The Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary pre-patch went live January 13, 2026, at 3:00 PM Pacific. After a full 24-hour maintenance window, players can now roll Blood Elves and Draenei, pick up Jewelcrafting, and grind through faster leveling to prepare for the expansion.
TBC Classic proper launches February 5, with raids unlocking two weeks later on February 19.
Realm Transition and Server Changes
Every Classic Anniversary realm (PVE, PVP, and Hardcore) has moved to Burning Crusade Classic. Players who wanted to stay in Classic Era had a free transfer window from November 25, 2025, through January 12, 2026. That window is now closed, and anyone who didn't transfer has automatically progressed to TBC.
There's no character cloning this time around. Players had to pick one version or the other.
Hardcore players got a raw deal here. No Hardcore TBC realms exist. Those who wanted to keep playing had to transfer to normal PVE/PVP anniversary realms or Classic Era during the November-December window.
The 24-Hour Maintenance Explained
Senior Game Producer Tom Ellis (Fwoibles) posted a detailed breakdown of why the maintenance took so long. When Classic Anniversary launched, Blizzard was also handling WoW's return to China. To save time, Anniversary realms ran inside the existing Classic Era infrastructure rather than getting their own environment.
The team knew this would cause problems later. It already had. Season of Discovery players once accidentally ended up in Anniversary Alterac Valley matches.
TBC required separating Anniversary into its own environment. The team looked at a Connected Realms-style migration, but the code was outdated and couldn't be tested in time. Mass character transfers would've disbanded guilds and created name collisions.
The solution they landed on is called "persistent in place." WoW data lives in three databases: Persistent (characters, guilds, items), Account (achievements and account-level stuff), and Regional (Token system, realm lists). During maintenance, Account and Regional data got copied to the new environment. That's what took most of the downtime.
The Persistent database does something unusual. The new TBC Anniversary realms still read from and write to the same database as Classic Era. Two different versions of WoW sharing one database. Ellis called it unprecedented. It works because all player data is tagged by environment, so queries pull the right information.
From the player side, nothing looks different. Same realm names, same characters, same guilds.
Honor System Changes
The vanilla Honor ranking system is gone. Arena PVP has replaced it.
Character ranks locked in when the pre-patch hit. Blizzard gave players one final rank update reflecting Honor earned until servers went down on January 12. Whatever rank a character had at that moment is now permanent.
Honor gains are doubled through the pre-patch period. This bonus runs until February 5 at 3:00 PM Pacific, giving players extra time to farm before launch.
One note on gear prices: the PTR showed costs from the final phase of TBC Classic in 2022. Live pre-patch prices are higher, matching what Blizzard intended for this phase.
Blood Elves and Draenei
Both new races are available now. Draenei join the Alliance, Blood Elves join the Horde. This breaks faction exclusivity for Shamans (now Alliance via Draenei) and Paladins (now Horde via Blood Elves).
Unlike the original 2007 launch, TBC Classic Anniversary unlocked these races during the pre-patch. Players have about three weeks to hit 60 before the expansion drops.
Draenei Racials
Draenei bring strong PVE utility:
- Gemcutting: +5 Jewelcrafting skill
- Gift of the Naaru: Heals target for 50 over 15 seconds
- Heroic Presence: +1% hit chance for the character and party members within 30 yards (Hunters, Paladins, Warriors)
- Inspiring Presence: +1% spell hit chance for the character and party members within 30 yards (Mages, Priests, Shamans)
- Shadow Resistance: +10 Shadow Resistance
Heroic Presence and Inspiring Presence matter most for raid optimization. Each Draenei gets one or the other based on class. Optimized raids will want one Draenei per DPS group to provide the hit buff. Hunters work well for melee/physical groups, Shamans for caster groups.
DPS players should factor this into gear planning. Extra hit rating becomes wasted stats if a Draenei is covering that buff.
Blood Elf Racials
Blood Elves shine in PVP:
- Arcane Affinity: +10 Enchanting skill
- Arcane Torrent: 2-second AoE silence within 8 yards, plus 10 Mana/Energy per Mana Tap stack
- Magic Resistance: +5 to all Resistances
- Mana Tap: Drains 50 mana from target, stacks up to 3 times for 10 minutes
Arcane Torrent gives every Blood Elf class an AoE silence. Expect to see Blood Elves dominating arena compositions where crowd control chains decide matches.
