What you need to know
- In a recent episode of WoWcast, Blizzard Entertainment revealed the gameplay details for World of Warcraft's upcoming Patch 11.0.5 update that will feature the game's 20th Anniversary Celebration Event.
- The World of Warcraft 20th Anniversary Celebration event will include the return of Blackrock Depths remade as a 10-15 player Raid dungeon, and several side activities and World Events where players can earn special currency to purchase cosmetic items, mounts, pets, and the Tier 2 armor sets now reimagined with new HD modeling and textures.
- In addition, Patch 11.0.5 will enable the Dracthyr race access to more classes beyond Evoker and grant the Shaman Class reimagined Ascension Forms.
- World of Warcraft's Patch 11.0.5 will drop in November 2024. The 20th Anniversary Celebration event will begin sometime during the middle of November 2024 and will run for a couple of months.
On September 4, 2024, Blizzard Entertainment unveiled during its latest episode of WoWcast (a YouTube show where the developers reveal the latest news updates for World of Warcraft) what it has planned for World of Warcraft's 20th Anniversary Celebration Event.
Starting mid-November during World of Warcraft: The War Within's Patch 11.0.5 update, the World of Warcraft 20th Anniversary Celebration Event will begin and have players embark on a nostalgic rollercoaster where they can take on World Events, Dungeons, and Raids to obtain updated versions of the iconic Tier 2 armor sets among other awesome rewards.
Here is everything you need to know about this event.
World of Warcraft 20th Anniversary Celebration Event - Activities
World of Warcraft's 20th Anniversary Celebration Event will feature all kinds of fun activities that will reward players with special in-game currency called Bronze Celebration Tokens, which they can use to purchase all kinds of cosmetic items, pets, mounts, and more. You can also earn these tokens by engaging in World of Warcraft: The War Within's Season 1 content.
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The activities you can participate in World of Warcraft's 20th Anniversary Celebration Event include:
- The classic Blackrock Depths dungeon reimagined as a 10-15 Player Raid dungeon, complete LFR, Normal and Heroic difficulty levels.
- A Timewalking event where players Lv. 10 and up can challenge the Deadmines, Zul’Farrak, Dire Maul (east and west wings), and Stratholme’s living and undead dungeons.
- A Cavern of Time event where players can engage in all kinds of fun activities such as showing off their elaborate armor set collections in Fashion Frenzy, displaying their majestic mounts in Mount Mania, transforming into battle pets in the Pet Corner, and helping Alyx attend guests for the event in Guest Relations.
- Korrak's Revenge, a classic Battleground PVP event will be returning with new mounts for both Horde and Alliance players up for grabs.
- Help Chromie fix her codex by traveling back in time to revisit the Opening Gates of Ahn'Qiraj World event where you will fight back the invading forces of the Scourge, Burning Legion, and Qiraji, and have epic rematches with classic World Bosses like Tichondrius, Ossirian, and Kel'thuzad.
- Hunting down classic World bosses that have spotted across Tanaris including Doomwalker, Azuregos, Lord Kazzak, the Dragons of Nightmare, the Sha of Anger, and Archavon the Stonewatcher.
World of Warcraft 20th Anniversary Celebration Event - Rewards
The items you will be able to purchase from the Bronze Celebration Tokens range from brand new pets and mounts, cosmetic items never released before to the public, and reimagined versions of classic armor sets from World of Warcraft's early days that you can apply to any armor set thanks to the game's gear Transmogrification system.
These rewards include:
- The Tier 2 armor sets from the Blackwing Lair Raid reimagined with updated HD textures and remodeled armor pieces for all Classes. In addition, there will be new 'Tier 2' style armor sets for Classes that didn't exist back when the Blackwing Lair Raid was first released in 2005 such as Demon Hunter, Monk, Evoker, and Death Knight.
- A plethora of returning items you can purchase from Timewalking Vendors who will appear during the 20th Anniversary Celebration Event. Some items include but are not limited to the Enchanted Spellweave Carpet from Wrath of the Lich King, the Amani Hunting Bear from The Burning Crusade, and the Frayfeather Hippogryph from the vanilla version of World of Warcraft before any expansions were released.
- Participating in the returning Korrak's Revenge Battleground will reward players with exclusive mounts depending on whether playing as Horde or Alliance characters. Alliance characters will receive the Stormpike Battle Ram and Horde characters will receive the Frostwolf Snarler.
- A new mount called the Coldflame Tempest, a chilling variant of the Ashes of Al’ar mount.
