World of Warcraft is about to add another gameplay template to its rich history of expansions and twists with the launch of WoW Classic’s Hardcore mode on Aug. 24. Without question, the biggest difference between traditional Classic WoW and Hardcore WoW is the “permadeath” element, which ensures that each of your characters only has one life. When you die, it’s game over.
Yesterday, we spoke with some of the developers of WoW Classic’s new Hardcore game mode—Linny Cooke Saverline (game producer) and Tim Jones (senior technical designer)—about all things coming in Classic’s new addition. And in our sit-down with the devs, they were eager to share their predictions on where the player base might encounter the most trouble.
Specifically, they mentioned zones like Felwood and Winterspring giving high-level Classic Hardcore players the most trouble while the game was in testing, while low-level players encountered difficulty in zones like the Elwynn Forest and Durotar.
“Someone was trying to get to Winterspring on the PTR and there was just a line of corpses through Felwood all the way to Winterspring that was just cracking us up,” Jones told Dot Esports. “Another funny one was when we were looking on the coast of southeast Durotar right outside of Sen’jin Village … and there were a lot of deaths in the water—probably from people drowning—but there was one death in the pool of water in Sen’jin Village, so whoever managed to die on land by drowning, props to that guy.”
Related: ‘We go where the people are’: WoW Classic Hardcore devs promise to put community first
The devs also expect the game’s analytics team to put together infographics and visual explainers that detail exactly how players lose their characters. Statistics were shared with the Diablo community when that game was in the midst of its Hardcore launch earlier this year, and WoW fans should also expect some data to come their way.
The devs confirmed they have heatmaps showing player death locations, times, and other pieces of information and that they’re “excited to share some of those statistics with the community,” Jones said.
Our prediction is that low-level players will run into the most trouble in Teldrassil, specifically near Dolanaar, as the early quests in that zone are a bit tougher than some you might find in other starting areas. Elwynn Forest could also be a hotspot for deaths as players tend to underestimate just how hard some of the monsters in the friendly-presenting zone actually hit.
“Caves, in general. People die a lot in caves, getting that gold dust in Elwynn Forest,” Jones said.
Stranglethorn Vale could also be a difficult zone to quest in. Just because PvP is opt-in on Hardcore realms doesn’t mean the notorious “ganker’s paradise” won’t be a difficult area to quest in. The jungle is still densely packed with mobs, many of which stalk the roads and make travel extremely difficult. The Ruins of Aboraz, where Zanzil the Outcast and his gang of ghouls and naga hang out, could claim many a soul on Hardcore servers.
Related: 5 of the hardest, must-avoid leveling zones for WoW Classic Hardcore players
WoW Classic Hardcore launches on Aug. 24, and on that day, you’ll have access to all of the Classic content you know and love, so long as you’re able to keep your character alive through some of the game’s most difficult questing zones.
