The expansion first launched in September 2012 and introduced Pandaria, a new continent based on Chinese folklore inhabited by Pandarens (who also served as a new playable race). Players could also use a new class, the Monk, and the level cap was raised from 85 to 90. There were also several new dungeons, raids, and battlegrounds, with more added over time.

While Mists of Pandaria will retain the core experience that fans remember from back in the day, new features and quality-of-life improvements are also likely inbound. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

As for World of Warcraft Classic’s new realms, it’s part of the 20th Anniversary Edition and will include a new Hardcore realm. You can also look forward to a PvP Honor Ranking system and the Chronoboon Displacer. Head here for more information.

Since a lot of players, yours truly included, quite enjoyed the more relaxed pace of playing that World of Warcraft originally had, rather than the modern systems-heavy beast where just about every single second of your gaming time is often accounted for with things to do, Blizzard released World of Warcraft Classic in 2019, in an effort to make everyone happy. While the success of Classic can be argued, it did well enough for the studio to continue the Classic train with the release of the Burning Crusade, followed by the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Typically, the game’s second expansion is the point most players would pick as the turning point for when World of Warcraft became less “classic” and started turning into the game we see today.

The release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic is an interesting one. One of the key features of the Cataclysm expansion back when originally launched in 2010 was the fact that it brought a complete overhaul to the base game’s leveling zones, streamlining the whole process of getting to the level 85 cap. There were also several redesigns made to the game’s various leveling dungeons, as well as the first of what would become many overhauls to the talent tree.

Taking all of these (and many other) aspects into account, starting a new character in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic is a strange experience. The game is much faster-paced than it was during the previous Classic runs, and there are plenty of new quality of life features, like in-game maps for dungeons and even a way to check out loot tables for bosses. However, it’s these very changes that make Cataclysm Classic feel very un-Classic.

"The game is much faster-paced than it was during the previous Classic runs, and there are plenty of new quality of life features"

While the feature first arrived during Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm doubled down on the use of the Dungeon Finder, which allowed players to match up with random other players to run dungeons. Cataclysm would eventually push it even further by introducing the Raid Finder, using which players can do entire endgame raids with a random assortment of other players. While incredibly convenient, these tools had a major hand in reducing the level of community that World of Warcraft players would feel. Sure, waiting for two hours hanging around the game’s public chat rooms as you looked for a healer wasn’t fun, but reducing the entire experience to a simple button press and queue time was decidedly even less enjoyable.

All of that aside, however, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic’s greatest success is in reminding players just how drastic of a change the leveling experience saw. Where you would previously find yourself running from settlement to settlement in the Barrens as you looked for quests, now, quest lines flowed more naturally, sending you to the next settlement once you’ve finished up the small story in your current village. This would even extend to entire zones, where the game would now naturally tell you to go check out the disturbances at Stonetalon Mountains once you were done questing in the Northern Barrens.

Keeping up with the better paced storylines throughout Cataclysm Classic’s leveling experience is the more active pace of gameplay. Compared to even Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm pushes the actions-per-minute of several of the game’s specializations up quite high, making end-game combat an intensive affair where you would be juggling your most powerful cooldown abilities alongside your regular damage rotation, and even situational defensive abilities.

"World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic’s greatest success is in reminding players just how drastic of a change the leveling experience saw."

Generally speaking, however, Cataclysm feels like a strange middle ground between World of Warcraft Classic and World of Warcraft: Dragonflight. The Classic stage of the game at this point might have moved too far along the timeline to really be considered “Classic”. Don’t get me wrong; World of Warcraft would go on to get several changes down the line as well, be it a rework to how talents worked in Mists of Pandaria, to the several stat squishes in different expansions, to even a level squish that came about with Shadowlands. Cataclysm, however, definitely feels like the first major step Blizzard took towards streamlining the game.

One of the major examples of streamlining is the removal of weapon skills. Before Cataclysm, player characters in World of Warcraft, and by extension Classic, would have weapon skill stats that would level up automatically as you used a weapon. These stats were essentially a vestigial mechanic leftover from the original World of Warcraft, and the release of The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King made it obsolete. Cataclysm did away with the stat entirely, while also de-emphasizing other stats like elemental resistances. The expansion even removes arrows as a consumable item so that hunters don’t have to worry about running out of ammo, for instance.

Despite all of this, however, one of Cataclysm’s greatest strengths—one that shines through especially well in Cataclysm Classic—is how it told small-scaled stories through minor quest chains. These small-scale stories would ultimately go on to have major consequences that would take the World of Warcraft story in unexpected directions. A great example is how Cataclysm lays the groundwork for the slow descent into villainy that the Horde Warchief of the time, Garrosh Hellscream, would ultimately experience, culminating in him becoming the final antagonist of the next expansion.

