After the release of WOTLK Classic, the most notable change was the change WoW Classic made to Wrath of the Lich King. Blizzard Entertainment has made a complete change to the equipment, and the experience for players is also very different from the original WOTLK expansion.
Now, we find out there’s more #SomeChanges on how and when to get gear in Wrath Classic. And as one of the representatives of the Heroic Plus change is the most striking.
The first change worth knowing about is that when Ulduar — Phase 2 of Wrath Classic — drops, all gear from 10 player Phase 1 raids such as Naxxramas 10, Sartharion in the Obsidian Sanctum 10, and Eye of Eternity 10 will be dropped Replaced with gear from 25 players. So if you want to quickly level up while entering Ulduar, you can do that by raiding the 10-player dungeon from the previous stage, rather than summoning an extra 15, and you’ll get more experience. You can raid them on 10 and 25 players to increase your chances of getting these tier shards and WOTLK Classic Gold for sale.
If you’re wondering what happens to those Phase 1 10 player drops after Ulduar comes out, they won’t leave the game. Instead, Zierhut told us we’ll see the return of 10-player raids in a new difficulty mode for Heroic 5 player dungeons (called Heroic Plus dungeons). By setting the difficulty higher, you can clear the Stage 1 dungeons of these Hero Plus versions and earn unique higher tier drops and WOTLK Gold from Sartharion 10, Eye of Eternity 10, and Naxxramas 10. This is all part of the stated goal of keeping 5 player dungeons relevant and interesting.
So in Phase 2 of Wrath Classic, you can run a 10 player raid from Phase 1 to get the same loot as a 25 player Phase 1 raid because it’s actually the same loot. Then, if you still want specific gear from the 10-player Phase 1 raid, or you just want to get level 200 gear for Ulduar as soon as possible, you can run Heroic Plus dungeons from Phase 1 – aka each with the Wrath Classic Hero dungeons launched together as we won’t get new 5 player dungeons until new 5 player dungeons until Phase 3 and Trial of the Crusader.
I think this will be a fair step towards the goal of keeping heroic dungeons relevant as stages progress and keeping players interested in raids from previous stages. For example, Phase 1 10 player Naxx will now drop Grim Toll, a trinket that makes every melee DPS coveted in WOTLK Classic and one that I personally use very well in Icecrown Citadel.
Overall, I think the combination will make the currency system more streamlined to drop Emblems of Valor from raids and Emblems of Heroism from dungeons from day 1, which are great changes.