WoW Classic: 20th Anniversary Edition Phase 2 Now Live

Ring in the new year with the updated Honor System, the opening of iconic battlegrounds Warsong Gulch and Alterac Valley, and the release of Dire Maul and the world bosses, Azuregos and Kazzak.

Release Timetable:

• 1/9: Phase 2 including the updated Honor System, Dire Maul, and world bosses Azuregos and Kazzak.
• 1/16: Warsong Gulch and Alterac Valley Battlegrounds Open

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Phase 2 of the Anniversary Edition introduces the updated Honor System currently in use on both WoW Classic Era realms and in Season of Discovery. At the launch of the phase, the Honor cap will be set to Rank 11, with it extending to Rank 14 shortly after the release of the Blackwing Lair raid dungeon at a later date.

This phase also marks the release of Dire Maul dungeon and the world bosses Azuregos and Kazzak, offering even more exciting encounters to dive into.

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Get Ready for the Warsong Gulch and Alterac Valley Battlegrounds

We’ve learned a lesson or two since we launched the original Honor System in 2019. With that launch, we saw a lot of great chaotic outdoor PvP engagements between players. But this chaos also led us to adjust plans so that we released battlegrounds slightly earlier than expected. This time, with the new Anniversary Edition realms, we’re leaning into the excitement and embracing the chaos—for one week only! (Southshore vs. Tarren Mill anyone?) We will be opening the Warsong Gulch and Alterac Valley battlegrounds on January 16 at 2:00 pm PST globally, one week after the updated Honor System goes live.

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We can’t wait to see everyone’s adventures unfold in this next chapter!

The issue we encountered for the 30 minutes that Battlegrounds were open was thornier than it originally looked. Before we reopen BGs, we’re going to need to do some cleanup that can only be done with realm restarts. We’ll perform those restarts tomorrow, and the timing of them should now be posted in your Breaking News.

Regarding the SoD version of Chronoboons that were briefly available in Alterac Valley, please be advised that these will be rendered functionless on Anniversary realms. They can be ignored.

Chronoboons that are native to Anniversary realms will not be affected.

We apologize for the delay in getting Battlegrounds working properly for everyone, and we appreciate your patience and understanding.