Rulesets
Five ways to play. A character lives on one; to play another, you make a new character there. Hardcore comes after launch.
Pick one
What each ruleset means, one idea per line.
Normal The baseline. You choose the fights. - Both factions on one account.
- Open-world PvP only when both sides opt in.
- Dungeons, raids and battlegrounds as usual.
PvP Contested ground, and the world swings back. - Every trip into contested territory carries open-world conflict.
- One faction per account: the first PvP character sets the side.
- Faction balance may pause new characters on one side for a while.
Alliance or Horde · one per account
Read more
Roleplaying For people who lean into the fantasy. - Both factions on one account.
- Made for finding like-minded players.
- Blizzard has published no PvP rule of its own for it.
Roleplay-PvP The fantasy, on a contested world. - Added as the fifth ruleset in October.
- Roleplaying on contested ground.
- No further rules published yet.
After launch Hardcore Every decision matters. Death lasts. Not a choice yet
- Arrives sometime after launch.
- A fully enclosed ecosystem: nothing flows in, progress flows out.
- A character that dies can move to another ruleset, PvP included.
- Battlegrounds stay separate from it.
Good to know
The rules that follow you across the choice.
No free switching Play another ruleset by making a new character there. 
Same ruleset only Groups, dungeons and raids stay inside one ruleset. The factions never group. 
Battlegrounds mix Queues can include players from other rulesets. Hardcore stays out. 
Account-wide Collections and Legacy Points carry across rulesets, except into Hardcore. Client build 1.60.1.70840 · Nov 7, 2026