[2022] Wrath Classic Beta Development Notes - Updated September 23

Welcome to the Wrath of the Lich King Classic Beta!

The team has been working hard to get Northrend ready for you to jump in and begin your adventures, and we’re excited to have you join us! Over the coming weeks we will post notes and updates in this forum with each new update to the Beta.

Beta Updates
September 23, 2022

• Realm first Achievements are now unavailable for 24 hours after a player-character takes a free transfer to another realm (was 60 days).
  • Developers’ notes: This is intended to eliminate a concern that some players might have about using Free Transfers to move to a realm that isn’t overcrowded.

---

• Will of Sartharion now increases Sartharion’s health by 25% with 1 drake alive, 45% with 2 drakes alive, and 65% with three drakes alive (was 25%).
  • Developers’ notes: Sarth+3 should still be quite manageable, but the unintended strategy of simply burning down the boss should be much less viable. Please note that the in-game tooltip is currently incorrect and will be updated in the future.

---

• Raids will now count towards the 5 instance-per-hour limit.
  • Developers’ notes: The hourly instance limit prevents players from entering instances that they’ve entered at least once already within the last hour. With this change, farming a dungeon should not prevent you from entering a raid instance, so long as you don’t attempt to reset and re-enter that raid instance multiple times.

---

• The costs and availability of Season 5 Arena gear have been adjusted to their final values.
  • Developers’ notes: There were previously some inconsistencies on PvP gear from season to season, especially with rating requirements. This update fixes Savage and Hateful Arena gear so that they require both Honor Point and Arena Point costs (where intended). Previously in the Wrath Beta, they were sold for Arena Points only. As a reminder, the vendors that offer Arena gear in Dalaran, Area 52, Gadgetzan, and the PvP Barracks in capital cities will not sell Season 5 gear to you until Season 5 begins. Savage Arena gear will be purchaseable for only Honor in capital cities, but is sold for Arena Points + Honor in Gadgetzan, Area 52, and Dalaran. This is intended and corresponds with original Wrath of the Lich King.

Beta Test Release Build 45166
August 17, 2022

Testing Updates

• Wintergrasp is now available for testing.
  • The zone is open for exploration.
  • When we initialize the instanced battleground, it will support up to 120 players from each faction.
  • We may lower the capacity for testing purposes.
• Strand of the Ancients is now available for testing.
• The Ring of Valor (Orgrimmar Arena) is now available.
• The “Show Low Level Quests” option has been added to the minimap.
• Adjustments have been made to the Emblem of Heroism quest reward implementation.

Fixes

• Fixed a bug preventing spells with optional additional effects like Faerie Fire from being reapplied when the target is affected by certain Auras.
• Casters are not using the correct Glancing Blow calculations for attacks.
• Spell animations should no longer playing several full loops of the animation before they disappear.
• For the quest “Riding the Red Rocket”, riding the Rocket Propelled Warhead into the enemy faction’s boat should blow up the boat and provide quest credit.
• Fixed a bug preventing players from completing the quest “City of Light”.
• When you accept “The Emissary” or “The Trident of Naz’jan”, Veehja should no longer only cast Riplash Blessing on herself.
• When using the Argent Cannon, your targeting indicator should no longer pop to your feet at a higher angle than intended.
• You should no longer receive the error “This raid is not yet available” if you try to enter Blackwing Lair.
• Fixed a bug causing Slahtz to often become invisible.
• Harold Winston no longer sells Kirin Tor Ring upgrades before the appropriate content phase.
• Enchants that provide mana every 5 seconds (mp5) should now update mana regen on the character info panel.
• Removed Epic gems that should not be available until a later content phase.
• Naxxramas
  • Instructor Razuvious dying should now despawn Death Knight Understudy in the event of a wipe.
• Death Knight
  • Death Runes should no longer stay active after swapping specs.
  • Newly created Death Knights should no longer spam achievements to other players in the chat window.
• Druid
  • Glyph of Hurricane no longer incorrectly buffs Insect Swarm and debuffs Hurricane.
• Hunter
  • Hunters can no longer remove Exotic Pets from the stable if they are not talented into Beast Mastery.
• Priest
  • Mana Burn should now break fears as expected.
• Mage
  • Applying buffs that increase stats after Molten Armor is already applied should not lower your critical strike chance significantly.
• Paladin
  • Greater Blessing of Sanctuary should once again be able to be cast.
• Warlock
  • Fixed an issue where Warlock’s Drain Soul channel would incorrectly cancel if a killing blow was dealt to an enemy that was not the target of Drain Soul.
• Warrior
  • Slam should now correctly delay auto attack timers for the duration of Slam’s cast time.