"These small scale stories would ultimately go on to have major consequences"

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic players also have quite a bit to look forward to when it comes to endgame content, since the Firelands raid is still considered to be an excellent group experience, and rewards players with gear that still manages to look great today.

How one goes about defining World of Warcraft Classic for themselves will play a big part in how much they enjoy revisiting the Cataclysm expansion. For some, it was World of Warcraft introducing some of its worst tendencies, while others find that the more streamlined leveling process and faster-paced gameplay way more interesting and entertaining. When it comes to re-releasing it as part of World of Warcraft Classic, however, Cataclysm might just stretch what the word really means.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic leaves behind the slower paced leveling of days gone by, and even the core gameplay of all the classes is much faster. Along the way, it also leaves behind a lot of the charm that World of Warcraft used to have when it first launched. Getting into dungeons for some new gear was as simple as clicking on “Join Queue” and waiting for 15 minutes. Despite all of this, however, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic is still a surprisingly enjoyable game. While it doesn’t have as much in the way of nostalgia to offer players as World of Warcraft Classic previously did, Cataclysm Classic still feels different enough to modern-day World of Warcraft to make it worth revisiting every now and then.

This game was reviewed on PC.

As one of the more controversial expansions at the time, it’s centered on the return of Deathwing, the Worldbreaker and Aspect of Death, whose fracturing of the World Pillar completely changes Azeroth. In a way, it also marked a shift in almost every aspect of the game, with various systems and mechanics changed in many ways that would resonate with fans (for better or worse) for years.

What should new players (who don’t know there’s a completely different World of Warcraft experience) expect? What are some of the new features and macro-transactions that veterans can look forward to? Here’s what you should know before picking up World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic when it launches on May 20th.

Changes to Existing Continents

Deathwing’s arrival meant a complete reshaping of the world players knew and loved (to the chagrin of some players, who saw favored locations wiped out or completely changed). Several existing quests from the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor are gone; both continents now sport new areas and quests along with new storylines, and they now allow for flying with mounts, which previously wasn’t possible. It was somewhat unheard of to see major continents changed in such a fashion, but it’s become one of the defining features of Cataclysm.

New Zones

With such massive environmental changes come new zones, and Cataclysm offers several for players at level 80 to grind through to the new level cap (or from level 1 – more on that shortly). The new zones in question are Mount Hyjal and Uldum in Kalimdor; Vashj’ir and the Twilight Highlands in the Eastern Kingdoms; Tol Barad in Lordaeron; and Deepholm in the Elemental Planes. Some zones consist of smaller sub-zones, like Tol Barad and Vashj’ir, with the former being instanced and sporting some PvP.

Elemental Planes

Another big change wrought by Deathwing’s arrival is the appearance of elemental rifts leading to the Elemental Planes, specifically the Abyssal Maw, the Firelands, Deepholm and Skywall. They host various new dungeons and sub-zones (including four within the Firelands alone) while also being connected to new Elemental threats that players will have to battle.

Increased Level Cap

A new expansion means a new level cap, and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm allows players to go from level 80 to 85, with the new zones in the same range. It also meant five new Talent Points to improve or unlock new abilities. Unfortunately, this also marked one of the more controversial changes to Talents. Specialization was introduced, and Talent Trees became smaller. The total number of Talent Points also dropped to 41, essentially ruining hybrid builds for longtime players. If that’s you, then, well, prepare in advance.

Smoother Leveling Experience

Of course, this is Cataclysm Classic and not quite the same leveling experience as when the expansion first launched. Players can expect a “smoother” and accelerated experience, to get them to the end game faster, or at least make it easier to level up existing alts. This will be even more essential for new characters, especially when choosing the new races.

Two New Races

Cataclysm adds two new races to the mix – the Worgen and Goblins – the former for the Alliance and the latter for the Horde. They each get unique starting zones – Gilneas for the Worgen and the Isle of Kezan and the Lost Isles for the Goblins. The Worgen can shift between their human and worgen forms, gaining increased movement speed in their “true form” for a period and even running at the same speed as a mount during travel.

Goblins get a rocket belt for jumping forward, firing a barrage of rockets, and accessing amazing discounts regardless of their relationship with a faction. The number of available classes for races would also get expanded, though, unfortunately, Cataclysm wouldn’t introduce a new class for players to mess around with.

Revamped Questing Experience

Cataclysm added a lot of new quests to the game, with even more arriving in subsequent patches and offering even more routes for leveling. However, these marked a shift in quest design towards a more linear cinematic experience with excessive phasing (which changed surroundings depending on your progress, resulting in some players not seeing each other out in the open).

