I’ve been thinking a lot about how TBC Anniversary might look, and whether or not all the changes TBC Classic had will be present at the start of Anniversary. I searched for every change to TBC that was made during TBC Classic that I could find. I attached a date as well as I could. Sources included at the bottom.
I also included a phase chart so the phase dates could be compared to the change that was made.
| Phase | Addition | Date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| TBC Pre-path | The Burning Crusade | May 18th, 2021 | 14 days |
| Phase 1 | Kara, Gruul, Magtheridon, Arena S1 | June 1st, 2021 | 92 days |
| Phase 2 | SSC, TK, Arena S2, Ogri’la/Skyguard, Guild Banks, LFG tool | September 1st, 2021 | 148 days |
| Phase 3 | Black Temple, Mount Hyjal, Arena S3, Epic Gems, Netherwing | January 27th, 2022 | 56 days |
| Phase 4 | Zul’Aman, Greater Drums, Old raid Badge of Justice drops | March 24th, 2022 | 49 days |
| Phase 5 | Sunwell Plateau, Isle of Quel’Danas daily hub, Arena S4 | May 12th, 2022 | 110 days |
| Wrath Pre-patch | Wrath of the Lich King | August 30th, 2022 | 27 days |
Dungeons and Raids
- Throughout Burning Crusade Classic, we plan to make it so that progress on forthcoming raid attunements can be made before the opening of the raid the attunement is for. May 2021
- For example, you should be able to start the Black Temple attunement for killing A’lar once The Eye is open, which will be before Black Temple is open. May 2021
- Original health and damage values will be used. These, as well as some mechanical changes, will then be adjusted in future phases. The original state for raids will persist throughout the phase during which it is current content. With the release of the next phase, adjustments will be made as they were in original Burning Crusade. May 2021
- Buffs acquired from creatures and quests across Outland are purged upon entering an instance. May 2021
- Throughout Burning Crusade Classic, using Leatherworking drums will invoke the Tinnitus debuff, preventing reuse for two minutes. May 2021
- You must be level 65 or higher to enter The Shattered Halls or The Steamvault. Jul 2021
- The Botanica, The Mechanar, and Arcatraz dungeons now require Expert Riding skill to enter. Nov 2021
- Creatures in most dungeons have been adjusted so that it is now significantly more difficult to snare and kite them to a large degree. Jul 2022
- In dungeons, group XP earned has been greatly reduced whenever there is large disparity between player levels in the same group. Jul 2022
- Heroic dungeons now require level 70 to enter. Aug 2022
Items
- Badges of Justice will not drop in raids until a later phase, however, Badge of Justice dailies will be available in all phases. May 2021
- Developers’ notes: While these were both changes made late in original Burning Crusade, we feel that dailies provide healthy gameplay in encouraging dungeon variety, without significantly impacting gear acquisition. May 2021
- Ring enchants and Jewelcrafting-specific gems now have a profession requirement to benefit from them. May 2021
- Developers’ notes: The design intent for these perks were a player power reward for having that profession, and the fact that they continued to function after unlearning that profession was a technical limitation in original Burning Crusade. May 2021
- Weapons that were changed from Main-Hand-only to One-Handed late in original Burning Crusade will be restored to their original version in Burning Crusade Classic, and should be updated in a later phase. May 2021
- Developers’ notes: Changing these to One-Handed was a very late change in original Burning Crusade that would have a notable impact on player power. May 2021
- Haris Pilton along with Cooking and Fishing dailies will be available from the beginning, as they do not directly or largely impact player power. May 2021
- Landro Longshot will not offer WoW Trading Card Game code redemption. May 2021
- Developers’ notes: We don’t intend for the Burning Crusade Classic to make duplicate use of WoW TCG codes, nor do we want players who have unredeemed codes to choose between games for redemption. Landro Longshot may be repurposed in Burning Crusade Classic for a different use, but that will not be related to the WoW TCG. May 2021
- Spell Haste now lowers the global cooldown (GCD) to a minimum of 1.0 second (was 0.75 seconds). Sep 2021
