WotLK Classic brings with it a lot of changes to the game beyond the new content and level cap. The game’s user interface, class balance, professions, leveling, and more get both big and small changes. And all of these changes will appear during the pre-patch, impacting your level 70 character well before you make it to Northrend. This WotLK Classic pre-patch guide will go over the changes so you can better adjust to them on day one.
User Interface (UI) Changes
The game itself will have changes you’ll see the instant you log in.
Pet Tab (and mounts, too)
Log In Without Your Addons
I recommend disabling all addons for your first login. A number of UI changes have been made to the game, making some addons unnecessary. Check out the new UI changes, then go back and turn on what addons you wish to keep.
Calendar
Click on the calendar icon in your minimap or type /calendar
In-game events will be listed. You can also add personal events and your guild officers can add guild events. It won’t replace Discord sign-ups for most but will be a quick way to check your schedule without tabbing out of the game.
Pet Tab
Located next to your character’s tab or press Shift-P.
Pets and mount items are now one-time use items that add the pet or mount to this new tab. You’ll need to right-click on all your pets and mounts to get them added. After that, you can drag and drop them from this tab to your action bars. You can also use them in macros. Pets and mounts continue to be per character and are not account-wide.
Currency Tab
Located to the far right of your character’s tab.
Badges of Justice and similar currency items will automatically be removed from your bags/bank and added to this new tab. When you kill a boss that drops BoJ (or Emblems in Wrath) they will automatically be added to your tab whenever anyone in your group loots the boss.
Equipment Manager
Go into Interface from the game menu, then Features, and enable Use Equipment Manager.
This does what ItemRack does, save sets of equipment and swap between them quickly.
Preview Talent Changes
Go into Interface from the game menu, then Features, and enable Preview Talent Changes.
It’ll let you set your new talents and see them all together before committing to the changes.
Achievements
Achievements are now in the game. You’ll likely be disappointed with the lack of tracking of older feats you have already accomplished. Remember that achievements and their rewards are per character, not account-wide.
Class Abilities, Talents, & Glyphs
You’ll immediately be greeted at login with a notice that your talents have been reset. But that’s not all that’s changed for your character.
Glyphs Tab
Talents
You will receive a notice your talents have been reset.
Talents have seen significant changes. Visit your class Discord or ask a friend in your guild if you need help finding a new talent build.
Glyphs
Adjacent to talents is a new glyphs tab.
At level 70 you can have 2 major glyphs and 3 minor glyphs. All glyphs are crafted by inscription, the new profession. Initially expect major glyphs to be inexpensive, while some minor glyphs may be quite costly.
Dual Talents
Speak with a class trainer and you can learn Dual Talent Specialization. This costs 1000 gold and will give you a second set of talents and glyphs you can switch to anytime you are out of combat. Resetting talents for either talent set works the same as it did in WoW Classic and TBC Classic.
Visit Your Class Trainer
Many classes will have abilities to learn. Paladins and warlocks without their class mount can now learn it from a trainer at level 61.
Rogues Can Learn One-handed Axe
Visit a weapon master in Ironforge or Orgrimmar.
Druids Can Learn Polearm
Visit a weapon master in Stormwind or Undercity.
Most weapon skill-up tricks from WoW Classic and TBC Classic no longer work. Nor can you skill up using the new test dummies. Your best bet is Grol the Destroyer in Blasted Lands, but note he will attack you back the entire time so best to be or bring a healer.
Professions
You can learn inscription ahead of Northrend. Now is also a great time to skill up fishing.
Nat Pagle in WotLK Classic
Inscription
The new profession for WotLK Classic is available in pre-patch. You can skill up to ~365, to go higher you’ll need Northrend herbs.
Major glyphs are taught by trainers and will be readily available. Minor glyphs are researched once a day with a random one awarded. Some minor glyphs will initially fetch a high price. Some glyphs will only be learned in Northrend, and those require Northrend herbs to create.
Best Level 70 Glyphs To Make During the Pre-patch
Mining
It now only takes one hit to completely empty a mining node, the same as with a herbalist.
Fishing
The fishing timer is shorter, allowing for faster skill-ups. You can now fish anywhere to skill up, but if you’re too low for the area you’ll catch mostly junk. After the full launch, you will be able to do the Dalaran fishing daily at skill 1 but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Nat’s Lucky Fishing Pole
Get this +25 fishing pole by visiting Nat Pagle and completing the now old Angler Extreme quest (use to award fishing master skill). If you had previously completed his quest he will give you the new poll instantly.
No More Gathering Failures
Herbs, mining, and skinning can no longer fail if you have the necessary skill.
Link Tradeskill
Link any of your professions in chat and the other players can see your full recipe list.
Leveling
Overall leveling is easier and faster for 1-70.
Portal to the Blasted Lands, near the Dark Portal
Mounts
Numerous changes to mounts, including lowering of level requirements and costs.
Mount cast time has also been cut in half, and ground mounts can now swim (slowly).
