- Author: Luxrah
- Date: September 22, 2024
- Updated: September 30, 2024
- Expansion: WoW Classic
Season of Discovery is the current season for Classic WoW. This season features phased content releases that overhaul all of Vanilla WoW’s content. Below you can see all of the phases that have been released or announced to date.
Season of Discovery Phase 1 is capped at level 25 and features a Blackfathom Deeps 10-player raid as well as the Battle for Ashenvale zone-wide PVP event.
At level 25, there are a lot of higher level abilities, zones, and features that will be inaccessible, which will completely change the way we play this version of Classic WoW. In this guide, we’ll take a look at everything you get at level 25 in vanilla World of Warcraft, and point out a few things you won’t have access to in Phase 1 of Season of Discovery.
Inventory & Travel
The largest vendor bags are 12 slots and cost 10 gold, which isn’t insignificant at this low level. The largest bags tailors will be able to make will be Small Silk Pack. So we can all look forward to having very limited inventory space.
Mounts are not obtainable until level 40 in vanilla WoW, so we won’t be able to mount up until Phase 2. The exception will be a special mount that you can earn through the Ashenvale PVP event, which will only be usable within that zone. These mounts use the models from the original unarmored mounts that were removed early in the game, and they run at 50% speed.
Mages can’t make portals for other players until level 40 – they only get some of their self-teleportation abilities. So getting back and forth between cities will be a matter of hopping on a boat or zeppelin.
Warlocks get Ritual of Summoning at level 20. Those summons will be in high demand, especially since there are no usable summoning stones outside of dungeons in vanilla WoW. But it’s possible those summoning stones may be added for Season of Discovery like they were in Season of Mastery.
With everyone running around on foot, classes that have movement speed increasing abilities will find those especially useful.
Here’s an overview of travel abilities that will and won’t be available at level 25:
Class |  Available: |  Not Available: |
|---|---|---|
(None) | ||
(None) | ||
Discoveries
Discoveries are the core feature of this season of Classic WoW – it’s even in the name, “Season of Discovery.” Discoveries are special loot found throughout the world in which you’ll find Rune Engravings. These Rune Engravings will allow you to obtain new class abilities by applying them to your gear.
True to their name, the locations of these items will be unknown at launch and will need to be discovered by players, who can then share their locations with the community.
You can read more about Discoveries and Rune Engravings in our Rune Engravings Guide.
Class Abilities
Season of Discovery is adding some new abilities through Rune Engravings, but we’ll also be missing a lot of abilities at level 25. Capstone talents in vanilla WoW require spending 30 points in the talent tree, and we’ll only have 16 total. We also won’t be able to learn many higher level abilities from trainers.
You can see all of the level 25 talents and abilities in our Season of Discovery Talent Calculator.
We also have a detailed list on each of our Class Abilities & Builds pages:
Class Quests
There are a few class quests that offer some really nice rewards in this level range. Here’s a list of some of the best ones:
Quest | Class | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
Professions
Professions were adjusted in Season of Discovery so that Expert skills require level 26 to train. That means professions in Phase 1 will be capped at 150 skill level.
Find out what that means for each profession in our Season of Discovery profession guides:
Zones
The following are the zones that you will be able to quest in up to level 25. There won’t be anything stopping you from entering higher level zones in Phase 1, but you’re not likely to find any quests there and the enemies will be extremely dangerous.
Zone | Level Range | Faction |
|---|---|---|
1-10 |  Alliance | |
1-10 |  Horde | |
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-20 | Horde | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-25 | Horde | |
15-25 | Contested | |
15-27 | Contested | |
18-30 | Contested | |
18-30 | Contested | |
20-30 | Contested | |
20-30 | Contested | |
25-35 | Contested |
Dungeons
All of the dungeons that will be available at level 25 are located in zones that are controlled by one faction. Getting to the dungeons outside of your own faction’s zones could prove challenging.
Razorfen Kraul, and The Scarlet Monastery can technically be entered at level 25, but the bosses will be extremely challenging for a level 25 party and only a couple of items in these dungeons will be usable at this level. Gnomeregan cannot be entered since it is planned to be a raid in Phase 2.
Blackfathom Deeps is being replaced by a new level 25 raid, so the original level 24-32 dungeon is not in this list.
Dungeon | Level Range | Min Level | Entrance |
|---|---|---|---|
13-18 | 8 | ||
17-24 | 10 | ||
17-26 | 10 | ||
22-30 | 14 | ||
24-32 | 15 | ||
30-40 | 25 | ||
26-45 | 21 |
Raids
One raid has been announced for Phase 1, Blackfathom Deeps.
