Summary
World of Warcraft ClassicSeason of Discovery has officially shared the patch notes for Phase 5 of the experimental servers. All the new content revealed in these notes, plus plenty of other mysteries hidden throughout theWorld of WarcraftRealms, will be available when the update releases globally on September 26 at 1 PM PDT.
Season of Discovery isWorld of Warcraft Classic’s most recent experiment that features class-altering Rune engravings, remixed versions of iconic dungeons and raids, and even some brand-new instances. TheWoW Classicgame mode is about to enter its fifth phase, bringing the second batch of max-level content to players, including new versions of the Blackwing Lair and Zul’Gurub raids.
The patch notes go into detail about how these raids will work – including their respective challenge modes. Blackwing Lair, tuned for between 20 and 40 players, features Trials of the Dragonflights, optional challenges themed after each of thefive colors of dragons inWorld of Warcraft. Players get additional rewards for completing the raid with up to three of these trials active, with one of the five trials gaining a bonus each week. The 10-20 player Zul’Gurub also has a hard mode, as players can choose which Edge of Madness challenge they wish to use each week, and can even battle Hakkar in an empowered form.
Were these refurbished raids not exciting enough, players can also challenge abrand-newWorld of Warcraft Classicraid called The Crystal Valelocated in Silithus. In this instance, between 20 and 40 players can challenge Prince Thunderaan for the chance to earn unique loot, including Tier 2 belt tokens. This raid is fully divorced from the Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker Legendary weapon’s questline, so fans can challenge him regardless of class.
Several new quality-of-life improvements are coming in the update as well. Leatherworking and blacksmithing profession specializations are no longer mutually exclusive, allowing players to complete all of them on a single character. Mail sent between characters on the same account is now received instantaneously, rather than after an hour of waiting. Additionally, players who obtain theiriconic Tier 2 armor inWoW Classiccan swap between using the new set bonuses, or keeping the ones from Tier 1, by trading their items out just inside Molten Core.
There are plenty ofother changes inWorld of Warcraft ClassicSeason of Discovery Phase 5: all honor gains from PvP have been doubled, world buffs can be claimed on a character once a month, new ring Rune engravings have been hidden across the world, and tons of classes and items have received balance updates. Before the update goes live on September 26, players should make sure to check up on if anything has changed with their class' rotations – especially before they try the new raids.
WoW Classic Season of Discovery Phase 5 Patch Notes
New Raid: Blackwing Lair
With the launch of Season of Discovery Phase 5 on Thursday, September 26 at 1:00 p.m. PDT (4:00 p.m. EDT, 22:00 CEST), Blackwing Lair will become available. Blackwing Lair is tuned and intended for ~20 players but the instance is capped at a maximum of 40 players. Blackwing Lair is on a 7-day raid reset timer.
New Raid: Zul’Gurub
Opening with the launch of Season of Discovery Phase 5 on Thursday, September 26 at 1:00 p.m. PDT (4:00 p.m. EDT, 20:00 CEST), Zul’Gurub is tuned and intended for ~10 players, but the instance is capped at a maximum of 20 players. Zul’Gurub is on a twice-weekly raid reset timer.
New Raid: The Crystal Vale
Prince Thunderaan the Windseeker has broken free from his prison with the release of Phase 5 and will be available to all players as a newly reimagined raid encounter. Thunderaan is tuned and intended for ~20 players but the instance is capped at a maximum of 40 players. The Crystal Vale is on a twice-weekly reset timer.