- Developers’ note: This hotfix is intended to bring the behavior of the GCD in line with version 2.4.0 of Burning Crusade, which the gameplay conditions of Burning Crusade Classic 2.5.2 are based on. Due to a bug in the original 2.4.0 code, players with high Spell Haste in original Burning Crusade were sometimes able to cast certain spells less than second apart, and they would also sometimes be delayed to over a second, based on how their actions were lining up with the server’s tick rate. We’ve decided that the fairest and most accurate thing we could do is to replicate the intent of the original game and enforce that Spell Haste cannot reduce the GCD below 1.0 second. Sep 2021
- Limited vendor recipes such as Transmute Primal Might are now unlimited, and they’re and bind-on-pickup. May 2021
- Mind Quickening Gem is no longer usable in Arenas. The trinket is unchanged in all other areas of play. Jan 2022
- The following items are no longer usable inside Arenas:
- Nigh-Invulnerability Belt
- Net-o-Matic Projector
- Dazzling Longsword
- Silent Fang
- Skull of Impending Doom. Jan 2022
Player versus Player
- To bring about better matchmaking in Burning Crusade Classic, we’re updating the Matchmaking Rating (MMR) system to use a calculation design developed after original Burning Crusade, with an MMR range that will be similar to the range seen in PvP in 2008. May 2021
- Arena Teams will begin at 0 rating. (Teams began at 1500 in original Burning Crusade.) May 2021
- Diminishing returns will have a 15-20 second cooldown window. May 2021
- All PvP gear will have consistent personal rating requirements to purchase and equip. May 2021
- Shoulders = 2200
- Weapon = 2050
- Head = 1700
- Chest = 1600
- Legs = 1550
- A major goal we have in Burning Crusade Classic PvP is to provide consistency as we step forward through each Season and phase of content. We believe this will promote a healthier PvP environment that emphasizes the prestige players can feel when obtaining shoulders and weapons in particular. May 2021
- All Arena point costs for Arena gear will remain consistent for all Burning Crusade Classic Arena seasons. May 2021
- Arena points are awarded during the weekly reset, and are based on the team that earned the most points. May 2021
- To qualify for Arena points, your personal rating must be within 150 of the rating of your team, with at least 10 games played, and you must have participated in 30% of your team’s games the previous week. May 2021
- Season 1 will feature a unique Rank 1 title, the Infernal Gladiator. May 2021
- Originally, Rank 1 titles weren’t introduced until Season 2. This is a good opportunity to introduce one for the first season of Burning Crusade Classic. May 2021
- Season 1 gladiator weapons that were added in patch 2.1 (Gladiator’s Gavel, Gladiator’s Salvation, and Gladiator’s Reprieve) will be available from the beginning of Season 1. May 2021
- The commentator UI for wargames has been updated with a fresh new look. May 2021
- The Gold/Green Arena flags have been changed to Gold/Purple to improve colorblind accessibility. May 2021
- Tornadoes will randomly spawn in Nagrand Arena in Season 1. May 2021
- PvP vendors have been configured to make Season 1 behave more like subsequent seasons than it did in original Burning Crusade. May 2021
- Alliance PvP Vendors:
- Captain Dirgehammer sells level 70 honor armor
- Captain O’Neal sells level 70 honor weapons.
- Master Sergeant Biggins sells Pendants, Medallions, Bands, and gems in Season 1.
- Lieutenant Karter will now sell Reins of the Black War Elekk starting in Season 1. (Was available in Season 4 of original Burning Crusade.)
- Master Sergeant Biggins will now sells Star’s Lament and Star’s Tears in Season 1. (Was available in Season 2 of original Burning Crusade.)
- Horde PvP Vendors:
- Lady Palanseer sells level 70 honor armor in Season 1, at item levels 113/115/123.
- Sergeant Thunderhorn sells level 70 honor weapons in Season 1, at item level 115.
- Brave Stonehide sells Pendants, Medallions, Bands, and gems in Season 1.
- Raider Bork now sells the Swift Warstrider starting in Season 1. (Was available in Season 4 of original Burning Crusade.)
- Brave Stonehide now sells Star’s Lament and Star’s Tears in Season 1. (Was available in Season 2 of original Burning Crusade.)