This raid is a revamp of the vanilla dungeon of the same name, and will feature seven new bosses and all-new loot. The entrance is located in the Contested zone of Ashenvale.
For more details about the raid, check out our Blackfathom Deeps Raid Overview.
Player Versus Player
Only one battleground is available in Phase 1: Warsong Gulch. But the major PVP content for Season of Discovery is a zone-wide event in Ashenvale.
Players will be able to earn Honor as well as reputation with their Warsong Gulch faction through the Ashenvale event. This will open up some of the best level 25 gear in the game. They’ll also be able to unlock a level 25 mount that only works in Ashenvale.
You can learn more about this event in our Ashenvale PVP Event Guide.
Phase 2 will bring the level cap for Season of Discovery to level 40. Along with the new level cap, we’ll see some more revamped vanilla content, including a new 10-player raid version of the Gnomeregan instance and some fresh content for the Stranglethorn Vale zone: the Blood Moon Event. Many classes and talent specializations will also have access to some of their crucial higher-level abilities that were inaccessible at level 25.
In this guide, we’ll look at everything you can expect to see at level 40 in vanilla World of Warcraft, as well as some of the new content we expect to be added in Phase 2 of Season of Discovery.
Inventory & Travel
Your limited bag space may see some slight relief at level 40. Tailors will be able to craft Mageweave Bag, and Journeyman’s Backpack can drop from mobs level 41 and above.
But the big convenience factor at level 40 is getting your first regular mount. For most characters in vanilla that means spending 20
on the riding skill and another 80 on the mount itself. This cost was reduced in Season of Mastery, but has been reverted as of the most recent patch. Paladins and Warlocks can skip buying a mount entirely, since they each get to complete a unique quest that will allow them to summon a special class mount. See our Season of Discovery Mount Guide for more info about the mounts available and how to get them
Travel will also be made easier by the addition of mage portals. At level 40, mages will be able to create portals to two of their faction’s major cities: Ironforge & Stormwind for Alliance, and Orgrimmar & Undercity for Horde. Mages will be able to teleport themselves to Darnassus and Thunder Bluff, but they won’t be able to create portals to those cities until Phase 3.
New Rested Experience Items
Blizzard have added two new items to the game to boost your rested experience as you level: the Cozy Sleeping Bag and Student Fodder.
The Cozy Sleeping Bag is a reusable item that provides a buff that grants up to 3% bonus experience for two hours. Check out our Cozy Sleeping Bag Guide for details about how it works and how to get it.
Student Fodder is a consumable item that gives 20% (4 “bars”) of rested experience regardless of level, the equivalent of resting in an inn or city for 36 hours. See our Student Fodder Guide for more information about this item.
Discoveries
We will see Rune Engravings for at least two additional slots in Phase 2. These Rune Engravings will add new abilities and further expand on the new roles and builds we saw in Phase 1. The Runes that we know about so far have been added to our class rune pages below.
This phase also adds several new skill books to the game that will provide your character with a new permanent spell when used. These abilities are mostly quality of life features such as reduced mana costs for buffs. They are included with our class rune guides on the pages below.
Class Abilities
Many higher level class abilities that were inaccessible in Phase 1 will be available in Phase 2. Perhaps the most significant of these are capstone talents in talent trees, which will be just barely within reach at level 40. Several classes will also be able to wear new armor types at level 40: Hunters and Shamans will be able to use Mail and Paladins and Warriors will be able to equip Plate.
We have a detailed list on each of our Class Abilities & Talents pages:
Class Quests
There are a few class quests that offer some really nice rewards in this level range. Here’s a list of some of the best ones:
Quest | Class | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
Professions
Professions in Phase 2 will be capped at 225 skill, or Expert level. You still won’t be able to complete specialization quests for Blacksmithing, Engineering, or Leatherworking, nor will you be able to complete the Triage quest for First Aid or Nat Pagle’s quests for Fishing. However, you will be able to access a lot of higher level recipes than you could in Phase 1.
There will also be several new recipes added to the game this phase, many of which will be unlocked through an epic quest chain similar to the one we saw in Blackfathom Deeps.
Find out what that means for each profession in our Season of Discovery Profession Guides:
Zones
The following are the zones that you will be able to quest in up to level 40. There won’t be anything stopping you from entering higher level zones in Phase 2, but you’re not likely to find any quests there and the enemies will be extremely dangerous.
