Classic News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

A few things are inevitable in life. Death and taxes, of course. And then there’s Bethesda games having weird, physics-y ways of getting around its systems, as Starfield players are currently doing to steal their way across the galaxy.

Blizzard has provided a breakdown of the number of exploitive accounts that received actions for August 2023, totaling over 145,000 accounts! This total is an increase from July 2023, which was 116,000.

Today, we are looking at the DPS rankings during the week of August 29th for Phase 3 of Wrath of the Lich King Classic in Trial of the Crusader. For this analysis, we will use data provided by Warcraft Logs Trial of the Crusader statistics. Warcraft Logs' Trial of the Crusader Statistics

We've datamined the new spells related to Defense Protocol Gamma, which is the new difficulty for Titan Rune Dungeons, currently available for testing on the Wrath Classic 3.4.3 PTR. To learn more about Titan Rune Dungeons, check out our guide below -- Titan Rune Dungeon Overview

Despite launching over four years ago and a sequel in the “early planning stages”, ArtPlay’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night continues to receive new content. In a new preview video, producer Koji Igarashi and director Shutaro Ida revealed the upcoming multiplayer modes, Chaos and VS, developed by WayForward Technologies.

OTK is hosting a World of Warcraft Classic Hardcore Race Tournament, where 12 players are all competing in a leveling race for 3 hours on Hardcore realms.

Four classic Nintendo games are now available on Nintendo Switch Online, expanding the evergrowing library. 

«We could make a safer, less buggy, less risky game if we wanted to» harrumphed Pete Hines last week, talking about Starfield while claiming Bethesda's reputation for buggy games is undeserved. But, you see, that reputation is deserved and that's why we love them. A wise friend once observed to me that everyone talks about Skyrim in terms of grand adventure and epic storytelling, whereas for him it was a game about fly-tipping cows down mountains and watching the physics scramble to cope.

The roads in Northrend are icy and fraught with danger. To help you continue your journey, players will get the benefit of the Joyous Journeys experience buff*, which will increase experience gains by 50% for all players through level 80! It’s a great time to finish leveling a character, create a new one, or invite friends to join you in your adventures.

<Frontier> on Hardcore Realm Defias Pillager NA has killed Ragnaros! This is the first raid to kill Ragnaros on the «official» Hardcore Realms, where no players in the raid died at any point since Level 1. Additionally, it has only been 11 days since the launch of Hardcore Realms on WoW Classic! Image thanks to Crix on Twitter

Blizzard has announced that Joyous Journeys has returned to Wrath of the Lich King Classic, which is a 50% experience buff, lasting even after Icecrown Citadel launches.

WoW Classic recently got its own hardcore mode, which for most of us means one thing: people dying and losing enormous amounts of progress in amusing ways (and maniacs hitting max level in a few days). Hardcore modes are increasingly popular across all games, and take various forms, but the common element is permadeath and, in MMOs especially, that can mean hundreds of hours of playtime disappearing in the blink of an eye. Or in this case, when one unfortunate soul shut their eyes for too long.

The community of happy creators who love Bethesda's recent games for the settlement-building is off to the races in Starfield, thrilled to create a vast variety of ships of their own design—and their favorites of others' designs. Let's get in there and see some of the best I've seen, shall we? We'll see stuff from Firefly, Star Wars, Mass Effect, Aliens, Prometheus, and the ever-beloved Expanse.

It's been an exciting first week of World of Warcraft Classic with over 360,000 deaths globally! Blizzard has even made an infographic showing off some cool data from the Hardcore Classic launch, listing off the top 5 most dangerous mobs in Hardcore. Here's a list of some of the most popular death clips from the first week of Hardcore WoW Classic! And if you're interesting in learning more about Hardcore in Classic WoW, check out our guides below -- Hardcore WoW Overview Hardcore Tips & Tricks Hardcore WoW Leveling Tier List

WoW Classic recently got a new permadeath hardcore mode, and one unfortunate MMO player has found out just how 'hardcore' that really is.

