Classic WoW has been a huge success for Blizzard, attracting new and returning fans of the game in their thousands! We’re now in phase 4 out of 6 of Classic WoW and racing through the much-loved old content. This has led fans to ask, “what’s next?”. Well, we have the answer. In late March, Blizzard sent a select number of World of Warcraft Classic players a survey. This survey asked players whether they’d like Classic The Burning Crusade (TBC) servers and how they want this transition to be handled. Although Blizzard hasn’t confirmed they will be rolling out Classic TBC servers, this survey is a major hint into what the gaming-giant is planning for the future. With that in mind, we thought we’d take a look at the biggest changes between Classic WoW and TBC so you know what to expect.
Class Balance
It’s no secret that the classes aren’t balanced in Classic WoW. Want to play a Retribution Paladin or a Balance Druid? Well, good luck finding a raiding guild – It won’t be easy! There’s a ton of classes and specializations to choose from but they’re not all viable when it comes to topping the damage meters or slaying bosses in a competitive guild. If you want to be a competitive player then you have to pick the stronger classes and specs.
This isn’t ideal game design. After all, Blizzard didn’t invent those classes just for the fun of it, they want you to play them. The Burning Crusade sought to address this. Specs that were previously unviable were not much stronger, if not in damage or healing output, then it was in their utility. For example, Shadow Priests weren’t very popular in Vanilla WoW because they would take up debuff spots in raids but pump out mediocre damage. However, in TBC they got an ability called Vampiric Touch which would restore the party’s mana. This resulted in Shadow Priests getting the nickname “mana battery” and being a popular addition to raiding parties. Druid Tanks and Retribution Paladins were also much more viable than in Classic.
Arenas
Arenas were a major addition to the game in TBC. No longer were PvP fans forced to choose between world PvP or Battlegrounds, they now had a third option. Arenas allowed hardcore PvPers to really show off their skills and rise through the ranks to become a PvP god! Skilled players were rewarded with higher ranks and better WoW Classic gear and stood out from the crowd. Overall, Arenas are great fun and address the biggest issue with PvP in Classic WoW – More time in Battlegrounds can earn you a higher rank, even if you’re not the most skilled player. In Arenas, only the strongest survive and thrive!
New Stats
TBC introduced Resilience, Armor Penetration, and Expertise. Resilience was a PvP gear stat that would decrease the chance of you receiving a critical strike from another player, and reduce the damage you took. Expertise would reduce the chance an enemy could dodge or parry your attack. Armor Penetration would allow you to break through a set amount of an enemies armour. The new stats made the game a little more complex but also richer.
Jewelcrafting
The Jewelcrafting profession was introduced in TBC allowing players even greater control over their stats! This allowed players to stack up on that stats that suited their playstyle and carve their own unique path for their character.
Flying
This one is controversial! Of course, there’s no flying in Classic WoW. A lot of players see this as a great thing. You’re forced to be on the ground and take in your surroundings. You have to play the environment as much as the environment plays you! But no flying has its drawbacks. Being immersed in Azeroth is fun, but travelling across the huge map at a snail’s pace isn’t so much fun.
TBC introduced flying for the first time in World of Warcraft and allowed players to fly in the new world, Outland. Flying came at a hefty price though, so don’t expect to fly the moment you touch down on the alien planet. The cost for epic flying was a massive 5000 WoW Gold. Most players were buzzed to finally fly, even if it left their pockets empty!
Was TBC Still Hard?
Many players were excited for the release of Classic WoW because they wanted to experience an older and more difficult version of the game. Now that Classic WoW has been live for around 8 months, it’s fair to say that some of that imagined difficulty didn’t materialize. It was hard back then because we were all using toaster-like computers and didn’t know how to play the game. Certain aspects of the game are absolutely more difficult than modern WoW, but raiding isn’t one of them.
So, what about TBC? The Burning Crusade is also remembered as a tough expansion only for the hardiest of players. Will we think the same when it’s released? Several raid encounters were indeed nerfed because the bosses were deemed unbeatable. Getting to the top of the game still required tons of grinding and spending thousands of Classic World of Warcraft Gold on gearing out your character. It was challenging and fun!
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