Beta Test Release Build 44043
August 10, 2022

Testing Updates

• The Group Finder tool has been updated with several adjustments:
  • Players listing in the tool can now flag themselves or their group as “New Player Friendly”, indicating that your group is open and welcoming to less experienced players.
  • Level ranges have been adjusted for many dungeons, raids, and zones.
  • When selecting roles as a solo lister, the role tooltip will now include a text warning for roles that are not traditionally recommended for your class.
• Heartbeat Resist mechanics have been removed from Arena.
  • Developer’s Note: There is a mechanic in place on Crowd Control effects that does a periodic check while a CC is active to see if the effect resists and ends early. In Wrath of the Lich King this check does not start to occur until several seconds into a CC’s duration, so in PvP Settings this had a relatively small chance to occur, but it was very impactful when it did. After receiving feedback on this mechanic over the course of Classic and Burning Crusade Classic, we’ve decided to make a small adjustment and completely remove this chance in Arena.

Fixes

• When a spell misses, it no longer will appear in-game as a resist.
  • Developer’s Note: It is still possible for spells to partially or fully resist, and spell penetration can still be used to counteract resists specifically. The bug here was that both spell resists and spell misses were showing in-game as “resists”.
• Spell hit and resistance formulas have been updated to match 3.3.5. Notably, extra chance for spells to miss gained from talents and racial abilities can now correctly be overcome with additional spell hit.
• Area of Effect Damage caps now kick in above 10 targets rather than 20.
• Fixed several interface errors with the Equipment Manager.
• Fixed Novos the Summoner’s Arcane Field visual effect to match the correct area effect of the ability.
• Pit lords no longer have all of the sparkles. We loved it, but no one Pit Lord should have all that flair.
• Scripted RP events that were previously missing audio lines have been fixed.
• Fixed a number of issues with incorrect Dungeon Portal visuals displaying on raids and dungeons across Northrend.
• The Achievement Tracker will now properly update when a new achievement is tracked or a tracked achievement is completed.
• During the final quest of the Death Knight intro experience, Lord Maxwell Tyrosus should no longer attack playters during the RP event.
• Pets and Guardians no longer turn to target their owner when casting friendly spells.
• Meeting stone level ranges listed on the tooltips now display appropriate level ranges based on the level of the associated content.
• Intravenous Healing Potions now function correctly.
• Flying Carpet mounts are now properly restricted to Tailors.
• Fixed an issue that caused some skinning targets to incorrectly display the dark red “skinnable” tag, even when you had the skill to skin the target.
• Critters such as Cows, Sheep, and Rabbits are no longer skinnable.
• Interacting with a Glyph in your inventory now properly opens the Glyph panel.

Warrior

• Armored to the Teeth and similar abilities now properly increase attack power based on Armor Value.
• Fixed an issue that caused Slam to return a “Not enough mana” error message when cast at 29 or less rage.

Priest

• Shadowform now properly grants Devouring Plague and Vampiric Touch the ability to benefit from Haste.
• Prayer of Shadow Protection and Arcane Brilliance now properly affect raid/party members.