It meant less freedom in how you progress through a zone, though it did offer some good story-telling. Unfortunately (again), there’s also a good chunk of optional quests that try a little too hard with the humor and references, so be prepared.

Multiple New Dungeons

There are seven new dungeons to experience, starting with Blackrock Caverns and Throne of the Tides for level 80 to 81 players. The Vortex Pinnacle and The Stonecore are for level 82-84 players, while the Lost City of the Tol’vir, the Halls of Origination and Grim Batol are for level 85. Finally, there’s the level 85 heroic dungeon, Caverns of Time, consisting of trips to the past, present and potential future. Each was fairly challenging for its time, especially with all of the changes, but there seems to be a…

New Dungeon Difficulty System

On its official website for Cataclysm Classic, Blizzard notes that players can earn “powerful rewards” in a “new dungeon difficulty system that will be added after launch.” What this means is unknown, but it remains to be seen if it will retain the same infamous difficulty for its dungeons at launch.

Transmog

One confirmed feature is transmogrification or Transmog, which is essential for those wanting to optimise their fashion game. It allows your armor and weapons to maintain their stats while taking on the appearance of other equipment. You must visit a Transmogrifier and spend Gold, though none is required when reverting to your gear’s true appearance. Along with Mounts and Pets, Transmogs are account-wide, making them available for any alts you choose to cultivate.

New Raids

Three raids are available in Cataclysm – Blackwing Descent, Bastion of Twilight and Throne of the Four Winds. There’s also the raid dungeon Baradin Hold, which becomes available after a PvP battle. All are playable for 10-player and 25-player groups and offer heroic options once cleared for more challenging encounters.

“Streamlined” Auction House

You can’t have World of Warcraft without the Auction House, and while it’s not all that great in WoW Classic, the release of Cataclysm provides an “updated version.” It will provide a “streamlined experience” for those who want to “buy and sell the latest and greatest supplies and gear,” per Blizzard’s official spiel. What does any of this mean? Your guess is as good as ours – it hasn’t provided any details or even any updates in the Cataclysm Classic beta. As always, time will tell.

Character Boosts and Transfer Packs

Don’t want to level a character from scratch like the good ol’ days? You’re in luck because Blizzard provides an option to boost your character to level 80 – for $60. It’s included in the Blazing Epic Upgrade for Cataclysm Classic, which costs $80 and offers 30 days of game time with other in-game goodies. There will also be packs for Character Transfer, and changes to your race, name and Faction, much like with Wrath of the Lich King Classic and the base WoW Classic.

World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic will launch on May 20. Prior to that, a pre-expansion patch will go live on April 20, adding mechanics and content to pave the way for the update’s full release. The pre-expansion patch will allow you to play as two new races – Goblin and Worgen – and choose new race and class combinations.

There will also be new talents, trees, spells, and more for classes, a new transmog collection, updated character and gear stats, and a new profession in the form of Archaeology. Notably, players will also be able to explore and play through changed landscapes in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms from level 1 through 60.

When Cataclysm itself launches in full on May 20, it will bring seven new zones (Mount Hyjal, Vash’jir, Twilight Highlands, Uldum, Deepholm, Kezan, and Gilneas), nine new dungeons (Blackrock Caverns, Throne of the Tides, Vortex Pinnacle, The Stonecore, The Lost City of Tol’vir, The Halls of Origination, Grim Batol, Deadmines, and Shadowfang Keep), and three new raid dungeons (Throne of the Four Winds, Blackwing Descent, and Bastion of Twilight).

Cataclysm will also introduce the Tol Barad PvP zone, Darkmoon Island, the ability to fly in Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, a new boss-based Raid Lock system, and the dungeon journal.

2024 is also set to be a significant year for the main version of World of Warcraft. It recently introduced a new mode in the form of Plunderstom, while its next expansion, The War Within, will launch sometime later this year. It will kickstart a new trilogy of expansions, dubbed the Worldsoul Saga.

Headlining phase 3 of Season of Discovery is the Sunken Temple as the new 20-player raid dungeon. Essentially acting as the primary form of endgame content, the raid will see its encounters changed from the original dungeon to better offer the level of challenge expected by players in a large-scale raid.

Season of Discovery is also getting Nightmare Incursions as a new form of PvE content. Keeping in line with the Emerald Dream as its focus with the Sunken Temple raid, Nightmare Incursions sees mysterious dream portals opening up, using which players can cross over into the Emerald Nightmare to take on new challenges.

Alongside Sunken Temple, players can also delve into the Blackrock Depths, Maraudon, and Zul’Farrak dungeons with loot balanced around being available for level 50 characters.

