World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary Edition went live on February 5th, 2026, at 3:00 PM PST. The Dark Portal is open, Outland is waiting, and the level cap sits at 70.
But the launch is only the start. During the State of Azeroth broadcast on January 29th, Blizzard revealed the complete phase schedule for TBC Classic Anniversary. All four major content phases will land within a single calendar year, wrapping up with the Fury of the Sunwell before winter. That's roughly eight to nine months from start to finish, a significantly compressed timeline compared to the original Burning Crusade Classic's 14-month run.
Below is everything that launched with Phase 1, what's changing from the original TBC Classic, and the full roadmap through the end of the year.
What's Live Right Now: Phase 1
Outland and the Push to 70
Players level 60 and above can cross through the Dark Portal into Outland. The continent spans seven zones, each loaded with quests, dungeons, and reputation grinds. Leveling is faster this time around thanks to an increased level cadence.
Hellfire Peninsula is the entry point, housing three dungeons inside Hellfire Citadel: Hellfire Ramparts, Blood Furnace, and The Shattered Halls.
Zangarmarsh picks up around level 62. Coilfang Reservoir sits at the center with The Slave Pens, The Underbog, and Steamvault. The zone introduces the Cenarion Expedition and Sporeggar reputation factions. Grinding Cenarion Expedition rep unlocks the Cenarion War Hippogryph mount.
Terokkar Forest holds Shattrath City, the main neutral hub for both factions. It has most amenities but no Auction House. Players must choose between the Aldor and the Scryers here, a decision that determines bank access and other services within the city. Switching later is a painful grind.
Nagrand features the Hunter class quests and the Ring of Blood chain, which rewards a strong pre-raid weapon. The town of Halaa functions as an open-world PvP objective with starter PvP gear and an 18-slot bag available.
Blade's Edge Mountains opens at level 65 and connects to Netherstorm. Gruul's Lair raid is located here.
Netherstorm offers strong quest rewards and feeds into Aldor/Scryer reputation. It's one of the more rewarding zones to quest through at higher levels.
Shadowmoon Valley is easy to bypass while leveling but holds critical quest chains for raid attunements at 70.
15 Dungeons at Launch
Phase 1 ships with 15 dungeons across Outland. Heroic versions arrive in their post-nerf state:
- Hellfire Ramparts
- Blood Furnace
- Shattered Halls
- The Slave Pens
- The Underbog
- Steamvault
- Old Hillsbrad Foothills
- The Black Morass
- Mechanar
- The Botanica
- The Arcatraz
- Mana-Tombs
- Shadow Labyrinth
- Auchenai Crypts
- Sethekk Halls
Three Raids Open February 19
Karazhan, Gruul's Lair, and Magtheridon's Lair all unlock on February 19th at 3:00 PM PST. That gives players two weeks to hit 70, run dungeons, and finish attunements.
Karazhan (10-player) is the entry-level raid for Phase 1. Both Karazhan and Heroic Dungeons launch in post-nerf states, placing the raid as the natural next step after normal dungeon gearing. Karazhan requires an attunement chain spanning multiple zones and dungeons, but it's account-wide in the Anniversary Edition. One clear per account.
Gruul's Lair (25-player) is a two-boss raid featuring High King Maulgar and Gruul the Dragonkiller. No attunement required. Gruul's Lair stays relevant throughout the entire expansion for some classes thanks to the Dragonspine Trophy trinket, which remains BiS across all phases for certain specs.
Magtheridon's Lair (25-player) is a single-boss encounter in the basement of Hellfire Citadel. Magtheridon, the former lord of Outland, was imprisoned by Illidan Stormrage and wants his realm back. No attunement needed here either.
PvP Arena Season 1 Starts February 17
Arena Season 1 launches on February 17th with each region's weekly reset. Three arenas are active: Ring of Trials in Nagrand, Circle of Blood in Blade's Edge Mountains, and Ruins of Lordaeron above Undercity. Gear, mounts, and titles are all up for grabs.
The Anniversary Edition reworks the system in several ways. Individual ratings replace the old team-based structure, starting at 1500 instead of 0. Players who drop below 1500 can pay gold to reset each week. Most PvP gear has no rating requirement to purchase, with Shoulders (2000) and Weapons (1700) being the only exceptions. Gear costs are lower across the board, and reputation-based PvP gear is available from Phase 1 with set bonuses that stack with honor-purchased equivalents.
There's no ranking system tied to honor this time around. Players who want to chase ranks will need to do it through Arena.
Reputation Factions
Reputation grinds gate access to Heroic Dungeons, profession recipes, and pre-raid BiS items. Phase 1 factions include:
- The Aldor / The Scryers
- Cenarion Expedition
- The Consortium
- Honor Hold (Alliance) / Thrallmar (Horde)
- Keepers of Time
- Kurenai / The Mag'har
- Lower City
- Netherwing
- Ogri'la
- The Sha'tar
- Sporeggar
Other Phase 1 Features
Blood Elves and Draenei both became playable during the pre-patch on January 13th. Blood Elves bring Paladins to the Horde for the first time, while Draenei give the Alliance access to Shamans. Draenei also get the Gem Cutting racial passive for a Jewelcrafting head start.
