TL;DR — Quick Answer: Yes, you can still raid Black Temple on your TBC Anniversary realm after WoW: Forever launches on November 4, 2026 — Forever is a brand-new Classic+ game, not a realm migration, so your TBC realm keeps running and nobody is forcing you off it. The real problem is people, not patches. The October 22 Phase 3.5 update makes Black Temple easier to walk into than it has ever been (no attunement, Heroic keys at Honored, Badges of Justice everywhere) — but that same window is when a big slice of your raid roster logs into Forever instead. Your realistic window to clear BT with a full organized pug is roughly the two to three reset cycles between October 22 and mid-November. After that, expect pugs to thin out and guilds to go part-time. If you want the clear — or the Warglaives — this is the stretch to use it or lose it.
If you only came for the Warglaives of Azzinoth, the math hasn't changed: each glaive drops from Illidan at roughly 4–5% per kill, you need two, and that was already a long grind before the roster started leaking to Forever.
Does WoW Forever shut down or migrate my TBC Anniversary realm?
No. This is the single most repeated misconception right now, so let's kill it first.
WoW: Forever is Blizzard's new Classic+ game — a separate client, separate progression, separate characters. It launches November 4, 2026. It does not merge with, convert, or close your TBC Anniversary (Burning Crusade) realm. Your level-70, your gold, your attunements, your raid logs: all of it stays exactly where it is on the realm you're playing today.
As Blizzard's own Phase 3.5 and Forever communications make clear, the Anniversary realms continue their natural Burning Crusade progression toward Phase 4 (Fury of the Sunwell), which still has no confirmed date beyond a roadmap window of "later in 2026." So the servers aren't going anywhere.
Here's the catch, and it's the whole article: a raid is other players. Blizzard can keep the realm online forever. It cannot keep your 24 raidmates logged into TBC when a shiny new Classic+ launch is one click away. The thing that ends BT raiding on a progression realm is never a shutdown notice — it's the slow bleed of your raid-leader, your healers, and your tanks drifting to the new thing.
What the October 22 Phase 3.5 patch actually changes for raiders
On October 22, 2026, TBC Anniversary realms get Phase 3.5 — and for anyone sitting on the fence about Black Temple, it removes almost every excuse. Blizzard's official patch announcement puts it in one flat sentence: "The Battle for Mount Hyjal and The Black Temple will no longer require attunement to enter."
- Black Temple and Battle for Mount Hyjal no longer require attunement. The Medallion of Karabor and Vials of Eternity quest chains are gone as a gate — you can walk straight in. (Per Blizzard's Phase 3.5 notes, as reported by Blizzard Watch on October 9.)
- Heroic dungeon keys drop to Honored (down from Revered), and all Heroics move to their final, reduced-difficulty state — so gearing a fresh 70 up to raid-ready item level is dramatically faster.
- Badges of Justice now drop from nearly every endgame boss — Karazhan, Gruul, Magtheridon, Serpentshrine Cavern, Tempest Keep, Zul'Aman, Doom Lord Kazzak and Doomwalker — flooding the catch-up gear economy.
- Zul'Aman opens the same day, bringing the timed Amani War Bear run back into the mix.
Read that list again: it is a catch-up patch. Blizzard is deliberately lowering the walls around BT right before a launch that will pull players away. The practical reading is that this is Blizzard's "clear it while you still can" window — the content is wide open, the barrier to entry is on the floor, and the only scarce resource left is a full group of people willing to show up.
So how long do I actually have to raid Black Temple?
Nobody can give you an exact "raiding dies on this date" — population decay is gradual and varies by realm. But you can reason about it honestly.
- Oct 22 → Nov 3: Peak accessibility. Attunements gone, keys easy, Badges everywhere, and the roster is still mostly intact because Forever hasn't launched. This is your best window. Pugs will be plentiful and well-geared.
- Nov 4 → mid-Nov: Forever launch. Expect the first and biggest attendance dip — a chunk of players take a week or two to binge the new game. Guild raids still run, but pugs get flakier and start times slip.
