WoW Classic Season of Discovery Survival Guide (What's new in WoW Classic's Season of Discovery?)

The WoW Classic Season of Discovery will be the second seasonal patch for WoW Classic, introducing an entirely new content timeline combined with a fresh start for everyone playing. Below is a short list of the major changes made for the Season of Discovery.

• Brand new Instanced and World content including the redesigned Blackfathom Deeps 10-player raid and the Battle for Ashenvale World PvP event.
• Rune Engravings: Unique item enchantment that can be affixed to your Gloves, Chest, Pants Belts, Cloak, Rings, Helmets, Bracers, and Boots that will completely redefine the way you play many of your favorite Classes and Specializations.
• There is no longer a debuff limit on enemies.
• Meeting Stones at dungeons are now Summoning Stones, just as they are on all later versions of WoW.

• Entirely new 8 boss, 20+ player scaling raid, The Scarlet Enclave. This raid drops many pieces of gear considerably more powerful than anything found in any other version of WoW Classic.
• A new zone, New Avalon located on the Eastern side of the Eastern Plaguelands, featuring a host of new quests and the entrance of the Scarlet Enclave raid instance. Make sure to check out Light's Hope Chapel in Eastern Plaguelands to get the initial quests for your adventure to New Avalon.
• Tons of new patterns for each profession including craftable Scarlet 'disguises' allowing you to travel around New Avalon safely. These recipes drop from various NPCs found throughout New Avalon.
• Brand new weapon enchants scaled to be more inline with gear obtainable in Phase 8 of Season of Discovery.
• Brand new 8-piece class specific tier sets from the Scarlet Enclave raid.
• Blackwing Lair quest items like Dream Eater added to the Tarnished Undermine Real vendor.
• An exciting new quest line that will allow you to harness the legendary Corrupted Ashbringer.
• Tarnished Undermine Real cap increasing from 150 to 250.

• Scourge Invasion event throughout Azeroth and select dungeons like Stratholme, Scholomance, Razorfen Downs, and Shadowfang Keep.
• New 20 player version of Naxxramas with optional difficulty affixes, this raid can be completed with as many as 40 players but will scale for the amount of players inside.
• New 'Undead Slaying' gear added to Scourge Invasion rewards.
• Brand new 5 player dungeon Karazhan Crypts.
• New 'Soul' Shoulder augments.

Phase 8 begins April 8th, 2025 with the Scarlet Enclave raid unlocking April 10th.

There are massive class changes in Season of Discovery largely thanks to the Rune Engraving system which is the major feature of this season.

Rune Engravings are augments you are able to place on your Gloves, Chest, Pants, Belts, Bracers, Helmets, Cloaks, Rings and Boots that will allow you access to new abilities, make current abilities stronger or just complete rework the way an ability functions. Rune Engravings are specific to item slots, certain engravings can only go on your Gloves, others on your Pants or Chest, while this does somewhat limit customization it allows for a much easier to balance experience. Some of the most notable added Rune Engravings are Metamorphosis for Warlocks allowing them the ability to tank with their new found Demon form. Regeneration for Mages allowing them to apply a buff to their allies transferring damage dealt from the Mage to be converted into healing for anyone currently with the buff. And last but certainly not least Just a Flesh Wound for Rogues which will enable them also to be able to tank due to the added critical damage avoidance and massive increase in threat generation. These examples merely scratch the surface of what is going to be a completely new way to play Classic World of Warcraft so make sure to checkout our guides below on how to best utilize runes for every class and specialization.

As mentioned above, the meta is expected to shift significantly in raids for the Season of Discovery. If you want to read more about the new raid meta and how classes are performing, check out our tier lists linked below.