Dark Portal Portal
In the portal areas of all cities, you’ll find a portal to Blasted Lands, landing you close to the Dark Portal.
Dark Portal to Shattrath
New to Outland characters can now fly directly from the Dark Portal (Outland side) to Shattrath.
Level 61-70 XP Squish
Levels 61-70 now require 30% less XP, making for faster leveling in Outland. The 50% XP buff will remain active throughout the pre-patch.
New Characters
Various quality-of-life changes have been made for new characters, including better starting weapons and health/mana regeneration.
Spell Pushback
Spell pushback now only occurs for the first two hits.
- When casting each hit will add 0.5 seconds
- When channeling each hit reduces the current duration by 25% of the total duration
- All hits after the second have no effect
Quest Sharing
You can now share a quest with a party member at any distance.
Quality-of-Life Changes
Numerous quality-of-life changes have been made. Some are small, but they all add up to an easier time in the game.
Right-click on a character portrait to get a new Copy Character Name option
- Hearthstones are now a 30-minute cooldown
- Potions stack to 20, Wrath injector kits will boost potion effects for engineers
- Summoning stones now work for all players from levels 15 through 80.
- Copy a character’s name by right-clicking on their portrait and selecting copy name
- Druids and shamans can use items while shapeshifted
- Lost pets and mounts can be recovered by visiting a Stable Master
- Lost tabards can be recovered by visiting the Tabard Vendor in Dalaran later
Raids
TBC Classic raids have been nerfed, giving your guild an easier time in Sunwell Plateau for the last few weeks. Also, be aware of the many buff-related changes.
Heroism and Bloodlust now give a 10 minute debuff
- All TBC raids are nerfed, with all trash and bosses having less health and doing less damage.
- Most party-wide buffs are now raid-wide.
- Heroism/Bloodlust will apply a 10-minute debuff preventing a second use during most boss fights.
- Only one scroll at a time can be used, and scrolls can be overwritten by a similar class buff. With full buffs available scrolls are useless.
- Raid IDs can be extended to the next reset period, allowing more time to access a later boss. This can be repeated more than once.
- You cannot chat in the LFG channel without already being listed in the new Group Finder.
- 40-man Naxxrama is now gone.
PvP
PvP will take a bit hit with the pre-patch, but you can still save up for level 80.
Arena Season Ends
The final arena season of TBC Classic will end just before or with the pre-patch. There will not be a new season until after the full launch of WotLK Classic.
No More Honor From Towers
The towers in Hellfire Peninsula no longer give honor and the ones in Terokk Forest either give no honor or less than half as before (different results during testing). You’ll have to go back into the battlegrounds to farm honor in any meaningful way.
Best Honor Farm In TBC Classic
Battleground Tokens Are Worth More Honor
You’ll now be able to turn in any one battleground token for honor, instead of needing a full set of tokens. The honor per token is higher now. That said, consider holding on to your tokens and farming honor to cap (75,000) during pre-patch. You can then spend your honor at level 80, and then turn in your battleground tokens to replenish your honor.
Saving Honor for WotLK Classic
Other Major Changes
These changes are not to be overlooked, but they won’t surprise you on the first day of the pre-patch, either.
Barber Shop in Stormwind
Pre-patch Event
The Zombie Infestation and the Second Scourge Invasion will both take place during the pre-patch. Unless changed by Blizzard expect to lose access to all capital cities for a day or two at the height of the invasion. It really was a fun event if you participated, just stock up a bit on raid consumables ahead of time.
Death Knights
Death knights are now available. Be aware of the restrictions around creating one (or two).
- Your first death knight can be created on any non-fresh server without any restriction
- All additional death knights can be created provided you have a level 55+ character on the same server
- You cannot have two death knights on the same server
Fresh Servers
Fresh servers launch with WotLK Classic pre-patch. These are ideal servers for new to WoW Classic players or players who want to have an active leveling community from 1 through 80.
- Set in the same WotLK Classic pre-patch state and will launch WotLK Classic at the same time
- Only brand new characters can be created, no boosts or transfers are allowed for at least 90 days
- Death knights require another character at level 55+
Barber Shop
Located in Stormwind, Ironforge, Orgrimmar, Undercity, and Dalaran.
Sit in the chair and you can change your gender and appearance for a small fee. Newer appearances are available from the options you get at character creation. Talk to the barber and he’ll offer you a randomized change.
Spell Power Stat
Healing and spell damage have been combined into a new spell power stat.
- Level 70 healers will have less +healing stats, but coefficient changes will keep your actual healing output the same or better
- In general healers and casters will still want what was traditionally their gear previously
New Thunder Bluff to Orgrimmar Zeppelin
Thunder Bluff and Orgrimmar are now connected by a new zeppelin.
Stormwind Harbor
Stormwind Harbor is now under construction, it will be completed at the launch at WotLK Classic and offer boats to both Northrend and Darnassus.