- Mid-Nov onward: The realm settles into a smaller, stickier core. Dedicated guilds keep clearing BT on farm; spontaneous pugs become unreliable. If you're not in a raiding guild, this is where "can I still get a BT clear tonight?" starts to mean "not easily."
If a confirmed Sunwell (Phase 4) date lands, raider attention snaps back to TBC and BT pugs briefly recover — but until Blizzard confirms a date, you cannot plan around it. Treat the Oct 22–mid-Nov stretch as the window you actually control.
Is it worth clearing Black Temple at all this close to the end of the phase?
Depends on why you want it. Three honest cases:
1. You want the Warglaives of Azzinoth. This is the strongest reason to raid BT now. The two glaives drop only from Illidan Stormrage at roughly 4–5% each per kill; you need both a main-hand and an off-hand on the same character, and plenty of players get one and chase the second for months. Illidan is a once-per-week kill. Do the arithmetic: a shrinking raid pool plus a weekly lockout plus a sub-5% drop means every reset you skip between now and the population drain is a real, non-refundable roll you gave up. If the Warglaives are a bucket-list item for you, there is no "later."
2. You want the BT tier/gear for Sunwell prep. Reasonable, but lower urgency — if a Phase 4 date is confirmed, raiding recovers and you'll have fresh runs. Gear up via the now-flooded Badge of Justice economy in the meantime.
3. You just want to see Black Temple before your realm quiets down. Completely valid, and Phase 3.5 makes it trivial to do. Don't overthink it — go now, while a full group is a whisper away.
Want the Black Temple clear — or the Warglaives — before the roster thins out?
- Black Temple Carry — Warglaives run — a full BT clear on your schedule, with Warglaive loot options, no waiting on a pug that may not form.
- TBC Anniversary Power Leveling to 70 — fresh or returning? Get a raid-ready 70 fast so you can use this window instead of watching it close.
- All WoW TBC Anniversary services — attunements (if your realm hasn't patched yet), Heroic keys, arena rating and more.
What the community is saying
The mood on r/classicwow heading into the Forever launch is exactly the tension this article is about: a realm that isn't going anywhere, and a playerbase that might. Threads debating city phasing, "WoW needs World," and how to keep realms feeling alive are at the top of the sub — a crowd that is clearly weighing whether to stay put in TBC or jump to Classic+.
The read-through for raiders is simple: the people most likely to carry your BT pug are the same people deciding right now whether to roll a Forever character on November 4. The sooner you lock in your run, the more of them are still around to fill it.
FAQ
Can you still raid Black Temple on TBC Anniversary after WoW Forever launches? Yes. WoW: Forever (November 4, 2026) is a separate Classic+ game, not a realm shutdown or migration — your TBC Anniversary realm keeps running and progressing toward Phase 4. You can still raid BT; the only thing that gets harder is finding a full group as some players move to Forever.
Does my TBC Anniversary character or gold transfer to WoW Forever? No. Forever uses its own fresh characters and progression. Your TBC level-70, gold, attunements and loot stay on your Burning Crusade Anniversary realm.
When is the best time to clear Black Temple right now? Between the October 22 Phase 3.5 patch (which removes the BT and Mount Hyjal attunements and eases Heroic access) and roughly mid-November. That's when access is easiest and the raiding population is still high. After the Nov 4 Forever launch, expect pugs to get less reliable.
Do I still need to be attuned for Black Temple? After October 22, 2026, no — Phase 3.5 removes the attunement requirement for both Black Temple and Battle for Mount Hyjal. Before that date on an unpatched realm, you still need the Medallion of Karabor chain.
What's the Warglaives of Azzinoth drop rate in TBC Anniversary? Each glaive drops from Illidan Stormrage at roughly 4–5% per kill (Wowhead lists about 4%, community trackers closer to 5%). There are two separate legendaries — main-hand and off-hand — and you need both on one character, which is why the full pair is one of the rarest acquisitions in the game.
Will BT raiding come back when Phase 4 Sunwell releases? Likely a short bump — a confirmed Sunwell date pulls raider attention back to TBC. But Blizzard has not confirmed a Phase 4 date, so don't plan your Warglaives grind around a recovery that may not arrive before your current window closes.