Blizzard has announced that Defense Protocol Gamma will be on the PTR for testing soon, but it seems that the Defiler's Scourgestone vendor has already been implemented. Defiler's Scourgestone will be the new Sidereal Essence equivalent currency for Defense Protocol Gamma Dungeons. As of right now, the vendor offers Trial of the Crusader 25-Player Normal Gear, with various prices that will likely change over time.

Blizzard has shared a schedule for the Wrath Classic Patch 3.4.3 PTR, announcing that Random Dungeon Finder and Defense Protocol Gamma testing will be coming soon. Additionally, ICC Testing will resume on September 15th until September 20th.

World of Warcraft Classic Hardcore has been live for one week, and Blizzard has shared a number of key stats from the first punishing days.

Pretending to be dead, only to then actually become dead, is quite a way to go.

Remember ol' Slender Man? The dapper, faceless, tall drink of water that more than likely inspired your nightmares a decade ago? Well, he's coming back in a big way with the release of an Unreal Engine 5 overhaul of the 2013 cult classic horror game Slender: The Arrival for current-gen platforms, and now we have a release date.

It's been 11 years since the last proper Mario side-scroller, a fact that surprises Nintendo's veteran exec Takashi Tezuka when I point it out. Tezuka has worked on dozens of projects since the launch of 2012's New Super Mario Bros. U — including Super Mario Maker, Nintendo's create-your-own-Mario sandbox. Still, such a wait for more handcrafted Mario levels seems notable.

Side-scrolling 2D Super Mario games have mostly followed the same formula for three decades now — to immense success. At first blush, Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder — the first side-scrolling Super Mario game in 11 years — retains most of the iconic Mario touches we all know and love. However, it includes enough unique twists to make for what could be one of the freshest Super Mario titles in some time.

A new game based on the classic Nickelodeon TV series Rugrats is coming to NES, PC and modern consoles.

It’s hard to believe that the last brand-new 2D Mario game came out more than 10 years ago. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate updates to classics like Super Mario 35 or remixes such as the Super Mario Maker series. But without a fresh entry to the franchise, it felt like there was something missing. However, after getting a chance to go hands-on with Super Mario Bros. Wonder ahead of its official release on October 10th, it feels like the magic is back.

If you're into action RPGs and you still haven't played Grim Dawn, I think you really should. I talked about it a bunch as a counter-example to the ways Diablo 4 made me feel back in July, and while it's an old'un, releasing in 2016 after a 2012 kickstarter, it's a good'un. There's a reason it's kept a humble but enthusiastic fanbase this whole time—it's good, well-designed, old-fashioned ARPG fun.

Warcraft. Warcraft never changes. The words «hunter weapon» or «hunter loot» became its own meme back in the day, due to the fact that hunters could use—and technically benefit from—a bunch of loot otherwise relegated to specific classes. Rogue dagger? That's a hunter weapon. Warrior axe? That's a hunter weapon.

1C Game Studios announced the development of a large scale project titled The War of the Worlds: Siberia. As anyone could easily guess, it takes inspiration from H.G. Wells' classic novel to imagine a Martian invasion of an alternate version of Earth in 1896, focusing specifically on the events taking place in Siberia.

Sea of Stars seemed primed for success: it’s got a gorgeous art style, is soaked through with nostalgia for the turn-based (J)RPGs of yore - but with a modern sensibility to its clever gameplay - and comes from the devs behind ingenious platformer The Messenger. Those stars have indeed aligned, as Sabotage Studio announced that the throwback hit has already passed 100,000 sales on its first day.

Raider.IO has launched Classic Raider.IO, offering data and information for Classic World of Warcraft players! Classic Raider.IO will start off with basic tools, such as Character and Guild info (Armory), but additional features will be coming, such as the Raider.IO Guild Recruitment System. To see all the features of Classic Raider.IO, read the full News Post here. Classic Raider.IO Announcement

Sea of Stars has a very explicit reference to Chrono Trigger, one of the games that inspired it.

Gaming history has its share of stories where parents get in the way. Where computers, arcades, and consoles are misunderstood by an out-of-touch generation, and where passionate young designers and coders get into the hobby–and even become famous–in spite of their parents' wishes.

