World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery
- "SoD" redirects here. For the raid, see Sanctum of Domination.
World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery | ||||
Developer(s) |
Blizzard Entertainment Portion of Team 2 | |||
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Publisher(s) | Blizzard Entertainment | |||
Platforms | Microsoft Windows, macOS | |||
Release |
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Latest release | 1.15.2 | |||
Genre(s) | Season | |||
Season chronology | ||||
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World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery (abbreviated as SOD) is the second seasonal launch of World of Warcraft: Classic, focused on giving seasoned players the opportunity to find new secrets and shake up the meta by adding additional class options such as warlock and shaman-tanks.
Release
The season launched on 30 November 2023. In order to preserve the sense of discovery, there was no PTR for Season of Discovery.[1]
Content phases:
- Phase 1 (Nov 30, 2023): Level cap at 25, Blackfathom Deeps raid, runes, Battle for Ashenvale PvP event.
- Phase 2 (Feb 8, 2024): Level cap at 40, Gnomeregan raid, new runes and abilities, Blood Moon PvP event.[2]
- Phase 3 (Apr 4, 2024): Level cap at 50, Sunken Temple raid, new runes, Nightmare Incursions PvE event.[3][4]
- Phase 4 (Jul 11, 2024): Level cap at 60, new runes, instanced world bosses, Blackrock Eruptions, and Molten Core as a 20-player raid.[5]
- Phase 5 (Autumn 2024): End game content updates.[6]
Dungeons
Changes
- Season of Discovery launched with a initial level cap of 25. Blackfathom Deeps was re-imagined as a 10-player raid at this level.
- This included completely brand new items, such as [Fathomblade] and [Shoulderguards of Crushing Depths].
- [Blessing of Blackfathom] is not present, and instead [Boon of Blackfathom] is available.
- Each new phase will increase the level cap (up to phase 4) and introduce new content.
- New secret locations and loot.
- Rune system
- Azeroth Commerce Authority & Durotar Supply and Logistics reputations added.
- Many crafted or dropped items have had their stats changed.
- Layering is used.[7]
- Possible introduction of previously unreleased zones such as the Emerald Dream or Azshara Crater.
- Molten Core will be a 20-man raid.[3]
- General itemization and difficulty changes for level 60 raids.[3]
- New world buffs are available with the level raids. [Might of Stormwind] was added in phase 4, as the Alliance equivalent for [Warchief's Blessing].
Narrative changes
After its announcement there was speculation whether or not Season of Discovery existed as a retcon or alternate timeline to the original World of Warcraft: Classic. At a Community Council Q&A there was confirmation that it would be neither: SoD exists with a "found photograph" narrative, that further contextualizes the characters and places from Classic without altering or reframing things in any dramatic fashion.[8]
Among the new quest-related NPCs are:
- Aeonas, a former Knight of the Silver Hand hunted by the Scarlet Crusade for saying that not all Light was good. Aeonas is notably involved in the storyline dealing with the Echoing Orbs.
- Alonso, a gnomish knight on a dragon-slaying quest.
- Criminals living in the seediest parts of Orgrimmar, Ironforge or Stormwind City.
- A Dalaran Agent leading you to hunt and fight the Dark Riders of Karazhan.
- Caius Blackwood, a Syndicate-affiliated man gathering dark artifacts.
- Ardelle Dralta, an Argent Dawn operative investigating a Shard of Pure Light. Believing the shard to be a tear from An'she, the tauren sent Brave Stonetorch to find it.
- Illari Duskfeather, a night elf hostile to her people joining the Alliance.
- Ada Gelhardt, a young paladin wanting to defect for the Cult of the Damned.
- Gurgthock, before his original The Burning Crusade appearance.
- Magister Falath, an emissary from Quel'Danil Lodge asking for paladin help.
- Mitchells mentioned early before his original Wrath of the Lich King appearance.
- Boarton Shadetotem, attempting (and failing) to train rogues before his original Dragonflight appearance.
- Kajind, an orcish blademaster giving several warrior quests.
- A Ragged and Rugged Travelers together in Blackrock Depths, saying something about a third faction.
- The Shadowtooth Emissary, a representative of the elusive dark trolls.
- A Shadowy Figure, related to a mysterious box.
- The Vodyanoi, a giant frog spirit in the Wetlands.
- An unnamed Wandering Swordsman, exploring the world to find a match to his skills.
- A number of unnamed Wild Gods and loa, including a Bat Loa, a Serpent Loa, and several Delirious Ancients of various species.
The new world events are the following:
- The Battle for Ashenvale, a PvP event in Ashenvale re-introducing many random Warcraft III heroes.
- Blood Moon, a world PvP event in Stranglethorn Vale. Kha'damu, a chosen of Hakkar the Soulflayer, appears during the event.
- Nightmare Incursions, PvE events during which the forces of the Emerald Nightmare periodically invade Azeroth. Four zones see new Nightmare dragons as well as corrupted versions of existing mobs appear. The Emerald Wardens are a new faction working against the invaders.
- Blackrock Eruption, PvP-PvE event during which the Blackrock Mountain volcano erupts, leading to new Flamebringer members of the Twilight's Hammer temporarily taking control over their local brethren. This also reveals that Twilight Lord Kelris survived his encounter at Blackfathom Deeps, taking up the moniker of Flamebringer Kelris and sending shadowy stalkers to attack the Thorium Brotherhood in their sleep.[9]
Some dungeon updates also introduce new lore, such as Gelihast in Blackfathom Deeps being touched by the Void, or Lorgus Jett being implied to be a former paladin. Demon Fall Canyon is an entirely new dungeon dealing with the heritage of Grommash Hellscream drinking the Blood of Mannoroth again during the Third War.
There are also other sources of world lore, such as the [Apocryphal Epiphany] questline which adds lore to the Scarlet Monastery and Kyross, or [Spell Notes: Hot Streak] that tells that a fire elemental was once bound to the forge of Strahnbrad.
Trivia
- Guzu's corpse can be found in the Pit of Refuse of the Temple of Atal'Hakkar (Sunken Temple).
References
- ^ World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery Announced at BlizzCon. Blizzard Entertainment (2023-11-03).
- ^ Season of Discovery Phase 2 is Now Live!
- ^ a b c Season of Discovery Developer Update - Feb 27, 2024
- ^ Season of Discovery Phase 3 Goes Live April 4!
- ^ In Development: Season of Discovery Phase 4. Blizzard Entertainment (2024-06-12).
- ^ World of Warcraft in 2024 —The Road Ahead. Blizzard Entertainment (2023-12-19).
- ^ Forum:BlizzCon 2023 Q&A § Warcraft Classic Q&A
- ^ WoW Community Council Live Chat - December 8
- ^ Sleepless Nights
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