Warlock

• Glyph of Quick Decay now works properly, granting Warlocks spell haste effects on Corruption.
• Fixed an issue with the Warlock’s Ritual of Summoning portal model.
• Resolved a visual issue in the tooltip for Life Tap

Rogue

• Fixed an issue where rogue combo finishers will not appropriately activate or deactivate on the action bar when switching targets
• Rogues will no longer receive an erroneous extra, large spike of additional energy just after the energy bar had been fully depleted

Beta Test Release Build 44930
August 3, 2022

Testing Updates

• Talent Preview Mode is now active. It can be turned on in the Game Menu → Interface → Features menu.
• The Eye of Acherus, Mind Control, and similar possession interactions now use the proper action bar.
• Northrend story capper quests now have items/Emblems of Heroism to reward players for completing storylines in each zone.
  • Developers’ notes: Wrath Classic adds phasing, a way to make the world to change around players during key storyline moments and feel more alive by making your actions have impact on your surroundings. Phasing can, however, place players in situations where two grouped friends in different phases, due to being on different steps of key quest chains. We’re testing adding Emblems of Heroism and other bonus rewards to quests that put players into different phases, providing a reason to finish off zone storylines and make it more likely that you’ll end up in the same phase as most other players you might group up with. This is not meant to be a permanent, farmable supplement or replacement for Heroic dungeons or similar content. We likely added a few quests such as repeatable or daily quests that we did not intend to, and we’re going to review the affected quests and make adjustments in future beta builds.
• This build includes functionality for Battleground, PvP, Raid, and Dungeon weekly/daily quests, available from Archmage NPCs in Dalaran.
• This build includes functionality for Battleground, PvP, Raid, and Dungeon weekly/daily quests, available from Archmage NPCs in Dalaran.
• This build includes functionality for random Battleground rewards with daily wins. Please note: these are not final reward values.
• Level 60 Onyxia should be available once again.

Fixes

• Alterac Valley NPCs should now be the correct levels for all brackets. Also resolved some issues where Drek’thar and Vanndar could sometimes fail to spawn.
• Gathering profession nodes should no longer be able to fail.
• Spell and melee haste ratings are now providing the full intended benefits.
• Items with Mana Regeneration now correctly applying the proper amount of regen as intended.
• The tank icon on the LFG tool is no longer distorted.
• The LFG tool now has options to list world PvP activities.
• Fixed an issue preventing all dungeon portals from being accessed in Eastern Kingdoms.
• Fixed a LUA error when attempting to copy a character to the Beta realms.
• Players should no longer need an additional 1% Hit above the intended 8% to hit-cap against Raid-level enemies.
• Creatures now begin landing crushing blows at 4 levels above the player level of their target, rather than 3, as intended.
• Classes
  • Shadowmeld now properly drops combat.
  • Death Knight
    • Raise Ally now works properly.
  • Hunter
    • Ammo is no longer consumed when using Arcane Shot and Explosive Shot while Lock and Load is active.
    • Spore Cloud from Sporebats no longer stacks with other armor debuffing abilities like Faerie Fire.
    • Volley now correctly ticks a full 6 times when used near maximum range, as intended.
  • Paladin
    • Paladins can no longer incorrectly cast certain abilities while Forbearance is active.
    • Sacred Cleansing gives the proper spell resistance bonus.
  • Shaman
    • Characters are no longer knocked out of stealth when healed by Healing Stream Totem
  • Warlock
    • Demon Armor and Fel Armor will no longer provide extra bonuses from the talent, Demonic Aegis, when the player changes specializations or activates dual specialization.
    • Summoning a Felguard will no longer generate an error message.
  • Warrior
    • Taste for Blood will now properly allow the usage of Overpower.
    • Critical Block correctly gives the chance to critically block.
• Dungeons and Raids
  • In the Culling of Stratholme, it is no longer possible to kill Mal’Ganis at the start of the instance, which would prevent players from completing the dungeon.
  • Naxxramas
    • Fixed an issue where the doors to the Four Horsemen encounter would sometimes not open after a group wipes.
    • Extra enemies should no longer attack alongside Instructor Razuvious when engaging him in combat.
    • Fixed an issue with Heigan The Unclean where his slime waves would not properly spawn during the dance.
    • Sapphiron’s Frost Aura should no longer affect players in Iceblock.
• Professions
  • Engineering Enchants now properly override one another.
  • Glyphs can now be linked inside of chat channels.

