The Scourge Invasion event, plus everything else you can do in the Wrath of the Lich King Classic pre-patch, now live

From the moment Blizzard announced World of Warcraft Classic, players eagerly anticipated Burning Crusade Classic and Wrath of the Lich King Classic. The pre-patch is live, unlocking many of the expansion’s features and giving everyone their first look at Wrath Classic. And right now the Scourge Invasion has just gone live in an event that will lead us into Northrend — so if you’re interested in playing Wrath Classic, now is a good time to do it.

Let’s dive into all the fun things you can do during the Wrath Classic pre-patch, and what you’ll have to wait for until the launch of Wrath Classic on September 26.

Roll a new character on Fresh Start realms

If you’ve been waiting to play on one of the Fresh Start realms, it’s time to renew your subscription. These realms will open with the pre-patch, and players can create characters on these realms and start leveling. Every character starts at level 1 with no transfers or boosting allowed for the first 90 days, so every player on the server will be starting from scratch.

Like all other realms, only Classic and Burning Crusade zones will be available on Fresh Start realms during the pre-patch. You can make Death Knights on these servers, but only after you’ve leveled another character to level 55 on that server. After 90 days — which will be November 28, 2022 — all restrictions are removed and these realms will be treated like any other.

Make your first Death Knight character

The Wrath Classic pre-patch will allow you to create a Death Knight. As we discussed, as long as you’re not on a Fresh Start server, you don’t need a level 55 character on that realm to create your first Death Knight, but you will need a level 55 character on whatever realm you want to make any subsequent Death Knight, just as it was originally.  And whether it’s your first or twentieth Death Knight, the highlander rule of “there can be only one” Death Knight per server still applies.

Even if you don’t intend to play one long term, be sure to check out the unique starting zone for Death Knights. It’s a ton of fun and packed with great lore moments.

Learn the Inscription profession

Whereas Burning Crusade Classic brought us the Jewelcrafting profession, Wrath of the Lich King Classic introduces the Inscription profession. With this profession you can make Scrolls, Tomes (off-hand equipped items favored by spellcasters), and Darkmoon Cards. The profession-only benefit is called Master Inscriptions: these are the most powerful enhancements for shoulder-slot items available in Wrath Classic.

Inscription is best known for its ability to create Glyphs, which are game changers in Wrath of the Lich King Classic. These items are powerful enhancements to your spells and skill — having a full set of the right Glyphs is just as important as having your gear gemmed and enchanted. Many players hit the gold cap for the first time thanks to selling the Glyphs they made with Inscription.

Level in a flash with the Joyous Journeys XP buff

If you’re racing to get to max level in Burning Crusade Classic in time to catch the first boat to Northrend on September 28, the Joyous Journeys buff should be a huge help. This buff went live in July 25 and increases experience gains by 50%!

The Joyous Journeys buff will be also available on Fresh Start realms, and will last right up until the expansion launches in September.

There are plenty of events to enjoy between the pre-patch and launch

The weeks of September will be full of action leading up to the September 26 Wrath Classic release date. Even if you’re already at max level and ready to go right to Northrend, there are reasons to log on to Classic and see what’s happening before launch day arrives:

September 6 -13: Zombie Plague 

This was World War Z of Warcraft. During the Zombie Plague, players could get infected and turn into zombies. As zombies, they rampage through the cities and infect other players, turning them into zombies. As someone who experienced the event the first time, my advice to you is either get turned into a zombie as fast as you can and revel in the chaos, or avoid the cities during the event.

September 13 – 25: Scourge Invasions

Watch for Scourge to pop up all over the map, with the first iteration of the “invasion” events that have accompanied most expansions after Wrath. Use your in-game map to find the current invasion point (if one’s active), head out and fight the undead. There will also be new mini-bosses in the undead-themed dungeons of Dire Maul, Razorfen Downs, Scarlet Monastery, Scholomance, Shadowfang Keep, and Stratholme, plus a bonus boss in Karazhan who drops a pet and a two-handed battle axe that looks like a guitar.

Finally, on September 26, Wrath of the Lich King Classic launches at 3:00 p.m. PDT, and the boats will leave for Northrend.

Originally posted August 29, 2022. Updated September 22, 2022.