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Data sources

What we use, what for, how often it is refreshed and what it cannot tell you. This is the one place that lists them; the build every page comes from is in its footer.

Does the site already have the newest build and hotfixes? See Site status.

How the data is made

  1. Download

    We download the client database tables (DB2) from Blizzard’s public CDN, once per language: English and Spanish.

  2. Apply hotfixes

    Many changes arrive as server hotfixes. We merge the hotfix caches of real English and Spanish clients, and keep the previous build’s hotfix rows until a client has logged in on the new one.

  3. Compare

    Every table is compared with the Classic Era client, so a page can say what is new, what changed and what was removed. Each new build is also compared with the one before, table by table and file by file.

  4. Cross-check and label

    Key numbers are checked against Blizzard’s announcements and independent sources. Beta values are marked, and so is data from Classic that may differ in Forever.

The builds behind the data

World of Warcraft: Forever client (beta)
1.60.1.70245
Classic Era client used as the baseline
1.15.9.70003
Data last generated
Oct 8, 2026
Client tables read (1,510,948 rows)
206

Read through wago.tools because our CDN reader could not parse them in this build: Faction, LiquidType, PlayerCondition.

Every source and what we use it for

  • Read from the game client
  • Sent by the server during play
  • Outside references

Game client database (DB2) from Blizzard’s CDN

Updated: Every new client build (beta builds arrive every few days).

What it is
The database tables that ship with the game client, downloaded from Blizzard’s content network (CDN) with an open-source reader.
What we use it for
Almost everything: zones and areas, maps, dungeons and bosses, races and classes, spells and talents, professions and recipes, items, collections, Legacy, PvP ranks and every name in English and Spanish.
Limits
The client only contains what it needs to display. Content Blizzard has not released yet may be missing or encrypted until it goes live.

Server hotfixes from the client cache (DBCache.bin)

Updated: With every build: read from a client that has logged in on it, or carried over from the previous build until one has.

What it is
The cache where a real client stores the data rows the server sends as hotfixes (DBCache.bin).
What we use it for
Rows that exist only as hotfixes (mostly items, prices and recent fixes) and the latest value of rows that were patched.
Limits
Only covers what the server has sent to our clients (English and Spanish), so a hotfix can reach the site a little later than the game.

Classic Era client (baseline for “new” and “changed”)

Updated: When Classic Era gets a new build.

What it is
The same tables from the current Classic Era client (1.15.9.70003).
What we use it for
The reference to decide what is new, changed or removed in Forever, and to flag Season of Discovery leftovers that both clients still carry.
Limits
Some Forever systems (Legacy, collections, titles) have no Era counterpart, so there “new” is judged by meaning rather than by ID.

Blizzard UI source code (Forever branch)

Updated: With each client build.

What it is
Blizzard’s interface code for the Forever client (Lua and XML), mirrored publicly by the community.
What we use it for
Confirming what is really active in Forever (which systems load, rules, limits and interface texts) instead of guessing from leftover tables.
Limits
It describes the interface; server rules such as drop rates are not in it.

Server data seen in play (quest/creature caches)

Updated: Automatically after every play session on our beta clients (English and Spanish); it grows as quests show up in game and builds open more of the beta.

What it is
The caches where the client keeps what the server tells it during play: quest texts, creature and object names.
What we use it for
Quest titles, texts and objectives in every language, which the client files do not include.
Limits
Only contains what our clients have actually seen in game, in the language of each client. Quests the beta keeps sealed have no text until they open; the pages mark them instead of guessing.

cMaNGOS classic-db (Classic 1.12 world data, GPL-3.0)

Updated: Checked every week against its GitHub repository. Each import is pinned to one commit and replaces the previous one only after it passes our checks.