Zone | Level Range | Faction |
|---|---|---|
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-20 | Horde | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-25 | Horde | |
15-25 | Contested | |
15-27 | Contested | |
18-30 | Contested | |
18-30 | Contested | |
20-30 | Contested | |
20-30 | Contested | |
25-35 | Contested | |
30-40 | Contested | |
30-40 | Contested | |
30-40 | Contested | |
30-45 | Contested | |
35-45 | Contested | |
35-45 | Contested | |
35-45 | Contested |
Dungeons
Most of the dungeons that will be available at level 40 are located in zones that are controlled by one faction, but we start to see more entrances in Contested zones in Phase 2.
The developers said in an interview that dungeons beyond Uldaman would be inaccessible, so you won’t be able to enter Razorfen Downs, Zul’Farrak, or Maraudon in this phase.
Blackfathom Deeps and Gnomeregan have both been converted into raids, and their original 5-player dungeon versions are not available in Season of Discovery.
Dungeon | Level Range | Min Level | Entrance |
|---|---|---|---|
13-18 | 8 | ||
17-24 | 10 | ||
17-26 | 10 | ||
22-30 | 14 | ||
24-32 | 15 | ||
30-40 | 25 | ||
26-35 | 21 | ||
30-40 | 21 | ||
32-42 | 21 | ||
35-45 | 21 | ||
35-45 | 30 |
Notable Dungeon Loot at Level 40
Some dungeon loot from this level range is particularly noteworthy, and we’ll mention those pieces below.
Several new loot items have also been datamined for Phase 2 dungeons, so we can expect to see some additional pieces beyond those listed below.
The Scarlet Monastery – Armory
There are a few items worth mentioning in Scarlet Monastery:
Uldaman
The quest Uldaman Reagent Run/ Uldaman Reagent Run will net you 5x Restorative Potion and lead you to the recipe if you’re an Alchemist. The Platinum Discs/ The Platinum Discs rewards Thawpelt Sack, a 14-slot bag. Other notable loot in the dungeon itself:
- Digmaster 5000
- Horned Viking Helmet
- Ironaya’s Bracers
- Nordic Longshank
- Olaf’s All Purpose Shield
- Papal Fez
- Pendulum of Doom
Raids
One raid has been announced for Phase 2, Gnomeregan. This will be a 10-player raid with six bosses. This raid will be open immediately when Phase 2 launches, but the first two weeks of this raid will be on a normal one-week lockout schedule. After that, it will be on a three-day lockout like Blackfathom Deeps.
The Gnomeregan raid is a revamp of the vanilla dungeon of the same name, and will feature new bosses and new loot. The entrance is located in the Alliance zone of Dun Morogh. Horde players will be able to access a Teleportation Pad in Booty Bay that will take them directly to the raid entrance. Unlocking this requires completing the quest Chief Engineer Scooty that is offered by Sovik, the Engineering Supplies vendor in Orgrimmar. Alliance players will not be able to use this teleporter, but will be able to easily reach the raid by traveling from Ironforge.
We’ve already seen several items from this raid, including the Automatic Crowd Pummeler, an upgraded version of the Manual Crowd Pummeler which was limited to three uses. The old version of this item was once heavily farmed by Feral Druids, for whom it remained BIS all the way through the endgame in Vanilla and WoW Classic.
Player Versus Player
Phase 2 will add the Arathi Basin battleground to the game alongside Warsong Gulch. New quests are also being added to help you earn reputation with your Arathi Basin faction. Blizzard has also announced that there will be changes to battleground matchmaking in Phase 2, so groups of five or fewer will be more likely to be matched with other smaller groups and less likely to encounter large premades.
Similar to the Ashenvale PVP Event we saw in Phase 1, we will also see a new zone-wide PvP event in Stranglethorn Vale. This event is called The Blood Moon, and is a 30-minute event on a set three-hour timer. For those 30 minutes, the entire zone will become a free-for-all PvP zone where we will be able to kill other players from either faction to earn a new currency, which can be spent on new gear items. For details about this event including the available rewards, check out our The Blood Moon Stranglethorn Vale PvP Event Guide.
So far the Gurubashi Arena has not been added back into the game. It’s likely that this event has been cut from Season of Discovery and effectively replaced by The Blood Moon. That means no Arena Grand Master or other rewards from the arena chest.
Changes to Phase 1 Content
In addition to all of the new content being added for Phase 2, there will also be some changes to existing content from Phase 1.
The biggest change is Discoverer’s Delight, a new passive buff that increases all experience gained by 50% for characters below level 25. This will help lower level characters catch up to the new content.
There are a few other significant changes to note:
- The Battle for Ashenvale event will move to a 3-hour timetable like the new event in Stranglethorn Vale.
