WoW: Wrath Of The Lich King Classic Gets Noticeably Less “Classic” Next Month

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic’s upcoming update is a significant one, bringing not only the expansion’s second-to-last raid but also a range of modern quality-of-life enhancements, including a highly-requested feature that Blizzard once seemed determined to never include: the Random Dungeon Finder.

The Fall of the Lich King patch is set to arrive during the week of October 10. The highlight of the update, the Icecrown Citadel raid, will open on October 12, allowing players to face off against Arthas himself. Additionally, the update will introduce three new dungeons—The Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection—along with a new difficulty level for the game’s existing dungeons.

Apart from the new raid and dungeons, the most significant addition is undoubtedly the Dungeon Finder, often referred to as the Random Dungeon Finder or RDF by players. Initially introduced in 2009 towards the end of Wrath of the Lich King’s lifespan as a cross-server matchmaking tool for dungeons, RDF automatically assembles players into a group based on their specific class role and teleports them to the chosen dungeon’s entrance. While players could select specific dungeons to queue for, most preferred the “random” dungeon feature, which rewarded players with additional bonuses once per day. This feature remains largely unchanged in the modern version of WoW.

Before the release of Wrath of the Lich King Classic, Blizzard discussed its alternative approach to re-releasing the beloved expansion, one that excluded the dungeon finder to preserve the social aspect of the MMORPG. Without the dungeon finder, Wrath Classic players would need to manually find groups on their own, interact with other players on their specific server, and travel to their chosen dungeon. While the community has been divided on this matter for some time, a significant number of players have been requesting the dungeon finder since the release of Wrath Classic in September 2022, and it appears that Blizzard is finally ready to deliver.

Other features from the modern version of WoW, such as the collections tab and improved quest tracking, will also be introduced to Wrath Classic during the week of October 10. Similar to the modern version of Blizzard’s MMO, players’ pets and mounts will no longer occupy bag space but will instead be stored in a separate tab, allowing them to be summoned at will. Reading quest text will no longer be necessary, as updated quest tracking will provide players with precise directions on where to go and what to do to complete a quest. This is a far cry from earlier versions of the game, where players had to sift through walls of text to figure out their next objective.

For those seeking a more old-school experience, Blizzard recently launched official “Hardcore” permadeath servers for WoW Classic, where players have been meeting their demise in unexpected and amusing ways.