What it is
The open database of World of Warcraft Classic (patch 1.12) kept by the CMaNGOS community: loot tables, where every creature and object spawns, vendors, trainers and quests.
What we use it for
What Forever’s client files leave out: where 11,987 items drop and who sells them, boss loot in dungeons and raids, and 1,686 service NPCs (innkeepers, bankers, trainers, vendors…) on the zone maps, always tagged as Classic data. Also the facts of every Classic quest the site has no text for (who gives it and where, objectives, rewards, chain), what each dungeon boss casts, and the reputation that kills and repeatable turn-ins give.
Limits
It describes Classic, not Forever: drop rates, vendors and positions may differ. Forever’s own files always win: items Forever does not have and lines its vendor list or quest data already give are left out, and the instances it reworked and the zones it redrew are marked. Creature names are in Spanish only where Forever’s client has them.
On our pages
ClassicClassic data: it comes from cMaNGOS, the community’s database of Classic 1.12, not from Forever’s files. It may differ in Forever.
Pinned commit
ec4f596 (Sep 22, 2026)
Licence
GPL-3.0, also for our files built from it · notice · licence text
Boss scripts
CMaNGOS mangos-classic (GPL-2.0): which spells a scripted boss casts and how often, for the bosses’ abilities, named from Forever’s own spell data · 8ec338a (Aug 31, 2026) · github.com/cmangos/mangos-classic

Official Blizzard announcements and blue posts

Updated: As Blizzard publishes.

What it is
Official announcements, developer posts, the roadmap and patch notes.
What we use it for
Dates, level ranges and features that are announced before the data exists, and cross-checking what we read in the files.
Limits
Plans can change; when announcements and data disagree, the page says so.

wago.tools DB2 exports (older builds, cross-checks)

Updated: Only when needed.

What it is
A community service that publishes the client tables of every build as CSV.
What we use it for
A second route for tables our reader cannot parse, and older builds to see what changed between beta builds.
Limits
Same content as the client, so the same limits; we always prefer our own extraction.

Wowhead item tooltips (gear cross-check only)

Updated: With each data update.

What it is
Wowhead’s item tooltips for Forever, read by our data pipeline.
What we use it for
Only to cross-check the stats we compute for gear (the gear finder’s method section gives the result).
Limits
We never copy Wowhead data into our pages, never link to it and load nothing from it: every item, quest and spell opens here.

Community data with an open licence (credited below)

Updated: Case by case.

What it is
Data other fans publish under a licence that allows reuse.
What we use it for
Only to cross-check or fill a gap, and always credited here, below.
Limits
Never used for anything we can read from the game itself.
Credited
talentsforever.com (https://talentsforever.com) · CC BY 4.0 — Open talent data transcribed from an older beta build: every talent of the class pages and the talent planner is checked against it.

What the data cannot tell you (yet)

  • 7,928 of 31,823 item IDs exist in the client without any data: Blizzard keeps them back (mostly level 50–60 gear) until they are needed. They appear here as soon as they ship.
  • Loot tables and drop rates live on Forever’s server, not in the client. Where a page shows drops, chances or vendors, they come from the item sources the client does know or, tagged “Classic”, from Classic’s database (cMaNGOS), which may differ in Forever; what neither knows is marked as still to be discovered.
  • Raids and several dungeons are encrypted in the client until release: we show what is announced and fill in the rest the day the keys arrive.
  • Quest texts, NPC positions, vendor prices and trainer costs are sent by the server, not stored in the files. We show quest texts once our beta clients have seen them, and say so where something is still missing instead of guessing.
  • This is beta data (1.60.1.70245): values, levels and names can change before launch on November 4, 2026. Beta pages say so.
  • The Forever client carries leftovers from the modern game and from Season of Discovery. We only show what Forever actually uses, based on the interface code and the game rules.
  • Translation runs a little behind new content: 108 names still show in English in the Spanish client right now. The name translator lists them.

Every name in English and Spanish: open the name translator

Credits

  • World of Warcraft, its data, names and artwork are © Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. This is an independent fan site.
  • wowdev and the WoWDBDefs project, for the community-maintained table definitions that make the files readable.
  • @rhyster/wow-casc-dbc (MIT licence), the reader we use to download and parse files from the CDN.
  • The CMaNGOS community’s classic-db (GPL-3.0), for the Classic world data: loot, vendors, service NPCs and quests; and its mangos-classic boss scripts (GPL-2.0), for the bosses’ abilities.
  • wago.tools, for public table exports and build history.
  • Wowhead, whose Forever item tooltips we check our gear numbers against.
  • The community mirror of Blizzard’s interface code (Gethe/wow-ui-source).
  • Pillow (icon conversion), Astro and Preact (this website).