- The Blackfathom Deeps raid will offer increased experience, encouraging players to continue running it as they level.
- The Boon of Blackfathom buff will work up to level 39, but not on level 40 characters.
- Waylaid Supplies can now stack, but can’t be turned in partially filled. They offer increased experience when turned in.
Season of Discovery Phase 3 raises the level cap to 50 and brings more reimagined and retuned Vanilla content into the game.
The phase adds a new 20-player raid version of Sunken Temple as well as a new repeatable PvE activity, Nightmare Incursions. Professions can now be leveled to their max skill of 300 and crafting specializations can be learned. There are also new runes for every class, more talents and abilities, and the much-anticipated addition of Dual Talent Specialization.
This guide will cover everything you can expect to see at level 50 in World of Warcraft, as well as all of the new content that has been added for Phase 3 of Season of Discovery.
Leveling
Phase 2 brought us the Discoverer’s Delight buff, and a version of this buff will continue to be available through level 49. Characters below level 40 will continue to receive 100% increased experience from Discoverer’s Delight while you’ll get a reduced 75% version of the buff from level 40 to 49.
Gnomeregan joins Blackfathom Deeps as a leveling raid, offering a significant amount of experience on a three-day lockout. As far as world buffs go, Boon of Blackfathom remains usable through level 39, and Spark of Inspiration is usable through level 49.
The new Nightmare Incursions are available from level 25 on, providing yet another possible method for leveling up if you’re bored with dungeons, raids, and questing.
The Cozy Sleeping Bag will still provide rested experience through level 50, and any Student Fodder you haven’t used should also work. If you haven’t picked these up yet, check out our Cozy Sleeping Bag Guide and our Student Fodder Guide.
Note that Blizzard is taking steps to prevent players from hoarding items for a head start on leveling. You won’t be able to use Warsong Gulch Mark of Honor, Arathi Basin Mark of Honor, Wastewander Water Pouch, or Troll Tribal Necklace to level from 40-49. “Pre-questing” will only be possible to the extent that you have room in your quest log.
Inventory & Travel
Most of the bags in Vanilla WoW should now be accessible, including the world drop Traveler’s Backpack and most bags from Tailoring, with Mooncloth Bag being the largest until Bottomless Bag can be crafted after the release of the Molten Core raid.
The level 40 mounts that became obtainable in Phase 2 will continue to be the primary means of getting around until epic mounts become obtainable at level 60. All of the mounts that you can get by level 50 can be found in our Mount Guide along with information about how to get them.
At level 50, mages acquire their last portal spells. Portal: Darnassus and Portal: Thunder Bluff will make it easy to get to any of your faction’s major cities.
Dual Talent Specialization
Players are able to purchase Dual Talent Specialization in Phase 3, allowing for easily swapping between Builds without having to visit your class trainer or pay for a respec. Doing so requires reaching level 40 and paying 50 gold to an NPC named Grendag Brightbeard in Orgrimmar or Ironforge.
With Dual Talent Specialization, you can swap between two saved talent setups at any time except when you’re in combat. That means that players will be able to perform different roles based on the needs of their group, or have separate setups for use in PvE and PvP content.
Discoveries
Phase 3 brings new Rune Engravings for the bracer and helm slots for every class. These Rune Engravings add new abilities and further expand on the new roles and builds we saw in Phases 1 and 2. The Runes that we know about so far have been added to our class rune pages below.
Class Abilities
While most classes have already acquired the bulk of their new abilities by level 40, there are still a few remaining to obtain in Phase 3 and 4. In addition, players who went deep into one talent tree to get their capstone ability will now be able to dip into a second talent tree for some nice bonuses!
We have a detailed list for each level bracket on our Class Abilities & Talents pages:
Class Quests
Each class has a unique quest at level 50 which will need to be completed inside the Sunken Temple raid. These quests will be upleveled along with their rewards to be more competitive at level 50. Below you can see each of these quests along with their Vanilla rewards. Originally players had to choose from one of three rewards for these quests, but in Season of Discovery the quests will award all three options!
Quest | Class | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
A Better Ingredient | ||
The Green Drake | ||
Destroy Morphaz | ||
Forging the Mightstone | ||
Blood of Morphaz | ||
The Azure Key | ||
Da Voodoo | ||
Trolls of a Feather | ||
Voodoo Feathers |
Professions
Professions in Phase 3 are capped at 300 skill, or Artisan level, which is the maximum level for professions in Vanilla WoW. Specializations are now available for Blacksmithing, Engineering, and Leatherworking. Players will also be able to complete the Triage quest for First Aid and Nat Pagle’s quests for Fishing, which are required to max out those skills.
