WoW Classic Hardcore’s release schedule will look vastly different from any other version of Classic WoW that you may have played in the past.
Back when the game originally launched in 2019, players had “phases” to look forward to, with new raids and content coming every few months. Similar systems were implemented for the Season of Mastery, as well as The Burning Crusade Classic and Wrath of the Lich King Classic.
But when WoW Classic Hardcore launches on Aug. 24, the phase system that’s been ever-present throughout editions of Classic will be going away. With the launch of WoW Classic Hardcore, all of the content available in WoW will be available from the jump. You won’t have to wait weeks or months at a time to continue your adventure as every zone, dungeon, and raid will be available in the game from the get-go.
Here’s everything coming to WoW Classic Hardcore when the game launches.
What content will be available when WoW Classic Hardcore launches?
Everything. That’s right, everything.
When WoW Classic Hardcore goes live on Aug. 24, you’ll have access to every piece of content that’s ever been released in Classic WoW. This includes every dungeon and raid up until Naxxramas. Kel’thuzad will still be the final boss of Vanilla WoW on Hardcore servers as there are currently no plans to expand the Hardcore game mode into The Burning Crusade era or beyond.
Related: ‘We go where the people are’: WoW Classic Hardcore devs promise to put community first
Although the WoW Classic Hardcore developers expect you to play the game mode at a slower pace, making the experience more “evergreen,” it’s still going to be possible to run through all of its content as fast as possible. If you’re a dedicated grinder, everything will be there waiting for you at launch.
Will WoW Classic Hardcore have phases?
Since WoW Classic Hardcore is launching with all of the content from the game already active, there won’t be a need for any phases or staggered releases. It’s possible that Blizzard will patch the Hardcore game mode from time to time, but no new content will be added during those patches. If anything, changes to the game mode will come in the form of balance updates and class tuning changes, although we expect those to be very sparse on Hardcore servers.
WoW Classic Hardcore, and all of its content, will be available when the servers go live on Aug. 24.