Wordle 802 answer for August 30: Consistency in Wordle is easier said than done. Getting the first word right every single day and continuing to find the right words to get all the clues in time to solve the puzzle is never not challenging. And some days, you are bound to get a little unlucky and pick words that do not reveal anything. For days like these, you need a helping hand that stops you from losing your streak and potentially months of hard work. And that's why we share these Wordle hints and clues every single day, so you never have to worry about losing. As always, if you are stuck on the last attempt, just scroll to the bottom to check the solution.

The Wrath Classic Patch 3.4.3 PTR is Now Live! As players prepare characters for the Icecrown Citadel raid testing, players are noticing a large number of changes. We'll cover these undocumented changes below --

Blizzard has updated the Wrath Classic PTR with Patch 3.4.3 and provided Development Notes, covering all the incoming changes which we covered here.

Blizzard has posted a full listing of their Warcraft Summer Sales including 50% off Dragonflight, Wrath of the Lich King Classic upgrades, and Warcraft III: Reforged. There's also 30% off Select Game Services and the Searfarer's Pack for soon to be discontinued mount and pets available for purchase. Be sure to check out all the savings as these offers will be going away after September 17th.

The first game you play in The Making of Karateka, a release about the making of the cinematic action game Karateka, is an Asteroids clone. It may seem strange, but the attempt at recreating Asteroids was a seminal moment for Karateka creator Jordan Mechner, a humble beginning for a designer who would go on to create some of the most influential action games ever made, including Prince of Persia. The clone appears early on during a long, winding, and interactive timeline, which takes you through Mechner’s early days of experimentation before getting into how Karateka was developed and released.

World of Warcraft Classic got its hardcore servers four days ago, an opportunity (?) for players to  enjoy the experience with permadeath for their chosen character. As is the way of things this immediately triggered a race to become the world's first max level WoW Classic player. Take a bow VitochieR1 on Twitch, who achieved level 60 with a Gnome Mage specialising in frost, a feat that took them precisely 69 Hours, 53 Minutes, 34 Seconds.

We're long overdue for another Tomb Raider game. But if the rumour mill is to be believed, we'll finally get one soon. A recent update to the Tomb Raider website only ignited these hopes, and now a Call of Duty crossover event might have proven us all right - only if quite an unexpected way.

Activision has given us our best look yet at Tomb Raider's Lara Croft in Call of Duty.

A WoW Classic player has won the race to boost a character to the maximum level cap on the MMO's newly introduced Hardcore servers. 

I’ve often struggled with playing Classic World of Warcraft and the two expansions they’ve done for it because although it’s nice to return and remember how things used to be, I’ve already done it all. I can’t really get excited about clearing Molten Core and killing the Lich King since I know what I’d need to do those things, and I can’t get into doing it all again. I figured it’d be the same with Classic Hardcore , and maybe worse since the threat of permanent death is always around every corner. However, I’m enjoying it a whole lot more than I expected.

Vitochie VitochieR1 on Twitch (Defias Pillager NA) has achieved World First Level 60 on Hardcore WoW Classic! Vitochie played a Gnome Mage using a Frost AoE Build to clear groups of enemies. Final Played time was 69 Hours, 53 Minutes, 34 Seconds.VitochieR1 on Twitch

The 7th Guest VR is such an unexpected project it virtually demands attention. Based on the original, ground-breaking 90s FMV adventure game, this updated version transposes the plot and puzzles of the original to virtual reality headsets, like PSVR2. Announced earlier in the year, developer Vertigo Games confirmed today that the title will launch on 19th October.

Digital Extremes’ Warframe is one of the longest-lasting live-service games on the market, having started its free-to-play romp back in 2013. Some of the game’s oldest fans may well remember that DE’s sci-fi adventure ambitions started earlier still, with the original concept behind Dark Sector: a game that embodied many of Warframe‘s core design principles at first, only to eventually be retrofitted into a bog standard (albeit charming) cover-based third-person shooter. Well, Dark Sector has always had more than a few parallels with Warframe proper, and those parallels may be explored in a new context with Warframe: 1999.

Blizzard has a new challenge for World of Warcraft players looking for a «challenging and perilous journey» – Classic Hardcore Realms.

