In June 2021, the first expansion of World of Warcraft went live for the second time with WoW BC Classic and attracted thousands of players – both old and new. But how good is The Burning Crusade actually if you’re starting completely new?
The Burning Crusade shares the throne in terms of popularity with Wrath of the Lich King among WoW players. Both expansions are considered the best times WoW ever had, with differing opinions on which one truly deserves the top rank – even if Cortyn has a different opinion again.
TBC was 14 years ago; the add-on was released in January 2007 and ended with the release of WotLK in November 2008. Since then, WoW has lost many players and gained new ones.
A large part of the new players might not even be familiar with Burning Crusade. However, fans of WoW should definitely catch up on this experience, and since June 2, it has been possible with WoW BC Classic. We’ll tell you why starting now, even after 14 years, is still worth it.
The best raid of the game and 16 dungeons
What does Burning Crusade even offer? With Burning Crusade, the level cap rises to 70, which is even higher than in current Retail WoW (Shadowlands). The most important content consists of the PvE aspects of the game. These include:
- nine zones with quests and their own factions
- 16 dungeons
- heroic difficulty for all dungeons (for level 70 players)
- nine raids, three of which are open at release
- two world bosses
Three of the raids are particularly notable: in the Fortress of the Storms, Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider awaits, who is still considered one of the hardest bosses in WoW. The Black Temple is the iconic raid where we first encounter Illidan Stormrage in the game, the charismatic “traitor” of the Night Elves.
Additionally, with Karazhan, the best raid of WoW overall is located in Burning Crusade: The Karazhan raid is the massive tower of the powerful mage Medivh, who was possessed by a demon. Here, unique fights and events await in a Victorian setting, accompanied by delightful harpsichord melodies.
What are the core features? In Burning Crusade, the Blood Elves for the Horde and Draenei for the Alliance are one of the most important features. With the two new races, the factions can each play the classes that were previously only available to their opponents: Paladins (Blood Elves) and Shamans (Draenei).
Additionally, a new profession is introduced with Jewelcrafting, allowing players to create socket items for themselves and others. Such gems can further enhance already powerful gear.
One of the biggest changes is flying, which only became possible in WoW with TBC. Previously, players were bound to the ground, and now they can fly independently in the new areas.
3 reasons to check out BC Classic in 2021
If you play Retail or are generally interested in WoW, don’t shy away from BC Classic. Especially if you already have a subscription, Classic is included, and you can take a look without any additional cost.
If you’re considering checking out WoW BC Classic but can’t decide, here are some reasons that might convince you.
1. Experience the game that millions have fallen in love with
Burning Crusade is already the first expansion, but it is still something like the “pure form” of WoW. Over the years, many new features were added to WoW, and old features disappeared. When asking veteran players, some will say that WoW today has little in common with what it was back then.
Anyone who started with WoW back then experienced a very different game than what new players see today. But every person who has been playing since then will tell you that they fell in love with the game at their time.
As a new player, you have the opportunity to relive that first experience with WoW. Many veterans will envy you for the feeling of going (once again) through the Dark Portal or entering the city of Shattrath for the first time.
The fact that WoW was able to grow at all is due to the fact that it was already good for its time and has managed to remain one of the biggest MMORPGs in the world for a good 17 years.
2. Discover how WoW became what it is today
In The Burning Crusade, several features were introduced that are now standard in the game. These include:
- Flying mounts, which even work throughout the world in Retail (in Shadowlands only from Patch 9.1)
- shared capitals for Horde and Alliance, a so-called “sanctuary”
- various difficulty levels for dungeons
- raids with fewer than 40 players
Additionally, TBC later introduced a dungeon browser that over the years evolved into the LFG tool you know today. However, this is (still) not available in BC Classic.
If you’re interested in why you farm mythic dungeons instead of “normal,” why you can’t kill players of the other faction in Oribos, or how hard it was back then to be able to fly, you should definitely check out BC Classic.
Many features that are taken for granted today are still real achievements there, and maybe you’ll see the current World of Warcraft from a different perspective.
3. WoW BC Classic slows down
In Classic as well as in Burning Crusade, everything takes longer – from leveling to traveling to visiting dungeons. There are no one-click invitations, riding training is expensive, and it takes several hours to level up.
So when you play WoW Classic, you need to take your time and also want to take time. However, this gives you the opportunity to fully enjoy the whole game feeling.
In Classic, you escape the rush and stress of quickly reaching the max level to grind everything. Since the content isn’t per se “new,” it’s not worth it – you can take your time better and check out everything you want to see.
This makes Classic feel slow and sometimes even relaxing, something many players no longer experience in the current WoW. There, constant performance is often required, and there is always something to do, with little time for it:
BC Classic is slow and demanding
However, not everything in WoW BC Classic is good. If you want to start, keep in mind that the game is demanding. Much of the difficulty does not come from complex classes but from cumbersome systems.
Leveling takes longer and requires much more grind than in Retail. Players often run through the same dungeon many times just for experience points. Although this is boring, this method allowed players to reach level 70 in just a few hours.
Classes are confusing with many abilities and talents but still less complex. You have many skills to choose from, but in most cases, you will end up using only a few. Learning this takes time.
Items are not available “at every corner.” For many strong items, you need to farm reputation for hours, collect materials, or visit instances multiple times. You won’t find groups for this via a tool but have to assemble them yourself and travel to the dungeon.
There is a level boost for level 58, but there are several reasons against using the boost. If you are satisfied with the current pace of WoW, you will likely be annoyed by the effort you have to put in Classic.
Raids are not (or no longer) demanding
Additionally, most content is not really difficult. Even if you don’t know the mechanics, there are guides available online for everything since over 14 years, and players have optimized everything that can be optimized.
That Classic was “harder” back then is mainly because no one knew what to do. With a quick look on the internet, you can easily become a master of the content. Experienced players have gone so far that they completed all raids within 24 hours of release, essentially finishing BC Classic for now.
Nevertheless, a visit to the old world is worthwhile not only because of nostalgia but also to gain new experiences. This applies to both new players and veterans who think they know everything.
MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus invested countless hours in The Burning Crusade back then and still fell in love with the game all over again:
