Image: Blizzard Entertainment
World of Warcraft: Classic is getting its Cataclysm expansion and a ‘Season of Discovery’ with combined classes and roles.
World of Warcraft: Classic is officially getting another big content drop, with the return of a familiar expansion for veterans of the MMO: Cataclysm. The somewhat controversial expansion will arrive in vanilla Warcraft with a few changes to streamline player progression, though its core storyline remains intact.
Watch the reveal trailer below:
What's included in World of Warcraft Classic: Cataclysm?
Cataclysm is considered an era-defining Warcraft expansion, drawing a clear line between what players view as the classic Warcraft experience and what they have today. Many elements of gameplay were streamlined - from progression to travel - leading to the more modern Warcraft gameplay loop players have become accustomed to. As such, it’s become a rather controversial expansion, but clearly not controversial enough for Blizzard to avoid bringing it to Classic entirely.
Cataclysm reimagines multiple zones in Azeroth and introduces a few big story changes: Thrall will no longer be Warchief of the Horde, replaced by Garrosh Hellscream. This event has an avalanche of ramifications in future plotlines ranging from Pandaria’s corruption to Sylvanas Windrunner’s arc. The expansion’s story involves the emergence of Deathwing from the heart of the Maelstrom, bringing irreparable destruction to Azeroth.
In World of Warcraft: Classic, Cataclysm will arrive with a faster content cadence, levelling improvements, expanded Collections UI, a new difficulty level for Dungeon Group Finder and more additions on top of its original content. That’s not all for Classic players, however.
World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery
Classic is getting more content beyond the return of old expansions, beginning with the Season of Discovery on November 30. This season will drop with no public testing, giving players ways to combine new classes and roles to make for some previously unseen class combos, like tank warlocks. The season also brings a 10-player Blackfathom Deeps Raid with changed-up mechanics and new challenges underneath Kalimdor.
Cataclysm drops in the first half of 2024, but the Season of Discovery arrives at the end of this month. Here’s everything else Blizzard revealed at BlizzCon 2023, from three new expansions for World of Warcraft to the new Overwatch 2 hero.
