Things to do during the TBC Classic anniversary pre-patch to get ready to go through the Dark Portal

The Burning Crusade Classic anniversary pre-patch is now live and players have until February 5 when the expansion launches to ready themselves for Outland. While not overly jam packed with things to do, we’ve compiled into a short list of a few things worth doing as the days lead up to TBC Classic anniversary launch that you might consider doing, if you have the time!

Level a Blood Elf or a Draenei

Blood Elf and Draenei are the new playable races, each one bringing to a previously-faction specific class to their new allies: Blood Elf Paladins for the Horde and Draenei Shaman to the Alliance respectively. Creating and leveling a Blood Elf or Draenei is an incredibly obvious suggestion but this time you can use the level 58 character boost on them to ensure you’re ready for Outland.

Battle demons at the Dark Portal for a nifty tabard with a special effect

Demons have begun pouring through the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands zone and is the closest thing to a pre-patch event at this stage of the game. You can pick up the quest Into The Breach from Agent Emissary Proudwell at the Argent Dawn camp at the base of the Dark Portal. Killing 6 of the Felguards completes the quest and nets you the Tabard of the Protector which has a unique visual effect you can activate every 5 minutes.

Learn and level Jewelcrafting (or any other professions you want, if you haven’t already)

Jewelcrafting is the newest profession to Classic and it lets you create gems that boost different stats which can then be slotted into armor pieces. Any race can learn Jewelcrafting as a profession but during pre-patch, there are only a handful of trainers that teach it and they are all found in the new faction zones added in TBC Classic:

• Farii (Alliance) — Crystal Hall, Exodar (44, 25)
• Aleinia (Horde) — Falconwing Square, Eversong Woods (48, 47)
• Kalinda — Hall of Respite, Silvermoon City (90, 73)

Earn gold to eventually learn how to use flying mounts in Outland.

Leveling your professions also has a secondary use: earning gold. During pre-patch, plenty of people are looking to spend gold on profession-related items and materials. With the influx of players, it’s a good opportunity to earn gold and ultimately one that pays off in the long run because in Outland players will be able to acquire flying mounts.

There are two riding skills that grant the ability to fly and have different costs to learn: the Normal flying skill costs 800 gold while the Epic flying skill costs 5000 gold. On top of the training cost, the mounts themselves are also expensive: Normal mounts move at +60% speed and cost 100 gold opposed to the Epic mounts, which move at +100% speed on the ground and +280% speed in the air, cost 200 gold.