards (rank-1 Drain Soul kills), Ritual needs 3, CoE at 20, camp buffs, Legacy sources.
19. 82 F timesaver.gg: Maxroll Affliction 39/12/0 (Nov 3) level-by-level, checked against live client trees Nov 6; 51 points at 60. (Gold-seller site; talent data only.)
20. 83 F mobalytics.gg: Mobalytics leveling (search summary): Affliction/Demo best; ImpCorr first; no Wrack in order.
21. 84 F wowcalc.net: Create Spellstone ranks (client 1.60.1.70790): 36/48/60, +1/2/2% spell haste, up to +14/17/21 Shadow damage, weapon enchant.
22. 86 F wowfdb.com: Warlock overview: Banes, CoE at 20, Life Tap/Spirit, Spellstone haste, Fear 20 yd "oversight", Portal of Summoning at 60.
23. 88 F wofwforever.com: All official hotfixes newest first (updated Nov 9): latest is Nov 8; Nov 10 "planned, not live".
24. 90 F wowfdb.com: Duo tier list: Two Warlocks A (4.00); Affliction+Affliction best; loot overlap weakest; wands don't scale.
25. 91 F duoforever.net: Double Warlock duo guide: A for leveling, C dungeons; one Voidwalker per target; agree on loot.
26. 92 F foreverguide.app: "A Warlock summon still needs two helpers" (search summary).
27. 93 F warcrafttavern.com: No group finder or summoning stones in Forever (search summary).
28. 95 F wow-professions.com: Tailoring 1-300 route + trainers with level gates (Journeyman 10, Expert 20 Georgio Bolero, Artisan 35 Timothy Worthington).
29. 96 F wow-professions.com: Enchanting 1-300 route; Betty Quin/Lucan Cordell/Kitta Firewind/Annora; Mote of Magic; level gates 10/20/35.
30. 97 F wow-professions.com: First Aid 1-300: Minor Healing Potion route, trainers, Under Wraps (Deneb Walker), Triage (Theramore).
31. 100 F method.gg: Waylaid Crates (all types, levels, mats), Marcy Baker (9.6, 71.0), Shipping Label 50 Favor, Favor shop.
32. 101 F forevermastery.com: Crate payouts 5/10/15 raw, 10/20/30 crafted (search summary).
33. 103 F 1mw.io: Datamined hotfix-cache feed Nov 9 (build 1.60.1.70862): item/quest/creature rows only; no Blizzard post that day.
34. 105 B us.forums.blizzard.com: Blizzard Blue Tracker feed (checked Nov 9 ~12:25 PM CT): newest post = Nov 8 dungeon XP +50% (Kaivax 1:47 PM CT); no Nov 9 hotfix, no Nov 10 notes, nothing on Olympus or bans.
35. 106 B us.forums.blizzard.com: Kaivax (Nov 5): after joining a party click the blue system message → Refresh Now to share a partition.
36. 109 F timesaver.gg: Experience Presets: six settings, quotes Blizzard starter guide; presets do not change XP, drops or stats. (Gold-seller site; matches Blizzard [5].)
37. 110 F wowtbc.gg: wowtbc loot tables for all 9 new dungeons (sibling pages ruins-of-lordaeron, excavation-site-wetlands, city-of-dalaran, the-drowned-city, krol-dok-stronghold, alcaz-prison, shaper-s-terrace): bosses, item names, slots, quest rewards.
38. 111 F timesaver.gg: Timesaver dungeon loot with stats (Ruins of Lordaeron; Hall of Thanes page via search), data checked Nov 6.
39. 112 F wowsrc.com: City of Dalaran: 24 items from 8 bosses with stats (Ephemeral Grips +9 Shadow/Arcane etc.).
40. 113 F wowhead.com: Wowhead item pages (search summary): Violet Sorcerer's Robes ilvl 32, set bonuses, 30% drop; Wand of Mana Concentration (item=273043) 31.18 DPS, 33% drop, Arcanic Enigma.
41. 115 F hyjal.cc: Drowned City boss order and 17 drops with stats (Robe of the Drowned, Briny Sash, Bloodspine Staff).
42. 120 F warcraftmaps.com: All 21 visible Legacy perks with ranks, gates and top-rank effects (client 1.60.1.70685, checked Nov 9); 65 challenges; 6 hidden perks.
43. 121 F forev.eu: Per-rank values for every Legacy perk (client 70753); first points ~level 25; up to 29 earnable per character.
44. 122 F foreverbase.org: Alliance 1-60 route from client quest levels: hubs, flight paths, dungeons; Skyborne 1-13; Shen'dralas 38-42 detour; Tanaris Steamwheedle Port boat to Riverglades.
45. 123 F wowfdb.com: Riverglades: 36-44 (client), mobs 36-55, 2 flight points, between Redridge and Burning Steppes; Farholde Keep, Bloodmasters' Ring.
