The Wrath of the Lich King expansion was arguably the peak of World of Warcraft. The team was firing on all cylinders, coming off of the already impressive Burning Crusade, and growing its player base steadily. Then Cataclysm hit, and some folks were torn on its efficacy as a follow-up.
Well, it’s back! In Classic form.
World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic is coming in 2024 with “feedback” in tow
WoW: Classic, the “what’s old is new again” re-release of older expansions, is moving beyond Wrath of the Lich King in the next year. As was the case with prior WoW Classic updates, Cataclysm Classic will not be a 1:1 recreation of the original expansion that debuted in 2010. Instead, it’ll involve “feedback” from the community (and a heap of quality of life changes), which will be clarified further into the BlizzCon 2023 weekend.
The release date/window for World of Warcraft Cataclsylm Classic is the “first half of next year [2024].”
We’re also getting World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery
Blizzard vaguely revealed World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery, which is launching imminently on November 30. A “tanking Warlock” and a “Mage healer” were teased as potential weird twists on the typical WoW formula. It’ll have a level cap of 25, which will provide a “level 25 endgame,” which includes a 25-person Blackfathom raid. Then the level cap will be raised “every few months” and will continue on afterward.
According to Blizzard, Season of Discovery will also feature a new Rune and Rune-Engraving systems. Throughout the world players can discover special runes that provide access to new abilities, some of which have never been in WoW Classic. Players can then apply a limited number of these runes via rune-engraving, which allows them to swap out abilities when not in combat to create new builds.
In addition to the new raids, each level cap zone will host some world PvP events as well. For example, the Level 25 PvP zone will be in Ashenvale.
There will be “no testing,” which is sure to go over well! But seriously, the idea of the community going into this new zany formula together, completely in the dark, is neat.