New recipes will be obtainable for crafting as well, mostly by completing another epic quest chain in the Phase 3 raid, Sunken Temple.
Get caught up on your professions with our Season of Discovery Profession Guides.
Zones
The following are the zones that you will be able to quest in up to level 50. There won’t be anything stopping you from entering higher level zones in Phase 3, but you’re not likely to find many quests there and the enemies will be extremely dangerous.
Zone | Level Range | Faction |
|---|---|---|
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-20 | Horde | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-25 | Horde | |
15-25 | Contested | |
15-27 | Contested | |
18-30 | Contested | |
18-30 | Contested | |
20-30 | Contested | |
20-30 | Contested | |
25-35 | Contested | |
30-40 | Contested | |
30-40 | Contested | |
30-40 | Contested | |
30-45 | Contested | |
35-45 | Contested | |
35-45 | Contested | |
35-45 | Contested | |
40-50 | Contested | |
40-50 | Contested | |
40-50 | Contested | |
43-50 | Contested | |
45-55 | Contested | |
45-55 | Contested | |
48-55 | Contested | |
48-55 | Contested |
Dungeons
Only three new dungeons are added in the level 40-50 range, but they’re some of the larger and more commonly farmed dungeons in the game: Zul’Farrak, Maraudon, and Blackrock Depths. The entrances to these dungeons are all located in contested zones. Blackrock Depths is completable up until the Grim Guzzler, the bar in the middle of the dungeon. All bosses past that point are currently located inside the Grim Guzzler and can’t be fought.
Blackfathom Deeps, Gnomeregan, and The Temple of Atal’Hakkar have all been converted into raids, and their original 5-player dungeon versions are not available in Season of Discovery.
Dungeon | Level Range | Min Level | Entrance |
|---|---|---|---|
13-18 | 8 | ||
17-24 | 10 | ||
17-26 | 10 | ||
22-30 | 14 | ||
24-32 | 15 | ||
30-40 | 25 | ||
26-35 | 21 | ||
30-40 | 21 | ||
32-42 | 21 | ||
35-45 | 21 | ||
35-45 | 30 | ||
44-54 | 35 | ||
46-55 | 30 | ||
52-60 | 40 |
Nightmare Incursions
Blizzard is finally doing something with all of those Emerald Dream portals that were left unused in Vanilla WoW. Phase 3 of Season of Discovery will add new repeatable PVE content to the game in the form of Nightmare Incursions.
Nightmare Incursions are available from level 25 on, providing an alternative to quests and dungeons while leveling. The events vary in difficulty, with some Nightmare Incursions being solo-able while others require a group.
There is also be a new faction in Phase 3, Emerald Wardens, who you’ll gain reputation with by completing Nightmare Incursions. Rewards from this faction include lower level items for alts and new characters as well as level 50 epics and one rune for every class. You’ll also be able to get a new starter set of PvP gear through this content.
The four Emerald Dream portals are located in Ashenvale, Duskwood, Feralas, and The Hinterlands. Ashenvale and Duskwood are both level 18-30 zones while Feralas and The Hinterlands are level 40-50 zones.
Raids
As in previous phases, one of the Vanilla dungeons has been reworked as a raid for Phase 3 of Season of Discovery. The Temple of Atal’Hakkar, better known as Sunken Temple, is a 20-player, level 50 raid with 8 bosses. The raid opened immediately when the phase launched and is on a one-week lockout, as will be all future raids going forward.
The entrance to Sunken Temple is in the Swamp of Sorrows zone. Horde players have a flightpath in the zone at Stonard. Alliance have to travel through Deadwind Pass from Duskwood, or from the Nethergarde Keep flightpath in Blasted Lands.
Tier tokens are divided into two versions that each cover 4 classes:
- Hunter, Rogue, Warrior, and Paladin/Shaman
- Druid, Mage, Priest, and Warlock
There is also plenty of other gear to obtain in the raid.
Player Versus Player
There is no new PvP content in Phase 3, only new PvP rewards. Alterac Valley is not available in Vanilla WoW until level 51, so Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin continue to be the only battlegrounds until Phase 4. The Blood Moon in Stranglethorn Vale remains the primary world PvP event, with the Battle for Ashenvale still in the game but not receiving any updates.
There are plenty of new PvP rewards to obtain in Phase 3, however. Nightmare Incursions provide a new PvP starter set for every class and role, complete with set bonuses. Rewards from the Blood Moon event have also been updated for level 50, with a new currency, Massacre Coins, replacing the old Bloodstained Commendations.
