World of Warcraft: Classic will be split into six phases

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They'll take you from from Onyxia's Lair to Naxxramas.

Blizzard has tweaked its plans for World of Warcraft: Classic. The original plan was to give Classic four phases built around the MMO's early raids, but after some feedback from players and some internal discussion, that's been expanded to six. The team's goal is to recapture the the 'good old days', so the updates will largely follow the original patches, but paired up. 

When Classic launches in the summer, it will contain stuff from the game's earliest days and through patch 1.2, followed up another update with 1.3 and 1.4 additions, and so on. There's no date for the updates yet.

Expect some changes to the cadence of raids, however. The first phase, for instance, will contain Onyxia's Lair and Molten Core, but Dire Maul has been pushed back because some of the loot would affect progression through the other raids. It's not the only one, as Blizzard's done a little bit of shuffling.  

Originally, the raids were a lot more staggered, and by squeezing multiple patches together, you end up with Zul'Gurub and Blackwing Lair appearing at exactly the same time, for instance. Because that doesn't reflect what vanilla WoW was really like, Zul'Gurub has been put in a later phase. 

  • Molten Core
  • Onyxia
  • Maraudon

Phase 2

  • Dire Maul
  • Azuregos
  • Kazzak

Phase 3

  • Blackwing Lair
  • Darkmoon Faire
  • Darkmoon deck drops begin

Phase 4

  • Zul'Gurub
  • Green Dragons

Phase 5

  • Ahn'Qiraj War Effort begins
  • Ahn'Qiraj raid opens when the war effort dictates
  • Dungeon loot reconfiguration: Tier 0.5 Dungeon gear, Relics, drop rates and location changes

Phase 6

  • Naxxramas
  • Scourge Invasion
Fraser Brown
Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.