46. 124 F wowfdb.com: Shen'dralas: quests 38-43 (first from 35), no flight master, entered via Valley of Bones south of Desolace.
47. 127 F wowhead.com: Riding (updated Nov 9): Apprentice 40 / Journeyman 60, first racial mount free via vendor quest, Honored 10% off, trainer coords; Warlock/Paladin class mount quests at 40/60.
48. 128 F warcrafttavern.com: Riding costs 100g/20g and 1,000g/200g; Warlocks/Paladins learn via class quests; all trainer coords.
49. 129 F buildsforge.com: Mounts (Nov 9): Felsteed free at 40, Dreadsteed at 60; Gift of Galloping 150g; Pack Kodo 6,000 Favor; Bartering not on training.
50. 130 F foreverchanges.pro: Summon Felsteed quest 4490: Strahad Farsan, Ratchet (62.6, 35.5), level 40, 320 XP.
51. 131 F bindonforever.com: Marcy Baker <Inventory Intake>, Three Corners, Redridge (9.7, 70.9), level 30, seen in game (build 70862).
52. 132 F wowdb.wiki: Marcy Baker (9.7, 70.9): A Sealed Crate and Shipping Label turn-ins.
53. 133 F timesaver.gg: US/EU AH medians for 40 mats from Blizzard's AH API, scanned Nov 9 11:16 AM CT.
54. 134 F zugzugdb.com: Player-uploaded AH scans, Alliance PvP realm, Nov 9 lows/means (cloth, leather, herbs, Pristine Hide).
55. 139 C youtube.com: Asmongold TV, "Blizzard is doing EVERYTHING to stop us.." (Nov 8, ~976k views); also tHlun8FNPKU (Nov 5) and m2Y0jxIUNlY (Nov 6). Titles/metadata only.
56. 141 F wowforever.be: Onyxia keeps attunement; Barrow Deeps and Hyjal Summit need none (with mrgl.cc raid checklist; search summary).
57. 142 F foreverstatus.com: Addon status (Nov 9; with theforeverguides.com WeakAuras/boss-mod pages): no official WeakAuras for 16001, forks exist; DBM and BigWigs have Forever builds (search summary).
58. 145 B news.blizzard.com: Blizzard Legacy deep dive: 65 Legacy Challenges in 6 categories (Classes 27, Tradeskills 18, PvP 12, Adventure 2, Dungeons 3, Raids 3); up to 29 points on one character; 16-point spend cap; 12 Hardcore challenges later.
59. 179 F topbuilds.gg: Warlock leveling gear 1-30 from dungeon loot tables (Nov 5): spell damage first, Stamina for Life Tap, Spirit matters more in Forever; Emberstone Staff, Gaze Dreamer Pants, Rod of the Sleepwalker, Belt of Arugal, Death Speaker Mantle; healing-only gear skipped.
60. 180 F hyjal.cc: Client item list levels 1-30 (641 cloth items) with stats and sources: quest rewards, dungeon drops, BoE; weights SP = Shadow = 1, Int 0.9, mp5 1.5.
61. 181 F timesaver.gg: Best Affliction gear per slot every 5 levels, Alliance vs Horde (Wowhead Forever DB + client, Nov 6; Icy Veins weights); Ruins of Lordaeron/RFC counted Horde-only; pre-raid list (Dreadmist, Magister's, Belt of the Archmage, Sageblade).
62. 182 F gearinsight.cn: Warlock upgrades by level bracket from its Forever item DB (client 1.60.1 + observed drops): Fang of Magmatus 13, Gaze Dreamer 23, Blighted Leggings 30, Hypnotic Blade 34, Dreadmist set 54-57.
63. 185 F warcraftforever.wiki: Client-data item pages (also Felcloth Pants/Hood/Gloves/Shoulders, Belt of the Archmage, Robe of Winter Night, Black Sandals, Orb of Souls, Shadow Gown, Lesser/Greater Magic Wand, Greater Eternal Wand, Soul Pouch): bind types, req levels, stats, reagents.
64. 186 F wowforever.wiki.fextralife.com: Fextralife Forever item pages (also Robe of the Void, Felcloth Pants, Black Sandals, Belt of the Archmage, Felcloth Hood/Gloves/Shoulders, Robe of Winter Night, wands): bind types and reagents agree with [185].
65. 211 F wowhead.com: Wowhead news: quests give no gold at 60; Jokerd (world first) says a developer called it intentional, maybe a weekly gold quest; Blizzard hasn't commented.
66. 212 F icy-veins.com: Icy Veins news: no gold instead of XP at 60 (JokerdTV clip); normal fixed gold rewards still paid; no Blizzard statement.

Tier letters: B = Blizzard (B* = a verbatim mirror of a Blizzard post), F = fan site or database, N = press, C = community. The full guide lives on the Guide page.