- Rate of honor gain was doubled during the pre-patch. May 2021
- The formula for Arena Points has been adjusted to increase Arena Points awarded each week. This will equate to approximately 100 additional points per week for most 5v5 teams, about 88 additional points for most 3v3 teams, and about 76 more points for 2v2 teams. Teams near 1500 rating will get more, and the curve still tapers to the same maximum as before. July 2021
- Developers’ notes: In original Burning Crusade in 2007, players could expect to receive 450-500 Arena Points per week by playing at least 10 matches and winning more than 50% of the time. At that time, a team who lost most of their games could expect to get about 300 points per week. Starting from a team rating of 0 has created a points-per-win curve that has been significantly below that, so we’re raising the point floor to compensate for the additional time needed to raise your rating. With this change, all 5v5 teams over 100 rating should get at least 300 points per week. July 2021
- PVP faction items added in season 2 (previously Sunwell) requiring revered reputation. Sep 2021
- PvP faction items now have an Honored reputation requirement (from Revered). Jan 2022
- The battleground mark costs for Season 1 gear have been removed. Jan 2022
- The battleground mark costs on Vindicator items have been reduced by half. Jan 2022
- The amount of bonus honor rewarded from the marks-to-honor repeatable quest has been increased. Jan 2022
- The Call to Arms daily quest now provides 3 battleground marks and the bonus honor reward has been increased. Jan 2022
- The Halaa and Terokkar PvP daily’s bonus honor reward has been significantly increased. Jan 2022
- The Hellfire Fortification PvP daily now provides a bonus honor reward. Jan 2022
- Tier 4 and 5 tokens can now be exchanged for season 1 and 2 gear at tier vendors. Jan 2022
- Greater and Lesser Rune of Warding no longer activate in the arena if applied before entering. Dec 2021
- Same faction battlegrounds implemented to address any imbalance in queuing from either faction. Does not include Alterac Valley, August 2021
- Enlistment bonuses were given to players on a faction that queued the least. Aug 2021
- Consideration criteria for active teams changed to increase total number of participating teams for rank calculations. Sep 2021, Player post concerning PVP titles
Interface
- Nameplate visibility is extended to 41 yards using
/script SetCVar(nameplateMaxDistance, 41)May 2021 - Re-worked LFG tool added. August 2021
World
- Darkmoon Faire was forced open during the pre-patch. May 2021
Druid
- Feral Druid Energy Regeneration now increments on a fixed 2 second loop, independent of other factors such as changes to mana or health regeneration rates, or shifting between forms. Jun 2021
Events and Holidays
- The Midsummer Fire Festival has been configured to run for 16 days, in order to give players a little extra time to complete its many quests. This means that Burning Blossoms, which expire after being held for 14 days, may disappear if they were collected in the first two days of the event and then never spent. Aug 2021
- Brewfest duration was extended by 1 day. Oct 2021
Sources:
Archive Beta Notes:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210625062413/https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/burning-crusade-classic-beta-notes-may-4/938907
TBC Hotfixes post:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/burning-crusade-classic-hotfixes-%E2%80%93-updated-august-16/974064
Limited Supply Vender Recipes player post:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/limited-supply-vender-recipes/976704/11
MGC update post:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/mind-quickening-gem-update-with-the-patch/1169809
TBC Patch 2.5.3 notes:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/burning-crusade-classic-patch-notes-version-253/1169824
Double honor/Darkmoon faire post:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/double-honor-and-darkmoon-faire-coming-to-pre-patch/973123
Honor point improvement suggestion post reply:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/honor-point-improvement-suggestion-for-tbc/1167658/2
Same faction battleground post:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/same-faction-battlegrounds-and-more/1040265
Player post asking about nameplates:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/willcan-we-get-increase-nameplate-distance-in-tbc/961393/5
Player post concerning PVP titles:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/available-pvp-titles-due-to-starting-at-0-rating/1058575/172
LFG Preview post and article:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/burning-crusade-classic-looking-for-group-preview/1080282
:Brewfest TBC small update post:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/brewfest-is-back-on-in-burning-crusade-classic/1106753