Phase 4 of Season of Discovery raises the level cap to 60, bringing players at last to the original endgame of Vanilla WoW! There will be no more leveling phases to follow. Talents and skills will be maxed out, with future character progression coming exclusively from gear and items.
This phase brings new 20-player overhauls of the iconic Molten Core and Onyxia’s Lair raids. The Alterac Valley battleground is also expected to make its debut. Epic mounts will make it easier to get around. No doubt there will be a few surprises in store as well.
This guide will cover everything you can expect to see at level 60 in World of Warcraft, as well as all of the new content that is being added for Phase 4 of Season of Discovery.
Leveling
The Discoverer’s Delight buff seems to be here to stay. From level 1-50, it will grant 150% increased experience gains. The buff will continue at a reduced 50% increase from 50-60, so the final grind should be easier as well. It’s likely that the higher rate will be applied to 50-60 at a later date, as has happened in previous phases.
The Cozy Sleeping Bag should still provide rested experience up to 60, and any Student Fodder you haven’t used should also work. (If you haven’t picked these up yet, check out our Cozy Sleeping Bag Guide and our Student Fodder Guide.)
Blackfathom Deeps, Gnomeregan, and Sunken Temple will all continue to be relevant as leveling raids. Fervor of the Temple Explorer will most likely function through level 59, just as Boon of Blackfathom works through 39 and Spark of Inspiration is available through 49. Nightmare Incursions are being updated as daily quest hubs and will continue to grant experience up to level 53. They should also be a bit more solo-friendly.
Note that in Phase 3, Blizzard took steps to prevent players from hoarding items for a head start on leveling. You won’t be able to hold onto large numbers of Warsong Gulch Mark of Honor, Arathi Basin Mark of Honor, or similar items for mass turn-ins. You can still “pre-quest” by filling your quest log with completed quests, however.
Inventory & Travel
We should be able to acquire the biggest bag in Vanilla WoW now with the release of the Molten Core raid, which allows Tailors to craft the Bottomless Bag.
More significantly, epic mounts will be obtainable at level 60, increasing the speed at which you can cross zones. There’s no word yet on what the cost will be, but basic riding at level 40 had its price cut in half. Paladins and Warlocks will be able to complete their epic quests to receive new special class mounts, which will have their own costs associated, but should be significantly cheaper than buying one from a vendor. Our Mount Guide already has all the details about level 40-50 mounts that are available, and we’ll be adding the newly obtainable mounts and riding skill as well.
Runes & Discoveries
Phase 4 will bring new Rune Engravings for every class for the cloak slot. These Rune Engravings add new abilities and further expand on the new roles and builds we saw in Phases 1-3. These runes will be added to our class pages below as they are discovered. There are also a few runes being replaced in existing slots.
In addition to class runes, there is also a new set of utility runes for the ring slots. These runes are not class-exclusive and include weapon specializations, which provide 5 additional skill with a weapon type that does not stack with racial abilities or other bonuses, as well as damage type specializations, which increase your chance to hit with one of the elemental damage types.
These new runes are available for testing on the PTR, but will not be discoverable until after Phase 4 launches. You can see a complete list of the new runes on our Phase 4 Runes page.
Class Abilities
While most classes have already acquired the bulk of their new abilities by level 50, there are still a few remaining to obtain in Phase 4. In addition, you’ll be able to access your complete talent loadout at level 60.
We have a detailed list for each level bracket on our Class Abilities & Talents pages.
Priests have been promised the ability to acquire the racial abilities of other races at some point in Season of Discovery, and we expect this to happen in Phase 4, but we don’t know how it will work yet.
Class Quests
There are a few very significant class quests that are available at level 60 in Vanilla WoW. We may see some new ones and/or some major changes to these existing quests for Season of Discovery.
Included are the epic weapons for Hunters and Priests, both of which require drops from the Molten Core raid, and the two epic mount quests for Paladins and Warlocks.
Quest | Class | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
Professions
Phase 3 already brought the level cap for professions to 300, which is the maximum level in Vanilla WoW. Specializations have also been available for Blacksmithing, Engineering, and Leatherworking as well as new Alchemy specializations. The developers have announced that a way to swap your Blacksmithing or Leatherworking specialization is coming sometime after the launch of this phase.
We won’t be able to level any higher in Phase 4 and beyond, but we can expect to see some new crafting recipes. It’s likely there will be another new epic quest chain to complete in the Molten Core raid to unlock them. There will also be new and updated recipes from the Argent Dawn, Thorium Brotherhood, Hydraxian Waterlords, and Timbermaw Hold factions.