Beta Test Release Build 44832
July 27, 2022

Testing Updates

• Crew members now spawn on transport ships. This includes The Skybreaker and Orgrim’s Hammer, the flying airships in Icecrown.
• Alliance and Horde players now start in separate layers in Acherus, the Ebon Hold when they first create a Death Knight.
• Daily Normal Dungeon quests now grant two Emblems of Heroism.
• Daily Heroic Dungeon quests now grant two Emblems of Valor.
• The first week of Arena testing has completed, and a test weekly reset was performed. We have more details about Arena updates here.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a LUA error when viewing the Auction House.
• The tooltip for Resilience now properly displays the correct information in the character info sheet.
• Eligible players can now properly use the Turbo-charged Flying Machine.
• Fixed many errors with talent tooltips.
• Dungeons and Raids
  • Players who die inside Naxxramas will no longer respawn in Eastern Plaguelands.
  • Sapphiron now casts the intended Frost Aura.
  • Fixed a bug preventing the Four Horsemen from dropping loot.
  • Fixed the Embalming Slime that was unintentionally placed under Patchwerk.
  • Druids should no longer be forced out of shapeshift forms in Culling of Stratholme.
  • Fixed a bug with Volkhan’s Molten Golems in Halls of Lightning.
• Death Knights
  • Rime now works as intended.

Beta Test Release Build 44729
July 20, 2022

Testing Updates

• The Death Knight starting zone is now separated into different phases by faction.
• The Guild event log is now functional.
• Addons are now enabled in the Wrath Classic beta.
• We will start a Beta Arena Season on July 21.
• Initial raid testing will begin on July 21.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug causing players to disconnect when exiting a vehicle.

• Fixed a bug that generated unintended errors when opening the Auction House.

• Heroic Dungeons now drop Emblems of Heroism.

• Quests

  • Entering a Horde siege engine should no longer generate an error during “The Plains of Nasam”.
  • “The Battle for The Undercity” should no longer include Deathguard Elites who spawn and prevent the quest from continuing.
  • Fixed a bug on “Mystery of the Infinite” where summoned creatures could unintentionally be level 80.

• Classes

  • Death Knight
    • Numerous fixes have been made to make Runes functioning as expected, and recharge rates are fixed.
    • Fixed a bug with Ebon Gargoyle summon casting inconsistently.
    • Fixed bugs causing dual spec swap issues with Buffed Ghouls and Unholy Frenzy.
  • Druid
    • Berserk should no longer remove Tigers Fury.
  • Paladin
    • Judgement spells should now trigger Seal of Corruption.
  • Warlock
    • Fel Armor ranks 1 and 2 should now provide health regeneration
    • Demonic Pact and Flametongue Totem should no longer stack.

• Player versus Player

  • Fixed a bug causing Battleground scoreboards to incorrectly display Honor accrued.

Selected Known Issues

• Ring of Valor and Strand of the Ancients are disabled at this time.
• A bug is preventing Fishing from being testable at some low skill levels.
• A bug is preventing Kel’Thuzad from properly giving credit for the “Scourge Leader Identified” step of “The Plains of Nasam”.

Beta Test Release Build 44369
June 29, 2022

Level Cap: 80
Focus:

• Flying In Northrend
• Normal and Heroic Max-Level Dungeons
• Questing/Level-up Experience
• Northrend Zones
• Dungeons
• New Spells, Talents, and Abilities
• Death Knight Starting Experience
• New Systems and Features:
  • Revamped Group Finder
  • Vehicles
  • Quest phasing
  • Glyphs and Inscription
    • Update: We’ve placed additional Glyph Vendors in Shattrath near A’dal

Beta Test Release Build 44301
June 22, 2022

Level Cap: 76
Focus:

• Questing/Level-up Experience
• Northrend Zones
• Dungeons
• New Spells, Talents, and Abilities
• Death Knight Starting Experience
• New Systems and Features:
  • Revamped Group Finder
  • Vehicles
  • Quest phasing
  • Glyphs and Inscription
    Note: To facilitate Glyph testing, a Glyph Vendor has been placed in Dalaran, near the Inscription building.

