The highly-anticipated World of Warcraft Classic, which brings the game back to it's early days 15 years ago, just had its release date announced. For MMO players that have been longing to go back to Azeroth before the Cataclysm, Deathwing, The Lich King and the countless other problems that have plagued the magic realm, this is a fresh start. Seeing the amount of love fan made servers received, Blizzard decided to release their own version of the vanilla game but give it their own unique spin.
What is World of Warcraft Classic?
WoW subscribers will soon be able to access the original version of the game released on August 22, 2006 for no additional cost. The game will run on the "Drums of War" patch (patch 1.12.0) and will give players access to 40-man dungeons, classes with simple spells and no access to Demon Hunters. Expect combat to be a lot more monotonous and grindy, but the rewards and satisfaction of taking down a difficult boss to be much more cathartic.
New updates will roll out over the next few months adding new dungeons and monsters to fight but keeping the core gameplay the same. Here are all the phases of content being added to WoW Classic from PCGamer:
Phase One:
- Molten Core
- Onyxia
- Maraudon
- You can PvP one another in the world, but there is no tracking, and no formal rewards for doing so.
Phase Two:
- Dire Maul
- Azuregos
- Kazzak
- Honor System (including Dishonorable Kills)
- PvP Rank Rewards
Phase Three:
- Blackwing Lair
- Darkmoon Faire
- Darkmoon deck drops begin
- Alterac Valley (version 1.12 869)
- Warsong Gulch
Phase Four:
- Zul'Gurub
- Green Dragons
- Arathi Basin
Phase Five:
- Ahn'Qiraj War Effort begins
- Ahn'Qiraj raid opens when the war effort dictates
- Dungeon loot reconfiguration: Tier 0.5 Dungeon gear, Relics, drop rates and location changes
Phase Six:
- Naxxramas
- Scourge Invasion
- World PvP objectives in Silithus and Eastern Plaguelands
World of Warcraft Classic Release Date
WoW: Classic will launch on August 27 and current subscribers of the MMO will be able to opt-into a beta on May 15. A 15th Anniversary Collector's Edition of the game is currently available for pre-order, that includes exclusive in-game items (like a marble mount), pins, a mouse pad and a gorgeous Ragnaros statue.
Are you excited for World of Warcraft Classic? Tell us in the comments.
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