WotLK Classic release countdown - Release times, pre-patch, and more

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September 26, 2022: Wrath Classic launches today!

World of Warcraft has a long and storied history of expansions. One of those expansions that many gamers have fond memories of is Wrath of the Lich King. Well, it's coming back in Wrath of the Lich King Classic!

This Classic expansion is taking players back to Northrend, to explore the icy tundras of northern Azeroth, and to taken on the Lich King. We're going to cover all the details that you're going to need to prepare for the big day.

While you're here, if you're into Hearthstone, check out our guide to the newest Expansion, Murder at Castle Nathria. Also check out our guides for the newest League of Legends Patch notes, 12.14 and 12.15.

WotLK Classic release countdown - When does Wrath of the Lich King Classic come out?

WotLK Classic release countdown

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Wrath of the Lich King Classic has a confirmed release date, and we've added a WotLK Classic release countdown above that adapts to your computer's clock, making it clear when the game will release in your region.

For most, the WotLK release date is sometime on September 26, 2022. Alongside this launch, there's going to be a bunch of preparations done on the backend.

  • PvE to PvP transfer restrictions removed
  • Wrath Classic closed beta test
  • Classic Era clone service retired
  • Existing realms consolidated
  • New Fresh Start Realms with Wrath Classic pre-patch
  • Wrath of the Lich King launch

We now have updated launch times for the expansions releases, which are all going to be at the same time globally. Here are the times by region.

  • Americas: 3:00 PM PST on September 26
  • Europe: 12:00 AM CEST on September 27
  • Taiwan: 6:00 AM CST on September 27
  • Korea 7:00 AM KST on September 27
  • Australia / New Zealand 8:00 AM AEST on September 27
  • UTC 10:00 PM on September 26

What are Wrath of the Lich King Classic 'Fresh Start' servers?

One thing that Blizzard is doing with Wrath Classic's launch is launching a host of servers that are dedicated to starting fresh. You'll essentially be starting as if you were a fresh account. As such, there's a few rules around these servers.

  • For at least 90 days, players will not be able to boost characters on Fresh Start servers.
  • For at least 90 days, players cannot transfer characters to Fresh Start realms.
  • Death Knights will not be able to be created on fresh start realms until a player has a level 55 character on that realm.

Wrath of the Lich King Classic New Content

Wrath of the Lich King Classic New Content

Death Knights

  • World of Warcraft's first hero class
    • Command the powers of undeath as a resurrected champion of Azeroth

New Regions and Zones

  • Northrend is Azeroth's northern most continent, with a variety of different environments.
    • Borean Tundra
    • Crystalsong Forest
    • Dragonblight
    • Grizzly HIlls
    • Howling Fjord
    • Hrothgar's Landing
    • Icecrown
    • Sholazar Basin
    • Storm Peaks
    • Winter Grasp

New Dungeons

  • Multiple new dungeons will be introduced throughout the expansion.
    • Ahn'Kahet: The Old Kingdom
    • Ajzol-Nerub
    • Drak'Tharon Keep
    • Forge of Souls
    • Gundrak
    • Halls of Lightning
    • Halls of Reflection
    • Hall of Stone
    • Pit of Saron
    • The Culling of Stratholme
    • The Nexus
    • The Oculus
    • Trial of the Champion
    • Utgarde Keep
    • Utgarde Pinnacle
    • Violet Hold

New Raids

  • On top of dungeons, there will be plenty of new Raid content
    • Icecrown Citadel
    • Naxxramas
    • Onyxia's Lair
    • The Eye of Eternity
    • The Obsidian Sanctum
    • The Ruby Sanctum
    • Trial of the Crusader
    • Vault of Archavon
    • Ulduar
  • New Raid Difficulty System
    • 10 and 25 man raids
    • Heroic Raids

With Wrath Classic, there's going to be obviously a ton of content coming to Classic WoW. If you've played Wrath of the Lich King in the past, a lot of this should be familiar to you, but for those who have not, here's a run down of what to expect.

What is the Wrath of the Lich King Classic pre-patch?

Kicking off at the tail-end of August is a Wrath of the Lich King pre-patch event. A staple of the Warcraft experience, this one does a couple things: most notably unlocking the Inscription class, allowing the creation of Death Knights, boosting EXP gains by 50%, and unleashing hordes of the undead upon the game's major citystates.

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Basically, anything from the expansion beyond the level cap and new area (Northrend) is playable a month prior to the WotLK launch. It's a great time to level up any other characters or otherwise prepare your head-start.

And there we have it! Wrath of the Lich King was a massive time for a lot of WoW players, so it'll be exciting to relive those nostalgic moments once more. In the meantime, while you're here, if you're interested in some other mobile style RPGs, consider checking out some of our roblox codes guides for some popular games like Shindo Life, Project Slayers, and Anime Adventures.

For more articles like this, take a look at our World of Warcraft and Hubs page.