World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will have two pre-launch patches — What to expect

World of Warcraft Shadowlands will have two pre-patches before launch
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

Blizzard revealed that the road to World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will include two pre-patches instead of the usual one. 

Blizzard wrote an extensive blog about everything included in the two pre-patches as well as the progress the team has made on World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. Here's what we know so far.

World of Warcraft Shadowlands patch 9.0.1 and 9.0.2

Blizzard decided to partition the pre-patch into two parts in order to further work on end-game leveling. When the first pre-patch (9.0.1) arrives, it will deliver new customization options as well as a streamlined leveling experience.

Meanwhile, 9.0.2 will deliver the top-end of the new leveling system, allowing you to progress from level 50 to 60 in Shadowlands. However, we still don't have a date for either of these pre-patches.

We do have some updates on the state of leveling alternative characters. Players will be given the choice of whether they want to experience Revendreth’s story again. If they skip it, characters will enter the Shadowlands in a state where the entire narrative has already been completed. However, they'll get new bonus objectives available in locations that were previously central to the campaign. 

Additionally, Blizzard is also restructuring how Torghast is unlocked, cutting down the introductory quests to just one. There's a lot more information that Blizzard discussed in the deep-dive, which you can read here.

Rami Tabari
Editor

Rami Tabari is an Editor for Laptop Mag. He reviews every shape and form of a laptop as well as all sorts of cool tech. You can find him sitting at his desk surrounded by a hoarder's dream of laptops, and when he navigates his way out to civilization, you can catch him watching really bad anime or playing some kind of painfully difficult game. He’s the best at every game and he just doesn’t lose. That’s why you’ll occasionally catch his byline attached to the latest Souls-like challenge.