Get caught up on your professions with our Season of Discovery Profession Guides.
Zones
Phase 4 will bring us to level 60, making the entire Vanilla world accessible for questing, exploration, and farming.
The Eastern Plaguelands and Winterspring offer some valuable high level quest rewards, reputation, and farming opportunities. Silithus won’t be as important until a later phase.
Zone | Level Range | Faction |
|---|---|---|
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
1-10 | Alliance | |
1-10 | Horde | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-20 | Horde | |
10-20 | Alliance | |
10-25 | Horde | |
15-25 | Contested | |
15-27 | Contested | |
18-30 | Contested | |
18-30 | Contested | |
20-30 | Contested | |
20-30 | Contested | |
25-35 | Contested | |
30-40 | Contested | |
30-40 | Contested | |
30-40 | Contested | |
30-45 | Contested | |
35-45 | Contested | |
35-45 | Contested | |
35-45 | Contested | |
40-50 | Contested | |
40-50 | Contested | |
40-50 | Contested | |
43-50 | Contested | |
45-55 | Contested | |
45-55 | Contested | |
48-55 | Contested | |
48-55 | Contested | |
50-58 | Contested | |
51-58 | Contested | |
53-60 | Contested | |
53-60 | Contested | |
55-60 | Contested | |
55-60 | Contested | |
55-60 | Contested |
Dungeons
Several new dungeons will become available in Phase 4 with the level 60 cap. This includes all three of the dungeons found in Blackrock Mountain, all three wings of Dire Maul, and both dungeons in the Plaguelands. Rewards for these dungeons have been overhauled, so there should be plenty of useful gear to collect in them.
There is also a new mystery dungeon planned for this phase that has been kept under wraps!
Blackfathom Deeps, Gnomeregan, and The Temple of Atal’Hakkar have all been converted into raids, and their original 5-player dungeon versions are not available in Season of Discovery.
Dungeon | Level Range | Min Level | Entrance |
|---|---|---|---|
13-18 | 8 | ||
17-24 | 10 | ||
17-26 | 10 | ||
22-30 | 14 | ||
24-32 | 15 | ||
29-38 | 20 | ||
26-35 | 20 | ||
30-40 | 20 | ||
32-42 | 20 | ||
35-45 | 20 | ||
37-46 | 28 | ||
41-51 | 30 | ||
42-46 | 35 | ||
46-55 | 35 | ||
52-60 | 40 | ||
55-60 | 48 | ||
55-60 | 48 | ||
55-60 | 52 | ||
55-60 | 52 | ||
55-60 | 52 | ||
58-60 | 48 | ||
58-60 | 48 | ||
58-60 | 48 | ||
58-60 | 55 |
Raids & World Bosses
Phase 4 will bring overhauled versions of Molten Core and Onyxia’s Lair, the first two raids of Vanilla WoW, along with redesigned Tier 1 sets for every class and build. For the first time in Vanilla WoW, Molten Core will have variable difficulty. Two world bosses, Lord Kazzak and Azuregos, are also being overhauled and instanced. These bosses, as well as Onyxia, have been retuned to be killable with a 20-player raid, but can be taken on with up to 40 players. Molten Core will be a 20-player raid with 11 bosses.
The two world bosses will be available a week after the phase launches on July 18th. Molten Core and Onyxia’s Lair will be available the following week on the 25th. The Molten Core raid will be on a regular weekly lockout while Onyxia, Lord Kazzak, and Azuregos will be killable twice a week, resetting on Tuesdays and Saturdays for North America and Europe or Wednesdays and Sundays for Asia.
Epic & Legendary Weapons
The Molten Core and Onyxia’s Lair raids bring access to some highly sought-after weapons, including three epic class weapons and two legendary items.
The quest to get Benediction/Anathema puts all of a Priest’s abilities to the test for an iconic reward: a two-in-one staff that can be used for healing or damage. The quest for Rhok’delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers is similarly challenging and offers an equally valuable reward for Hunters. There’s also Quel’Serrar, which can now be used by Rogues as well as Paladins and Warriors.
Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker is the most famous legendary weapon in World of Warcraft, and one that could be notoriously difficult to collect due to the randomness of its drop rate. The weapon isn’t changing for Season of Discovery, but it should be just as strong as it ever was.
Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros is the other legendary weapon in Molten Core. In the past it was mostly overlooked in favor of its much more desirable big brother, Thunderfury. It has been modified in Season of Discovery and should be a lot more appealing, including for Feral Druids.
