The big patch to prepare for Shadowlands is here. We tell you how you can already get a taste of the new WoW patch.
In World of Warcraft there is a big wait for the next expansion Shadowlands. But this could soon come to an end. The Pre-Patch 9.0.1 is now playable, as the first version has arrived on the PTR. We tell you what is included in the patch and how you can start playing today.
What does the Pre-Patch contain? The patch 9.0.1 already includes all the major innovations that Shadowlands offers to players – except for the Shadowlands themselves. This primarily means:
- The level squish. All characters will be set from 120 to 50, the preliminary new maximum level. This will also adjust all character stats and items.
- The new leveling experience with “Chromie Time”, where players can level in a specific addon.
- The new starting area Exile’s Reach, which will serve as a tutorial for new players.
- The revisions of all classes.
- New character customizations.
In addition, there is probably the most important piece of the patch, namely the big pre-event, which can be played in the weeks leading up to Shadowlands. The first phase of the event is already live on the PTR and can be tested. The quest for it should be automatically offered as soon as you log in or at the latest when entering a capital city.
Everyone can play Patch 9.0.1
Do you need a beta access for this? No! The PTR of the Pre-Patch 9.0.1 can be downloaded by any player with an active WoW subscription. Just go to the Battle.net software under the “Game Version” tab and select “In Development – Public Test Realm (PTR)”. Then you can start the download. It will likely be quite large at around 20 GB, as the data already contains much of Shadowlands.
When does the patch go live? That is still not entirely clear. In the past expansions, a corresponding pre-patch was tested for 4-5 weeks before it was rolled out to the live servers. This would suggest a release of the patch around the end of September. From there it typically takes another 6 to 8 weeks before the expansion is also released. Therefore, Shadowlands could potentially be released by the end of October or mid-November, assuming Blizzard follows the pattern of previous expansions. If you would rather get a taste of the Shadowlands beta, you should sign up for it.
Have you already tried the patch 9.0.1? Or are you waiting for the pre-event surprise when it goes live?
