After originally spawning as a community-made game mode with extra rules and regulations to make the game more challenging and exciting, Blizzard itself is jumping on the train and making an official version of Hardcore Classic World of Warcraft.
WoW Classic Hardcore is essentially like WoW Classic, but with a twist—permadeath. The update will serve as the biggest change that the Classic community has received since last year’s launch of Wrath of the Lich King Classic and will easily be the biggest addition for Vanilla WoW enthusiasts since the Season of Mastery was added to the game in 2021.
Here are the WoW Classic Hardcore patch notes.
When does WoW Classic Hardcore officially release?
WoW Classic Hardcore officially releases on Aug. 24 at 5pm CT. This, once again, means that North American players will be in luck while European players will actually see this version of Classic go at 12am on Aug. 24.
WoW Classic Hardcore rules
WoW Classic is already a hard game, but when the rules and stipulations of Hardcore mode are applied, Classic becomes even more difficult. The most prominent rule associated with WoW Classic Hardcore is permadeath. Explained simply, once your character dies, it dies for good. You cannot respawn, and you cannot progress your character once you perish in the wild, regardless of your level.
Related: Official WoW Classic Hardcore rules explained: Deaths, PvP, dungeons, and more
Additional rules include restrictions on certain class/ability combinations, such as Paladins’ ability to use Divine Shield in combination with their Hearthstone.
All updates and changes coming to WoW Classic Hardcore
If you’ve played Hardcore Classic in the past and are interested in getting into the official version of the game mode when it releases later this year, you’ll likely have to get accustomed to the fact that some rules are going to be different than the ones currently in place in the community-made version of the game mode. Most of these rules, updates, and changes are strictly for the case of quality of life, but others can have an effect on the way some players play the game.
Here you can read official WoW Classic Hardcore patch notes.
PvP changes
The biggest change coming to WoW Classic Hardcore is the fact that all PvP activities will be opt-in, meaning you won’t have to worry about being randomly ganked or forced into a PvP battle that could potentially tank your Hardcore run. You’ll need to manually flag yourself for PvP each time you want to engage in it.
Duels to the Death
Additionally, players can participate in a new feature in the game mode called “Duel to the Death,” which allows you to challenge another player, with only one of you keeping your Hardcore character alive. Players are awarded with a stacking buff for each number of lives they’ve taken.
Dungeon lockouts
Another rule change coming to the official servers revolves around the way dungeon lockouts are handled. Among the Hardcore community, the longstanding rule is that players cannot complete a dungeon more than once per character. On official Hardcore servers, though, you’ll be able to re-enter dungeons once every 24 hours. This lockout prevents you from spamming dungeons but still gives you the option to re-run them each day if you please. It will still be more efficient to grind quests in the open world, though, even with the restrictions on dungeons being softened.
Quality-of-life changes for official WoW Classic Hardcore
In official Hardcore Classic, you’ll still be able to access your character after it dies, just in case you need to tie up any loose ends, such as transferring guild leadership over to another player. Although you won’t be able to resurrect and get back in your body, you’ll be able to have access to your character as a ghost.
You will, however, get the option to transfer your Hardcore character off of its original Hardcore realm and place it onto a standard Classic server to continue your progress.
Related: 5 of the hardest, must-avoid leveling zones for WoW Classic Hardcore players
Limits on the number of buffs and debuffs that can be applied to characters and mobs have been removed as well. Plus, certain mobs and world bosses no longer have infinite leash range, meaning they can’t be pulled into major cities or low-level questing zones by griefers with the intention of ruining another player’s Hardcore run.
Bug fixes
- Fixed an issue that allowed certain raid buff items from the Season of Mastery version of Naxxramas to be used in Classic Era realms.
- Fixed an issue that could cause players to disconnect from the game when pressing the space bar to swim upwards while underwater.
- Fixed various issues with Vanish and Feign Death that could be used to flag nearby players for PvP.
- Fixed various issues that could cause enemy creatures to fall through the world when pathing through water.
- Fixed an issue with the Summon Incubus ability costing less mana than Summon Succubus.