As part of phase 3, Season of Discovery is also offering players a hefty experience boost. Players under level 39 will see experience gains increased by 100 percent, while players between levels 40 and 49 will see 50 percent extra experience gains.

World of Warcraft Classic is available on PC.

In Plunderstorm, players are thrown into the Arathi Highlands zone with 60 other players, and the last player standing is the winner. Throughout their time in the mode, players will be able to level up and get new abilities and spells by taking on enemies and other players, as well as by looting chests.

Interestingly, Plunderstorm doesn’t need players to own the latest World of Warcraft expansion. Rather, anyone with an active World of Warcraft subscription can join a match through the new Plunderstorm option in World of Warcraft‘s menu.

Playing Plunderstorm will allow players to earn cosmetic rewards, including pets, titles, and mounts, for both Dragonflight characters as well as World of Warcraft Classic characters. You can also check out the latest WoWCast video where the developers discuss Plunderstorm below.

As part of Season of Discovery phase 2, Gnomeregan has been redesigned from being a 5-player dungeon to a 10-player raid. Each boss in Gnomeregan has also been changed, and the raid now features a total of six boss fights. As part of the new experience, players will also be able to get their hands on new loot inspired by classic World of Warcraft items, such as the Automatic Crowd Pummeler.

Players can also look forward to two new Runes for each of the 9 playable calsses in the game, bringing additional ways for players to customise how their preferred class works. These runes come in a range of options, from allowing interesting never-before-seen builds like a Warlock tank, to further buffing the damage output of classes like Warriors with additional abilities.

On the PvP side of things, players can now check out the new Blood Moon world event that takes place every three hours in Stranglethorn Vale, where players can take each other on to earn additional rewards in the form of new gear.

Since Season of Discovery will now allow players to get up to level 40, this also means that players will be able to unlock their first mounts. Alongside the traditional faction-based mounts, the update also comes with two new faction-agnostic mounts that players can start working towards.

For players new to Season of Discovery in World of Warcraft Classic, there will be a 50 percent experience buff, allowing players to hit the previous level cap of 25 quickly and join everyone else on their journey to the new level cap of 40.

World of Warcraft, currently at the tail end of its Dragonflight expansion, will see three more major content updates before the release of The War Within. Winter will see the release of patch 10.2.5—Seeds of Renewal—which will essentially act as an epilogue to the expansion’s story. The update will also bring with it Worldwide Dragonriding, allowing players to use the new flying mount mechanics all over the game’s world instead of in just the Dragon Isles.

Following a secret update after Seeds of Renewal, Spring will see the launch of Season 4, which will have players revisit the raids of the Dragonflight expansion. Shortly afterwards, the game will get the 10.2.7 update, dubbed Dark Heart, which will bring new Harbinger quests, a new Holiday event, and Heritage Armor for Torll and Draenei players. The update will also bring back Timerunning.

Summer will see World of Warcraft get ready for The War Within, with the release of a pre-patch to prepare the game in terms of story and gameplay for the new expansion. World of Warcraft: The War Within will launch between Summer and Autumn, and is scheduled for one major update before Winter kicks off.

World of Warcraft Classic‘s roadmap is an expansion of not only Wratch of the Lich King Classic and the impending release of Cataclysm Classic, but also new updates for Season of Discovery. World of Warcraft Classic is also getting a Self-Found mode for its Hardcore realms, which essentially forces players to find all of their gear by themselves, without a player economy to help them out.

The trailer showcases an excellently-animated look at some of the more important parts of the Cataclysm expansion, including its many raids and dungeons, culminating with primary antagonist Deathwing perching atop the gates of Alliance capital Stormwind.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic will bring with it a host of expansion features, including a new level cap of 85, the addition of Goblins and Worgen as playable races, revamped zones, the transmogrification system, new dungeons and raids, and a revamped talent tree.

The expansion will also bring with it some more modern features, including a new Dungeon Group Finder, account-wide mounts, pets and transmogs, and a streamlined Auction House.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic is slated for launch in 2024.

To enforce the permanent character deaths, players that die in the new hardcore realms will be unable to run back to their corpses to revive. Players also cannot be resurrected by using spells or items. Dead characters can still hang out in the game, but will not be able to take part in any real gameplay.

According to Blizzard, all hardcore realms will be PvE. PvP will be available, but only for players who choose to enable it. The new realms will also feature a new “Duel to the Death” feature, allowing players to face each other in 1-on-1 duels with high stakes that could result in one of the characters permanently dying.

Hardcore realms for World of Warcraft Classic were first announced back in May. The game is currently in the midst of its Wrath of the Lich King expansion, while the mainline World of Warcraft is currently on Dragonflight.