For the first week of Beta we are capping leveling to 76 and addon usage is prohibited. We will raise the level cap to 80, allow flying in Northrend, and open up level 80 Heroic dungeons for testing and allow addons in the coming weeks.

One of the major areas we would like feedback on is the functionality of the newly revamped Group Finder tool. You can find a deep dive of information about the tool here. Please put it through its paces and let us know what you think!

As this is a beta, there are some systems and features that are not fully implemented and there are many bugs present. Below you will find a selection of Known Issues that you are likely to encounter that may impact your gameplay.

As always, we’d encourage you to use the in-game bug reporter (Onscreen or Default Hotkey: F6) to send us information about any bugs or other issues you encounter.

Known Issues

• General
  • Mana and Energy Regeneration are not functioning properly.
    • Note: These systems are usable but they have some display bugs and other functionality issues that are inauthentic to original Wrath of the Lich King.
  • Crews are not spawning on Transports, which can block the completion of certain quests.
  • The Argent Tournament Grounds in Icecrown are currently under… “de-construction” and are a work-in-progress with multiple misplaced objects and missing terrain.
  • Exiting a vehicle may rarely cause you to become disconnected.
  • The Vendors and Vendor Inventory in Dalaran are not yet configured correctly and contain items from later content tiers.
  • An interface error will occur when inspecting another character.
  • Many NPCs in Orgrimmar are spawning slightly below ground level.
  • Horde and Alliance Death Knights are not properly put in separate phases in the Death Knight starting experience.
• Items
  • Items that increase haste rating are not increasing spell haste.
  • An interface error will occur when attempting to open the socketing interface on an item with a prismatic socket.
  • Item tooltips sometimes show the “Equip:” bonus text in the incorrect location and format.
• Quests
  • The “Battle for the Undercity” part of the Wrathgate questline in Dragonblight has multiple progression-blocking issues currently. We encourage you to please check back on this quest in a future build should you reach it.
• Death Knight
  • Some Races of Death Knights are missing their spooky voices.
  • After spending a rune, the subsequent recharge begins partially completed.
  • Death runes do not currently function properly.
  • Risen Ally is not able to properly use its abilities.
• Hunter
  • Auto Shot will not properly fire during the Steady Shot cast.
  • The Beast Mastery talent does not grant 4 additional Pet Talent points currently.
  • The Lock and Load talent proc doesn’t currently trigger from Freezing Arrow or Freezing Trap.
  • The Pet talent Wolverine Bite doesn’t function properly and is usable without landing a critical hit when first learned.
  • A Warp Stalker’s Warp ability can sometimes crash the client.
• Warlock
  • Warlock pet stats are scaling from warlocks incorrectly and are too powerful.
  • Chaos Bolts are not currently piercing absorbs or partial immunities.
• Shaman
  • Feral Spirits occasionally do not properly engage hostile targets.
• Paladin
  • Sacred Cleansing does not currently increase the target’s resistance to Diseases, Magic or Poisons.
  • Greater Blessing of Sanctuary cannot be self-cast.

Beta Test Release Build 44369
June 29, 2022

Level Cap: 80
Focus:

• Flying In Northrend
• Normal and Heroic Max-Level Dungeons
• Questing/Level-up Experience
• Northrend Zones
• Dungeons
• New Spells, Talents, and Abilities
• Death Knight Starting Experience
• New Systems and Features:
  • Revamped Group Finder
  • Vehicles
  • Quest phasing
  • Glyphs and Inscription
    • Update: We’ve placed additional Glyph Vendors in Shattrath near A’dal