Wrath of the Lich King Classic Pre-Patch Is Live (Or Undead)

It's been one week since the WotLK pre-patch has finally arrived and it seems everyone in the World of Warcraft community was excited about replaying one of the most unique pre-patches. Although scourge invasions are yet to start, adding just some of the WotLK features into the game was more than enough to create a total mess with queue times and servers.

We undoubtedly expected queue time to enter the game, but 11 hours? That was a bit of a shock considering it is just a pre-patch! This might be the result of Blizzard listening to feedback and fulfilling player's requests. With pre-patch, Blizzard released two fresh servers for each region, one being PvP and the other being Normal realm.

What are fresh servers? Simply put, an economy and gear reset. Transferring characters from CLassic TBC to these servers won't be possible. The result of this will be a neutral starting point for everyone who did not want to play Classic TBC and was waiting for Classic WotLK instead. This appeared to be a very good decision by Blizzard because those servers: NA-Skyfury(PvP); NA-Maladath(Normal); EU-Thekal(PvP); EU-Giantstalker(Normal); ended up being the most popular and resulting in enormous queue times. Discussion and complaints followed, mainly questioning why did Blizzard decide to release only two fresh servers per region. While we do agree that Blizzard should have made released servers bigger, we can't forget how many empty servers were in Classic and Classic TBC after the hype toned down.

While this is a great solution for the long-term health of the server's population, in the first few weeks those servers will be so full that the game might be unplayable for many. Full questing areas and queues might slow the leveling down, but keep in mind that for leveling in the pre-patch, there is a 50% experience buff that will still be in effect until the expansion launches in a few weeks.

Apart from fresh servers, there are plenty of new WotLK features that are introduced into the game with this pre-patch. Let's have a look at it.

1. Addition of some of the most famous WoW spells:

• Warrior's Bladestorm. One of the most iconic, if not the most iconic Warrior spell gets added in this pre-patch.
• Rogue's Killing Spree. Inspired by Dota 1 Juggernaut's ultimate Omnislash, rogue received Killing Spree as the last talent in the Combat talent tree. AoE cooldown spell that holds the title as one of the most satisfying abilities to press.
• Warlock's Metamorphosis. Before the release of the Demon Hunter class, warlocks were the ones that used to have a spell to turn into a demon. This spell provided a playstyle that felt almost like a new class. Many people think it is a wasted opportunity that Blizzard did not decide to work on this spell further and adapt it to modern expansions.
• Death Knight's Army of the Dead. Nothing fits more to class fantasy than this spell fits DK's. I remember back in the original WotLK I leveled a DK just so I could try this spell myself.
• Hunter's Disengage. Can you even imagine playing a hunter without Disengage?
• Shadow Priest's Dispersion. One of those spells that were never changed since its implementation, is a major defensive cooldown that became a trademark for Shadow Priests.

2. Quality of life changes and new features:

• Hero Class: Death Knight. One important note to keep in mind, you can create a level 55 DK without having an already leveled 58+ character on the account.
• New profession: Inscription. Before the official release of WotLK, you can level Inscription only to 375 skill. With the release, it goes up to 450.
• Bunch of QoL additions: Dual specialization; Mount/Pet collection tab; Currency tab;
• -30% experience decrease from 60-70 (and also +50% experience gain buff overall)
• Flat 30% nerf to boss health and damage in TBC raids

3. Itemization changes

In the pre-patch, Blizzard is doing the first revamp of stats on items. Probably the most noticeable one is that the +Healing stat on items is removed. Both +Healing and +Spell Damage are combined into one stat called Spell Power. So once you log in, you might find a different Best in Slot item list to pursue.

Exclusive for Pre-Patch: Plague and Scrouge Invasions

1. Zombie plague (First week of pre-patch; ENDED)

The zombie plague started on September 6 and ENDED on September 12. Because it ended we won't be spending many words on this. It was separated into four different phases, new quests were added and a debuff called "You are infected!". How debuff works is, that if you don't cure yourself by getting dispelled by a player or talking to an Argent Healer (New NPCs), you will turn into a zombie. It was a very fun experience to replay this event!

2. Scourge Invasions (Starts September 9, ends September 26)

Many of us will agree that this is one of the most unique pre-patch experiences in the history of WoW. Scourge invasions start with a swarm of zombies all across the Azeroth, where players can get infected and turn into rampaging ghouls. Players who become ghouls are friendly to each either, regardless of being Alliance or Horde, ghouls act as a third faction. Fun fact: ghouls have their own language even, so if you are a Horde turned into Ghoul, Horde players won't understand what you say!

Doing Scourge invasions can also help you gear up. There are quests and rares that you can kill to collect Necrotic Runes. You can use those runes to buy gear from Argent Quartmaster at Light's Hope Chapel.

You can find a Scourge invasion in a few different zones, you can check which zone is invaded by searching for a purple skull mark on the map. Once you get to the zone, you should search for a giant floating Necropolis, this building will spawn an army of the undead who will be dropping Necrotic Runes and some items that are only obtainable while this event lasts (Like Haunted Memento).

During this event, there will be a set of new bosses available in old raids and dungeons. The most popular one for sure is Prince Tenris Mirkblood, who has a chance to drop Arcanite Reaper, the rock-on two-hand axe! Mirkblood always drops a pet, Vampiric Batling. A few new bosses are going to show up in Classic dungeons, some of them being located in Stratholme, Scholomance, Dire Maul, and Scarlet Monastery.

Since playing as a Ghoul is exclusive to this pre-patch, we highly suggest you to try it out! Becoming a zombie replaces your action bar with five new abilities, some of those being Retch! and Zombie Explosion! Since exploding yourself and infecting everyone around you in a capital city is very common player behavior in this stage, while fun at first, it can get annoying since it might be hard to find a living auctioneer or banker!