Jewelcrafting is the expansion's new profession. Jewelcrafters create rings, amulets, trinkets, healing statues, and socketable gems. Horde players train with Kalaen at Thrallmar, Alliance with Tatiana at Honor Hold.
Guild Banks are available from day one, unlike the original TBC Classic. Eight purchasable tabs with 98 slots each, no bags required. First tab costs 100 gold, with prices scaling up from there.
Flying Mounts open up remote areas of Outland that are inaccessible on foot.
Level 58 Boost has been available as a standalone purchase since January 13th, also included in the Outland Epic Pack. Works on all races including Blood Elves and Draenei, restricted to Classic Anniversary realm characters.
Returning Features from 2021
Several changes that worked well during the first Burning Crusade Classic release in 2021 are back.
Both factions get access to Seal of Blood and Seal of Vengeance, keeping the class balance improvements that proved successful before. Players can exchange raid tier tokens for previous season Arena gear, letting PvE-focused players pick up competitive PvP pieces without grinding Arena. Reputation-based honor gear arrives earlier in the content cycle than it did originally.
Last-Minute Launch Adjustments
Blizzard pushed out a handful of changes right before the servers went live.
Mage boosting is back. Crowd control immunity and movement speed buffs on dungeon creatures (the anti-boosting measures) have been dialed back. Dungeon-boosting strategies are viable again.
Tauren hitbox restored. The swing range for Tauren characters is back to its original size.
PvP gear gold costs rebalanced. Gold pricing on PvP gear from Outland factions was adjusted at launch to better align with honor-purchased gear.
The Full 2026 Roadmap
Blizzard committed to a quarterly release cadence during the State of Azeroth broadcast. The entire expansion will play out in roughly eight to nine months.
Phase 2: Overlords of Outland (Spring 2026)
The second raid tier opens with Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep: The Eye, featuring the Lady Vashj and Kael'thas Sunstrider encounters. Daily quest content arrives through the Ogri'la and Sha'tari Skyguard hubs. New profession recipes, the Druid Swift Flight Form quest chain, and Arena Season 2 round out the phase.
Phase 3: Black Temple (Summer 2026)
Summer 2026 brings the raids most players are waiting for. The Battle for Mount Hyjal and The Black Temple both open, with the latter featuring the iconic Illidan Stormrage fight. Netherwing daily quests and epic gem acquisition also arrive alongside Arena Season 3.
Phase 3.5: Gods of Zul'Aman (Autumn 2026)
A mid-phase release adds Zul'Aman, the 10-player troll raid known for its timed bear mount run. Arena Season 4 launches with it.
Phase 4: Fury of the Sunwell (Late Autumn/Winter 2026)
Sunwell Plateau opens as TBC's most punishing raid. The Isle of Quel'Danas daily quest hub goes live alongside it. This wraps up the Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary content before winter ends.
Timeline and Difficulty Concerns
The compressed timeline has drawn mixed reactions. Cutting the content cycle from 14 months to roughly eight or nine means less time to gear up between phases, especially with 25-player raids distributing limited loot across large groups.
Raid difficulty is another friction point. All raid content launches in its post-nerf state. Some players have pointed out that even the original 2021 TBC Classic featured launch-state encounters that many found surprisingly easy, and post-nerf versions will be even more forgiving. Community members have floated the idea of optional heroic difficulty with pre-nerf tuning and slightly better loot drops, so casual and hardcore players can both get what they want.
What Comes After TBC
The 2026 roadmap makes no mention of Wrath of the Lich King Anniversary servers. Fury of the Sunwell marks the end of the announced content, leaving the future of Anniversary servers unclear.
That absence has fueled speculation, especially after WoW Classic Executive Producer Holly Longdale dropped what looked like a deliberate tease during the State of Azeroth broadcast. Longdale said "I can say with confidence that all Classic players across the globe have a lot to look forward to. I'm really excited to announce that..." before being interrupted. She followed up with "I guess we'll save that for later."
Combined with the Wrath-shaped gap in the roadmap, many players expect a Classic Plus announcement at BlizzCon 2026 on September 12th. Several factors feed that theory: WoW Classic developer Aggrend previously mentioned an expanded role focused on "the greater vision of Classic over time," Season of Discovery proved Blizzard can experiment successfully with new Classic content, and TBC Anniversary's natural endpoint creates an obvious launching point for something different.
Blizzard hasn't confirmed anything. The tease could just as easily point to Wrath Anniversary servers or other unannounced content. Clarity on Anniversary server progression should come, in Blizzard's own words, "after the release of The Black Temple, at BlizzCon 2026."
Key Dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 13, 2026 | Pre-patch and Level 58 Boost go live |
| February 5, 2026 | TBC Classic Anniversary Edition launches (3:00 PM PST) |
| February 17, 2026 | PvP Arena Season 1 begins |
| February 19, 2026 | Karazhan, Gruul's Lair, and Magtheridon's Lair unlock (3:00 PM PST) |
| Spring 2026 | Phase 2: Overlords of Outland |
| Summer 2026 | Phase 3: Black Temple |
| Autumn 2026 | Phase 3.5: Gods of Zul'Aman |
| Late Autumn/Winter 2026 | Phase 4: Fury of the Sunwell |
| September 12, 2026 | BlizzCon 2026 |
