It is official: Blizzard finally confirmed during today's World of Warcraft: Dragonflight reveal that the great Wrath of the Lich King expansion is coming to World of Warcraft Classic.
"His evil is legend. His power and malice unparalleled. Lord of the undead Scourge, wielder of the cursed runeblade Frostmourne, and nemesis of the living, the Lich King will stop at nothing until all life on Azeroth is extinguished. Relive the legend and end his reign."
The Wrath of the Lich King expansion adds the new Death Knight class, which can be created with no prerequisites and started at level 55. The level cap has been increased to 80 for the expansion, and a level 70 boost will be available for anyone who wants to jump straight into Lich King without playing the Burning Crusade Classic expansion first.
Here's Blizzard's quick lowdown on what Classic fans can look forward to:
- The Grim Frozen North: Heroes will begin their journey in one of two zones in Northrend—Borean Tundra or Howling Fjord—and adventure through some of the most epic vistas and beloved storylines in all of Warcraft before breaching the seat of the Lich King’s power in Icecrown.
- The Rise of Death Knights: Available to both factions and starting at level 55, Death Knights—World of Warcraft’s first hero class—harness the powers of darkness to help combat the evil that threatens Azeroth. While Death Knights are limited to one per server and require a level 55 character on that server to create, in Wrath Classic, we will be bypassing that requirement for a player’s first Death Knight.
- New Profession—Inscription: This new profession allows players to scribe mystical glyphs that modify the properties of spells and abilities (cooldowns, damage, etc.), and craft powerful trinkets and off-hand items.
- Achievements Unlocked: Achievements are coming to WoW Classic, giving players new rewards for their exploits and accomplishments.
- Dungeons & Raids: Relive seminal 5-player dungeons like Azjol-Nerub and the Culling of Stratholme, and lay siege to Naxxramas as a 25- or 10-player raid—an update of its original iteration as a 40-player raid in pre-expansion World of Warcraft.
- Included With Existing World of Warcraft Subscriptions: As with previous WoW Classic releases, anyone who subscribes to World of Warcraft can also play Wrath of the Lich King Classic at no additional cost.
Death Knights!
Interestingly, the Dungeon Finder added in the 3.3.5 patch will not be available in the expansion—Blizzard said the Classic community indicated that "that the importance of social bonds is a big part of what makes Classic their game of choice"—while Arena Teams will be removed in favor of Personal Arena Ratings.
A release date hasn't been set but Wrath of the Lich King Classic will be out later this year, and yes, there will be a pre-release beta: You can opt into that now, and find out more about the expansion, at wowclassic.blizzard.com.
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