- Two new Doomlord battle pets called Lil’Kaz and Lil’Doomy.
- Some items from past anniversary events will return including the Core Hound mount, Lil’ Nefarian pet, Molten Corgi pet, Onyxian Whelpling pet, Hatespark the Tiny pet, and the Baby Blizzard Bear pet.
- A cosmetic crown, sword, and shield that was previously awarded only to Blizzard employees will be made available for the public to grab during the 20th Anniversary Celebration Event.
World of Warcraft 20th Anniversary Celebration Event - Bonus Patch 11.0.5 content
World of Warcraft's 20th Anniversary Celebration Event isn't the only thing to look forward to in November as World of Warcraft: The War Within's Patch 11.0.5 will also include some cool bonus content for the Dratchyr Race, Shaman class, and fans who grew up playing Warcraft 3.
The bonus content you will see in Patch 11.0.5 includes the following:
Dratchyr Race and Evoker changes
- The Dratchyr Race will gain access to the Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Mage, Warrior, or Warlock Class during character creation. Dratchyr players who take up these Classes will have the option of staying in their human-like 'Visage' form or their true Dracthyr form during combat.
- The Dracthyr's Racial abilities will receive the following reworks:
- Tail Swipe's cooldown has been increased to 3 minutes (it was originally 1.5 minutes).
- Wing Buffet's cooldown has been increased to 3 minutes (it was originally 1.5 minutes). It now displays wing effects around your character if you use it while in Visage form.
- Tail Swipe and Wing Buffet will no longer automatically shift you into Dracthyr form for all classes except Evoker.
- The Evoker Class will receive the following reworks:
- Clobbering Sweep will reduce Tail Swipe’s cooldown by 2 minutes (it was originally 45 seconds).
- Heavy Wingbeats will reduce Wing's cooldown by 2 minutes (it was originally 45 seconds).
- Permeating Chill will now be a baseline ability for Evoker.
- Heavy Wingbeats and Clobbering Sweep will no longer be a choice node, and their position has changed in the Class skill tree.
- Dracthyr players will gain a new Skyriding talent called Squadron which will allow two additional Dratchy players to join you mid-flight and soar through the sky in a flight formation.
Shaman changes
The Shaman Class will receive three brand new forms when they activate their Ascension ability in battle. These new Ascension forms will change depending on what Talent tree 'Spec' your Shaman is currently equipped with i.e. Restoration Shamans will have a new Water Ascension Form, Elemental Shamans will get a new Fire Ascension form, and Enhancement Shamans will get a new Wind Ascension form.
These forms haven't been particularly well-received so far, with various memes emerging about them. Don't be surprised if we see Blizzard tweak them a bit further.
November Trading Post
Last but not least, Blizzard Entertainment has a preview of some items you will be able to obtain during November's Trading Post offerings. For those unaware, the Trading Post is a system whereby completing a certain number of activities every month, you will earn unique in-game currency called Trader Tender which you can use to buy cosmetic items, pets, and mounts that are only available for a limited time.
November's Trading Post offerings will include back armor pieces inspired by the faction symbols of the four main playable armies from Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos – Orcs, Humans, Scourge, and Night Elves.
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So much to look forward to for World of Warcraft's 20th Anniversary
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The amount of effort and nostalgic fanservice Blizzard Entertainment is putting into World of Warcraft's 20th anniversary is astronomical. Dratchyr players will be able to spread their wings beyond the Evoker Class and players will get to challenge old school bosses and dungeons revamped with new difficulty challenges with lucrative rewards.
Not to mention, old-school World of Warcraft fans who have playing the MMORPG since its early days will be able to relive their childhood memories donning modernized versions of Tier 2 armor sets, which many fans consider to be some of the most iconic gear in Warcraft history.
RELATED: World of Warcraft: The War Within Story Overview
While I don't feel the same levels of nostalgia as veteran World of Warcraft fans as I have only started playing the game recently thanks to The War Within's gameplay features and the awesome Pandaria Remix event, I can't wait for World of Warcraft's 20th anniversary Celebration event and grabbing all updated Tier 2 armor sets for my collection because they look so cool.
Needless to say, I picked the perfect time to finally subscribe to one of Blizzard's long-running, best PC games.
World of Warcraft: The War Within is out now on PC. It is an incredible expansion packed with some of the best story-telling the MMORPG has had in years, powerful and fun new Hero Talents to master, a playable race in the form of the Earthen, gorgeous new locales to explore, a plethora of diverse multiplayer and single-player gameplay content, and much more.
