World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic’s pre-patch events are on the way

Wrath of the Lich King Classic is rapidly approaching its release date of Sept. 26, and World of Warcraft fans can dig into the nostalgic re-release with a pre-expansion patch setting the stage starting on Aug. 30. The pre-patch introduces Wrath of the Lich King’s systems to World of Warcraft Classic, which include character reworks, balancing, Inscription, landscape updates to capital cities Stormwind and Orgrimmar, and achievements.

The game’s first hero class will join the fray on Aug. 30 as well. Players can create one Death Knight free of restriction, although any additional Death Knights created will require a level 55 character on the realm, and there’s a limit of one Death Knight per player per realm. Death Knights are the first class to not start at level 1; instead, they start at level 55, and they get a long introduction that explains how they broke free of the Lich King’s will and returned home to join either the Horde or the Alliance.

On Sept. 6, the Zombie Plague event begins, which spreads the mysterious Scourge affliction through capital cities. Then, on September 13, the Scourge Invasion begins in earnest. Players can travel to Necropolis throughout the world of Azeroth and defeat waves of Scourge that spawn from crystals. The Invasion runs until Sept. 26, when Wrath of the Lich King goes live and players can travel back to Northrend to the Howling Fjord or Borean Tundra.