Before you install
Check your regional start time: October 21 at 19:00 CEST in Europe, 14:00 PDT for Americas and Oceania, and October 22 at 05:00 Taipei / 06:00 Korea. Install in advance so downloading does not consume the limited testing window.
Use Blizzard’s desktop-app download link. This guide does not distribute installers, ask for your Battle.net password or provide beta keys.
Follow the official installation path
Update your graphics driver through its vendor and update the Battle.net desktop app.
Open Battle.net and sign in to the account you use for World of Warcraft.
Select World of Warcraft in the game list.
Open Game Version above Play. Under In Development, choose World of Warcraft: Forever Stress Test.
Choose Install and follow the client’s location and storage prompts. The client is the source for current download size and available options.
At your regional start, select Play, choose an available test realm and create a new stress-test character.
What to do once you get in
Blizzard asks players to create a character, quest, trade, chat and group up. Those normal actions help reveal problems on the regional hardware before launch. There is no verified special reward requirement or completion route in the sources checked for this guide.
If a queue appears, follow the client’s instructions. Avoid treating repeated connection attempts as proof of a local installation problem; availability and local errors are different issues.
Keep test and launch expectations separate
Characters, names and guilds made in the stress test are temporary and are wiped. Creating a name here does not reserve it for launch. Separate early name reservation has its own dates and purchase eligibility.
Beta is taken offline for the stress test and is planned to reopen afterward according to the announcement. If the version is missing, first update and restart the app, then consult our troubleshooting guide and the current official post.
Official sources
Sources checked: UTC. Page updated: .