Beta day

01Enchanting

In 1.12 the best caster weapon enchants come from raids. With raids closed at launch, casters and healers would reach level 60 with little worth putting on a weapon. So we gave them their own path: five new enchants for weapons, gloves and shields, each one earned before raiding, through reputation, rare boss drops and a hidden trainer.

We also went through all 156 enchanting recipes. Every enchant now carries its 1.12 value, disenchanting works the 1.12 way, seven recipes ask for fewer materials and three formulas are always in stock.

02Crafting

In 1.12 most crafted gear is a stepping stone at best. Next to dungeon drops it usually loses, so players skip it. We wanted the opposite: from level 15 to 60, a crafted piece should be dungeon quality, as good as the best pre-raid item or slightly better, made mostly from materials you gather in the open world, with dungeon materials as flavour.

Every crafted item was set against a named rival: a real quest reward, dungeon drop or vendor item that a player of that level can actually get. A crafted piece lands at about 100–103% of the best rival for its slot and level. The price follows the power: a dungeon-quality piece takes a few evenings of gathering, and the best recipes ask for Revered reputation.

• 141new crafted items
• 98existing items improved
• 12Jewelcrafting epics
• 6reputations selling recipes

New recipes by profession: Blacksmithing 38, Leatherworking 40, Tailoring 35, Jewelcrafting 16, plus 12 Jewelcrafting epics: four rings, four necklaces and four trinkets that only jewelcrafters can wear. Their designs come from Thorium Brotherhood, Argent Dawn and Timbermaw at Revered, rare world drops and dungeon bosses.

Recipes come from trainers, goblin vendors with limited stock, dungeon bosses, zone drops, and the reputation vendors of Thorium Brotherhood, Argent Dawn, Timbermaw, Cenarion Circle, Everlook and Gadgetzan. Jewelcrafting has trainers in Ironforge and Orgrimmar up to skill 225; at 200 a quest points you to a hidden master who teaches the rest.

03Dungeons

A dungeon is only as good as its fights. We went through every boss of 25 dungeons and gave each one its full 1.12 kit: the heals, the enrages, the adds and the timings, at full 1.12 strength.

• 25dungeons
• 180bosses with their 1.12 kit

What we fixed:

• Wailing Caverns: the four Fanglords heal with Healing Touch.
• Owlbeasts and Kor'kron Elites enrage below 30%.
• Glutton (Razorfen Downs) thrashes below 50%.
• Amnennar the Coldbringer summons his spectres at 66% and 33%.
• High Inquisitor Fairbanks heals and shields himself once, at 30% and 25%.
• Scholomance: Gandling's yell is heard across the whole instance.
• Dire Maul: the Conservatory Door opens only after Zevrim falls.
• Stratholme: the Baron's inner door opens when his five Black Guards die.

04Tier tokens

Molten Core hands out Tier 1 as tokens, one per class group and slot. A token is the first thing you see after a long boss fight, so Tier 1 now has art of its own.

Each token becomes the Tier 1 piece of your class, in the version for your role, and turning it in also takes additional materials.

05Quests

We went through the quest log of both factions and brought it back to 1.12, zone by zone.

• 66quests Alliance-only or Horde-only, as in 1.12
• 7quest chains linked the 1.12 way
• 1,572NPCs and objects with 1.12 dialogue

• Faction quests: Northfold Manor, Farren's Proof and 64 more belong to their own faction.
• Later content out: quests and rewards from later expansions, such as Return to Krog, are gone.
• Escorts tuned: Daphne Stilwell and Emi Shortfuse have the health to survive their ambushes when you play them right.
• 1.12 voices: weapon masters speak their 1.12 lines, and tabard vendors design your guild tabard.

06Beta

To test any part of the game from day one, Beta NPCs in Stormwind and Orgrimmar boost you to any level from 10 to 60, teach professions to the cap, sell gear and teleport you anywhere. Everything is wiped before launch on 28 November.

Beta guide →

That is where the beta starts. See you in Azeroth, and tell us what you find in #bug-reports on Discord.

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