The archive

Included with an existing subscription or Game Time. Nothing to buy unless you want the Skyborne race, beta access or name reservation.

Set in WoW’s first year. Level cap 60 “for the foreseeable future”, with new content across all levels.

New zones: Mount Hyjal, Shen’dralas and the Riverglades (nearly 200 quests, reached by a new ship route), plus Zephras Isle for the Skyborne, with several existing zones overhauled and 1,000+ new quests.

Nine new dungeons at launch, all named by Blizzard, from the Hall of Thanes to the Shaper’s Terrace. New raids unlock December 9: Barrow Deeps (10-player) and Hyjal Summit (20-player).

New race: the Skyborne Elves. They pick Horde or Alliance at creation, which adds Shaman or Mage to their class list. Requires the Skyborne Heroic Pack or higher.

A new 15v15 battleground, the Darkspear Islands. Camping: craftable campfires other players join and share buffs from. HD or SD character models, restored Classic animations, and gamepad support.

Six new race and class combinations: Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Dwarf Shaman, Orc Mage, Troll Warlock and Undead Paladin, with more planned. Plus account-wide Legacy perks, two-part names and optional transmog.

No realms. You pick a ruleset instead: Normal, PvP, Roleplaying, or Hardcore after launch; switching needs a character transfer, battlegrounds are shared, and a full name is held once per region. Hit and crit chances are merged into one stat each, and 600+ new recipes join the professions.

Every raid tier brings a 10-player and a 20-player raid, with one difficulty and no flexible size at launch; 40-player raids return with Onyxia’s Lair, though not every tier. Molten Core opens later, not at launch, and every boss carries a rare “chase” drop.

GDKP raids are not allowed, and Blizzard says it will be far harsher on gold buyers than before. There is no rated PvP: a 14-rank Honor track resets each patch cycle instead.