Jewelcrafting
The new profession is live and can be leveled to 300 during the pre-patch. Gem sockets become core to TBC itemization, and Jewelcrafters cut the gems that fill them. Getting a head start now means being ready to push past 300 when the expansion hits.
Leveling Changes
The pre-patch made leveling significantly faster:
Experience adjustments:
- 15% less XP required per level from 20-60
- Higher quest XP rewards from level 30 onward
- Bonus XP for dungeon quests
- Outdoor elite quests tuned for solo play
Zone and dungeon updates:
Dustwallow Marsh got a full revamp with around 60 new quests and a new Goblin hub. Dungeon level ranges are tighter now, so players can clear an entire instance at one level instead of coming back repeatedly. Early dungeon bosses also drop better loot (former Uncommon items upgraded to Rare quality with better stats).
Mount changes:
Normal 60% mounts are available at level 30 instead of 40. This alone speeds up the painful 30-40 grind.
Costs dropped too. At Friendly reputation:
| Speed Tier | Classic Cost | TBC Pre-Patch Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Normal (60%) Mount + Skill | 100g | 45g |
| Epic (100%) Mount + Skill | 1,000g | 700g |
The cost structure shifted toward riding skill rather than the mount itself. Players can't dodge epic mount costs by getting rare drops like Swift Zulian Tiger anymore. The riding skill still has to be purchased first.
Paid Character Boost
The Outland Epic Pack costs $79.99 and includes a level 58 character boost. This didn't exist in original TBC and is part of the Anniversary monetization model.
The boost provides:
- One character at level 58
- Apprentice Riding Skill and a race-specific mount
- Weapon skills at 58
- Level 58 green gear
- Flight point access
- Up to 4 Runecloth Bags (3 bags plus a class-specific bag for Hunters and Warlocks)
- Starting gold
Boosts only work on TBC realms, not Classic Era.
For fast gearing, Zul'Gurub runs through guilds or soft reserve pugs offer the quickest path. ZG drops entry-level raid gear that most Phase 6 groups just disenchant anyway.
Dark Portal Event
The Opening of the Dark Portal event runs until February 5. Completing the "Into the Breach" quest at the Dark Portal (kill six Invading Felguard) rewards the Tabard of the Protector.
The tabard has an on-use Holy Nova-style effect and makes the character flex. PVP server players should expect some competition at the portal.
This is the only window to get the tabard. It becomes unavailable when TBC launches.
Arena Skirmishes
Unranked Arena matches are available now. Ranked seasons won't start until a few weeks into Phase 1, but Skirmishes (2v2, 3v3, 5v5) can be queued at Goblin NPCs in Stormwind, Ironforge, Orgrimmar, Undercity, and Gadgetzan.
The pre-patch creates a strange PVP environment. Level 60 players running Naxxramas gear with TBC talent trees hit much harder than health pools can handle. Burst classes can drop opponents in a few globals. It's a unique meta that won't exist once the expansion launches and gear scales up.
Content Roadmap
TBC Classic Anniversary runs through five phases:
| Phase | Content | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-Patch | Leveling updates, new races, Jewelcrafting, Dark Portal event | January 13, 2026 (Live) |
| Phase 1 | Level 70 cap, new dungeons, Heroics, Karazhan, Gruul's Lair, Magtheridon, Outland | February 5, 2026 (Raids: February 19) |
| Phase 2 | Serpentshrine Cavern, Tempest Keep, profession updates | TBD |
| Phase 3 | Mount Hyjal, Black Temple | TBD |
| Phase 3.5 | Zul'Aman | TBD |
| Phase 4 | Magister's Terrace, Sunwell Plateau, Isle of Quel'Danas dailies | TBD |
Anniversary realms are expected to move through content faster than both the original 2007 release and 2021's TBC Classic.
Guild Banks also arrive with TBC, giving guilds shared storage for items and gold.
Key Dates
- November 25, 2025 - January 12, 2026: Free transfers to Classic Era (closed)
- January 12, 2026: Servers went down for maintenance
- January 13, 2026: Pre-patch launched
- Now through February 5: Double Honor gains
- February 5, 2026: TBC Classic Anniversary launches, double Honor ends
- February 19, 2026: Phase 1 raids open
