The guiding philosophy behind the development of WoW Classic, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft spin-off, can be summed up in the hashtag first popularized by die-hard members of the fan community: #NoChanges. WoW Classic was going to provide a pristine retro experience of the world’s oldest MMO, and for the most part it succeeded.

Other than a few minor changes, like adding a clock to the UI early on (likely to prevent players from suddenly realizing they’ve missed several days of work), Classic retained the original experience, with flaws. and all. However, in a recent post, Blizzard has come up with a slightly updated design philosophy, explaining why some changes are necessary to deliver the best possible experience. Let’s analyze the main changes.

Naxxramas Upgrade

The original 2008 redesign of Naxxramas was supposed to be easier than the 2006 original, but Blizzard says it went overboard and made it too easy. There was a long wait until Ulduar, and Naxxramas had been whipped into meaty chunks long before even by casual assailants. As such, Blizzard will increase both the health and damage of monsters and bosses in the expanding raid.

Keep Heroic Dungeons Relevant

Veterans of the original WotLK will remember that Heroic dungeons became extremely easy midway through the expansion and were seen as a hassle you had to put up with to get your daily emblems. Blizzard is looking to change that, making sure Heroic dungeons remain challenging and continue to drop valuable loot; Although details are sketchy at this time, Blizzard is exploring plans to add challenges as the expansion continues.

Upgrade items and raid blocking systems

Wrath of the Lich King saw numerous revisions and adjustments to how emblems and raid locks work, only settling on a consistent model from Trial of the Crusader onward. To provide a more consistent experience, Blizzard is instituting this final model from the beginning of the game so that raid bans and emblems work the same way for every content release.

If you’ve had enough of thinking about past expansions, consider a future one with our article on Dragonflight expansion pre-order editions.