World of Warcraft Classic is getting official Hardcore realms, developer Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed.
The announcement was made by Senior Game Producer Aggrend, during the community-led Hardcore All-Stars event livestream, when he revealed that hardcore Classic-era servers are scheduled to arrive “later this summer.”
World of Warcraft Classic Hardcore Realms
Aggrend noted that the team behind WoW Classic has been following the community’s efforts towards creating a hardcore-style experience – which spawned an addon solely meant to do this –, calling it “sort of a genuine moment” for the MMORPG.
The main draw of WoW Classic’s official hardcore realms is the added challenge coming from the fact that once a character dies, it stays dead, having no opportunities to be resurrected.
That being said, although characters only have one life, players can still log in on their dead characters and play as a ghost.
“This is mostly for logistical reasons,” Aggrend explained, as it allows players to pass on guild leadership or interact with the friends they might have made while playing hardcore.
One new feature being introduced is the duel to the death, which does precisely what you’d expect. Normally, duels end when one player’s health pool drops to 1.
Using the appropriately named /makgora command – referencing an orcish custom that involved two combatants dueling until death –, players can make sure that the loser has to reroll a new character.
The mode is slated to arrive on the PTR “somewhere in the next several weeks,” allowing us to test its full ruleset and provide feedback.
Aside from WoW Classic’s official hardcore realms, Blizzard has also confirmed that it is working on a Season of Mastery follow-up that it has yet to detail.
In less high-stakes but considerably chillier news, Wrath of the Lich King Classic’s Phase 3 and the Trial of the Crusader are currently in testing on the PTR.
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