Benediction/Anathema
Quel’Serrar
Player Versus Player
Alterac Valley will finally join the Battleground roster in Phase 4, offering epic 40 vs. 40 PvP matches for characters level 51 and up. Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin will continue to be relevant as well.
The Blood Moon event is once again receiving some new rewards and currency as it did in Phase 3. Battle for Ashenvale will presumably continue, but is not expected to receive any further updates.
New PvP class sets are being added for Rank 10 in Phase 4.
There is no more leveling to be done in Phase 5 and beyond. Phase 4 raised the level cap to 60, which is the max level in Vanilla WoW. Talents and skills are now at their maximum as well. From here on out, the focus will be on endgame content and progression via new gear and items.
For Phase 5, that endgame content comes primarily in the form of two newly revamped raids: Blackwing Lair and Zul’Gurub.
Runes & Discoveries
There aren’t be any new rune slots added to the game for Phase 5, and we’ll only see two new runes to discover – Healing Specialization and Meditation Specialization for the ring slot, offering healers viable options for the slot at last.
Existing rune discoveries will be simplified and streamlined to make it easier to level and play alts. Some runes that are discovered through shared methods will be purchasable with Bind-on-Account tokens once you have completed their quest chain for the first time:
- Emblem of Dishonor (Leyline Conflux Runes)
- Emblem of the Worldcore (Illari Duskfeather Runes)
- Emblem of the Violet Eye (Dark Rider Runes)
- Emblem of the Wild Gods (Wild Gods Runes)
In place of runes, every class will have an epic item to discover this phase. Most of these items are weapons and many of them have a swappable function similar to Benediction/Anathema:
- Gla’sir/Rae’lar (Druid)
- Kestrel & Peregrine (Hunter)
- Staff of Order/Staff of Inferno/Staff of Rime (Mage)
- Truthbearer (Paladin)
- Cassandra’s Tome (Priest)
- Dream Eater (Rogue)
- Terrestris (Shaman)
- Scythe of Chaos (Warlock)
- Suzerain, Defender of the Dragonflights (Warrior)
Class Abilities
Characters have already unlocked all of their endgame abilities at level 60, but Phase 5 is adding a few new spells via new skill books and one epic item:
- Astral Form for Druids
- Aspect of the Falcon for Hunters
- Conjure Water (rank 8) for Mages
- Horn of Lordaeron for Paladins
Professions
No doubt there will be new recipes added to the game for professions in Phase 5, as there have been in every other phase. We’ll also have access to all of the recipes that are unlocked through the Zandalar Tribe, the faction that is associated with the Zul’Gurub raid.
Dungeons
The Demon Fall Canyon dungeon that was added to the game in Phase 4 will have a new boss added to it for Phase 5. There have also been three possible new dungeons seen in datamining. Existing level 60 dungeons will remain relevant as well through the Tarnished Undermine Real currency, which will be used to purchase some of the new gear items, including Tier 2 bracer tokens.
Raids & World Bosses
This phase adds two more revamped level 60 raids to the game, Blackwing Lair and Zul’Gurub, as well as a new instanced world boss.
Blackwing Lair has been redesigned for a group of 20 players, although up to 40 will be able to enter together. The raid will feature five new challenge modes based on the five dragonflights. All of the raid’s loot has been revamped as well, including all-new Tier 2 sets for every specialization.
Zul’Gurub has been overhauled for a group of 10 players, with up to 20 allowed inside. There are new blessings to be gained from each of the Priest bosses when they are killed. Hakkar offers additional challenge and rewards when you face him without killing the Priests first. Players will also be able to choose the Edge of Madness boss that is summoned each reset.
The Crystal Vale Raid is a newly instanced version of the Prince Thunderaan boss fight. Previously, the only time you would ever see this boss was if someone was completing the Thunderfury questline. There is now a portal in the northwest corner of Silithus where he would normally spawn. This is an instanced world boss similar to Azuregos and Lord Kazzak. The fight is designed for 20 players, but up to 40 are allowed inside. No one needs to be on the Thunderfury questline to summon him, although the boss will still be required to complete the weapon. He’ll also drop new loot for every class and specialization.
Legendary Weapons
Players will be able to complete the legendary Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker at last with the addition of Blackwing Lair and the Prince Thunderaan boss.
Druids who have acquired Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros will be able to acquire an item called Refined Eye of Sulfuras from Rix Xizzix in Booty Bay. This item will allow them to shapeshift into their flaming Cat Form even if they do not have the weapon equipped.
Player Versus Player
Blizzard is buffing the Marks of Honor that are gained from losses in Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin to entice PvPers to queue for those rather than just farming Alterac Valley.
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