World of Warcraft Classic's next adventure, Cataclysm, now has a date, as Deathwing will descend on Azeroth on May 20th. Pre-patch will kick things off later this month, on April 30th.
World of Warcaft Cataclysm Classic, announced at last year's BlizzCon, brings the next step in the journey of Classic WoW, which launched back in 2019. The next expansion brings, well, cataclysmic changes to the MMO, just like it did the first time, with the shattering of Azeroth as Deathwing terrorized the world. The new expansion brings with it seven new zones to Classic WoW, new raids, nine dungeons, the Tol Barad PvP zone, and much more.
To get Azeroth ready for Deathwing's arrival, pre-patch for World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic kicks off on April 30th, bringing with a ton of new content to get players ready. The new Worgen and Goblin races will be available starting with pre-patch, whilst the Archaeology profession will make its debut, alongside the new transmog collection, and more.
It's important to remember, too (and Blizzard does an excellent job of reminding players of this) that the very fabric of Azeroth changes forever once Deathwing blows it all to hell, so any quests and achievements left undone before Cataclysm launches will be left incomplete forever. Achievements gained for the Loremaster of the Eastern Kingdoms or Kalimdor will not be removed, however.
"The shattering of Azeroth will drastically and permanently alter the continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. In the wake of Deathwing's devastation, adventurers will be summoned to embark on new quests from levels 1 to 60 in these transformed territories -- and with so much new content to be found on these original two continents, many original quests will no longer be available after the shattering occurs. These quests will automatically be removed from your quest log, while any quests you’ve accepted that still exist in Azeroth will remain in your log."
Key changes coming with Cataclysm Classic are an accelerated leveling pace compared to the original release, as well as a faster content calendar. We spoke to the developers back at BlizzCon about keeping the feel of the original, especially in such a pivotal chapter of WoW's history, despite some changes.
