What to Expect From World of Warcraft Classic in 2024

Highlights

• Wrath of the Lich King Classic will soon wrap up with its last big update, leading into the Cataclysm expansion. Exciting new content awaits WoW Classic fans.
• Season of Discovery introduces unique runes that grant new abilities to each class, adding a wild card element to gameplay.
• The Cataclysm Pre-Patch brings changes to guilds, playable races, and revamped zones. Transmogrification and account-wide collections are introduced, along with battles against Deathwing himself.

World of Warcraft: Classic is rearing to go full-steam ahead for 2024, and Blizzard has laid out a detailed roadmap of what to expect. Wrath of the Lich King Classic might be on its way out, but this brings the dawn of its successor, Cataclysm. Lots of fun lies ahead for WoW Classic fans this year, and as the months march on, more mysteries will be revealed.

While Retail World of Warcraft has its own plans to forge ahead with The War Within expansion, Classic’s mission is to focus on more halcyon content. Wrath of the Lich King Classic will soon get its last big update, and Season of Discovery has unveiled its special bag of tricks. Even Hardcore Classic WoW will get some more love.

Wrath of the Lich King Classic

Ruby Sanctum Raid Opens on January 11th

The Ruby Sanctum, located in Dragonblight, will be open to players in early 2024 as part of Phase 5 of Wrath of the Lich King Classic. It segues perfectly into setting the stage for the coming Cataclysm, as it features Twilight cultists infiltrating the sanctum where hundreds of dragon eggs incubate. Players must protect the precious red dragon eggs found within the Ruby Sanctum raid, contrasted to how they destroyed the corrupted eggs inside the Obsidian Sanctum raid in Phase 1. The Ruby Sanctum can be found within the Chamber of Aspects under Wyrmrest Temple.

World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery

This game is a version of WoW: Classic but with several twists. Now, all classes in the game can discover some unique runes, many of which require a lot of exploration and dedication to get a hold of. The rewards are great, however, as these runes bestow new abilities on each class, sometimes totally altering the way it’s played. Thanks to runes, warlocks can tank, hunters don’t need their pets, and mages can do some serious healing, making Season of Discovery a real wild card.

Level 40 and Gnomeregan Raid

The waning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere will bring further updates to Season of Discovery, such as extending the level cap from 25 to 40 and adding even more runes for players to find. The old Gnomeregan dungeon in Dun Morogh will be transformed into a leveling raid, just as was done to Blackfathom Deeps in Phase 1 of SoD. There will also be a new PvP event, but there’s still scant information on what this entails.

Level 50 and an Unknown Raid

Once spring is in full swing, Season of Discovery will enter Phase 3, raising the level cap to 50. Even more runes will make their way into the game, and yet another dungeon will be transformed into a raid. It’s not yet known which dungeon will be chosen, but given the level cap of 50, the most likely candidates are Razorfen Kraul, Uldaman, or Scarlet Monastery. Then, there will be two more major updates spread across the latter half of 2024, but the content they have to offer is largely unknown.

World of Warcraft Classic: Cataclysm Pre-Patch

Worgen, Goblins, Guild Perks, and a Revamped Azeroth

Classic Cataclysm will allow selected Beta access in the early months of 2024, followed by its pre-patch events coming in late Spring. This includes changes to guilds, such as adding Guild Perks, which are small buffs and benefits that guilds can choose to bestow upon members. Worgen and goblins will arrive as playable races within this pre-patch, as well as the content involved in their recruitment, such as the zone of Gilneas for the worgen and Kezan for the goblins. Coinciding with those, the pre-release content surrounding the complete revamp of quests and zone design across Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms will come into effect.

Transmogs, Account-Wide Collections, and Friendly Visits From Deathwing

The Cataclysm Pre-Patch also introduces transmogrification, which is to this day one of World of Warcraft’s most popular features. It allows players to change the appearance of their weapons and armor, no longer at the mercy of the current raid’s tier sets. As a bonus, mounts, appearances, pets and toys will be account-wide unlocks and will no longer take up space in a player’s inventory. Players will also remember how in the Cataclysm pre-patch, Deathwing himself would show up at random locations across Azeroth and toast the entire zone, killing players instantly and earning them an achievement. This will likely take place in Classic as well.

World of Warcraft Classic: Cataclysm’s Release

Following the actual release of Classic Cataclysm, new areas and the main quest campaign will immediately be opened. These include the zones of Deepholm, Uldum, Vashj’ir, and Mount Hyjal, all of which play important roles in the game’s evolving lore. Tol Barad soon makes its debut too, as an island of Kul Tiras that’s been turned into a prison for monstrous creatures. The island is either controlled by the Horde or Alliance depending on which side captures it in a PvP event, and the winning team then has access to the raid within. Many dungeons and raids will be accessible from the get-go, including older dungeons that have been reworked. The Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep will only be available on Heroic difficulty.

Raids

• Baradin Hold
• Blackwing Descent
• The Bastion of Twilight
• Throne of the Four Winds

Dungeons

• Grim Batol
• Halls of Origination
• Throne of the Tides
• Blackrock Caverns
• The Stonecore
• Vortex Pinnacle
• Lost CIty of the Tol’vir
• The Deadmines
• Shadowfang Keep

More important content coming includes Darknmoon Island, where the game’s beloved circus gets moved to its very own unique zone. For one week a month, the Darkmoon Faire can be traveled to, a mysterious and spooky place full of fun and challenging activities. The PvP battleground, Battle for Gilneas, will also arrive at this time. It’s a 10v10 game much like Arathi Basin, but now there are only three bases to capture. This battleground is a scramble for resources meant to mimic the stalemate between the worgen and Forsaken that takes place in early Cataclysm’s lore.

Cataclysm Classic in Late 2024

Rise of the Zandalari

As summer spends its warmth and the north continents turn cool, World of Warcraft Classic: Cataclysm will instead be heating up. Players will experience the Rise of the Zandalari patch, which features the eponymous tribe of trolls. The Zandalari seek to unite all of troll-kind and reclaim their former dominance over Azeroth. However, Vol’jin, leader of the Darkspear, refuses to join their cause, citing his allegiance to the Horde. He beseeches heroes of both the Horde and Alliance to thwart the Zandalari, Gurubashi and Amani trolls in two epic dungeons, Zul’Aman in the Ghostlands and Zul’Gurub in Strangelthorn Vale.

Rage of the Firelands

As events in Mount Hyjal reach their climax, players must dive deep into the Firelands to defeat the Elemental Lord of Fire once and for all. Ragnaros, still seething from his defeat in WoW: Classic’s Molten Core, was all too eager to join forces with Deathwing. His target is Nordrassil, the great World Tree atop Mount Hyjal, and the Firelands raid involves a preemptive strike on Azeroth’s behalf. Players will engage Ragnaros and his Druids of the Flame in what is widely considered the best raid in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

World of Warcraft Classic: Hardcore

This version of WoW: Classic is only for the most dedicated and skilled players. Although this mode was released in 2023, early 2024 will bring a new, even more difficult game. Originally, Hardcore was just a mode of Classic where dying results in a game over for that character, no matter what. Self-Found Hardcore mode takes it up a few notches, as players will no longer be able to group up with other players. No auction house or trading of any kind is allowed, and the only items players can use are those they have made or scavenged themselves. It doesn’t seem likely that raids and dungeons will be doable in Self-Found mode, but players have always found remarkable ways to solo WoW content, so it will be exciting to see the results.