Alien Hominid was a run-and-gun Adobe Flash game originally released in 2002 via influential website Newgrounds. It then got a vastly improved HD release on various consoles between 2003 and 2007.

Alien Hominid HD will be coming to most modern platforms, developer The Behemoth has announced.

Blizzard has released data about the first hours of Classic Hardcore. In a little over 24 hours since launch, 90,000 characters have perished. The highest-level player after one day reached level 33!

Blizzard has announced that a realm restart will take place tomorrow morning, addressing an issue regarding Non-Hardcore Realms having multiple layers.

Dying on a Hardcore Realm with Mail will prevent you from deleting or transferring your character.

A fresh Nintendo Switch Online update has brought another well-liked N64 classic back to modern audiences, but Mario Party 3 hopefuls aren't taking the news well.

World of Warcraft Classic's hardcore servers—which have been available on its PTR for some time—have officially launched on its live realms, alongside an official trailer which you can watch below. 

Blizzard has updated the Known Issues Blue Post for Patch 1.14.4, adding new information about the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj. In the Developer Note, they clarify this is not intended and does not mean there will be an Opening Event.

Hardcore is a new game mode being globally launched on WoW Classic today, August 24 at 3:00 PM PDT, but you'll only need to download WoW Classic to play! We've also prepared Hardcore Class Leveling guides, which can help new and returning Classic players! To learn more about Hardcore in Classic WoW, check out our other guides below -- Hardcore WoW Overview Hardcore Tips & Tricks Hardcore WoW Leveling Tier List

Blizzard has announced that the Wrath of the Lich King Classic Public Test Realm for Patch 3.4.3 will go live soon and Raid Testing for Icecrown Citadel will begin on August 29. This update will include the new raid Icecrown Citadel, Shadowmourne, The Lich King encounter, as well as new dungeons, Random Dungeon Finder, and a default quest helper.

Hardcore WoW Classic is now live on Classic Era Realms globally! We've prepared Hardcore Leveling Guides, a Hardcore Leveling Tier List, as well as Hardcore Tips and Tricks. If you're interesting in learning more about Hardcore in Classic WoW, check out our guides below -- Hardcore WoW Overview Hardcore Tips & Tricks Hardcore WoW Leveling Tier List

It’s official: WoW Classic Hardcore has been reborn, and its out right now. I use the term reborn, though, because Hardcore realms have a storied history in World of Warcraft Classic, and with that a legacy to live up to. I asked Blizzard if bringing their interpretation of the already popular mode into the age-old MMORPG comes with any pressure, and the team admits they’ve been feeling the heat.

Face Azeroth’s dangers in WoW Classic’s Hardcore realms and see just how far you can go. You only have one life to live, and the Spirit Healers won’t be there to send you back out into the world of the living when you die. Death is permanent, and once you’ve been bested by the environment (or even other players), you’ll need to dust yourself off and create a new character to try again. 

Blizzard has a limited time sale going for Classic Era Bundle Character Transfers, allowing you to move multiple characters between Classic Era Realms for a discounted rate.

Expand your horizons in Azeroth, or join new friends or old on their latest adventures when you transfer your character or characters with the Paid Character Transfer Service. You can now purchase multiple character transfers* at a discount to use them all at once or as needed.

Blizzard has shared a reminder that when your Hardcore Character dies on a Hardcore Realm, you won't be able to resurrect but you can still continue to play that Character by taking advantage of the Free Character Transfer service.

I honestly think I'm just too scared to try my hand at World of Warcraft Classic's Hardcore mode. I'm not particularly great at PvP (ask my EVE Online characters), and to be fair I'm not great at going long stretches without dying in an MMO either to PvE damage.

Hardcore WoW Classic launches globally on August 24, 2023 at 3:00 PM PDT and we've prepared a Hardcore Leveling Tier List. This Tier List will rank each Class based on how well that class performs leveling from 1 to 60, taking into consideration things such as gear dependency, downtime, escape tools, and utility. If you'd like to read more about why classes were ranked a specific way for this Tier List, we've got the full guide linked below -- Hardcore WoW Leveling Tier List

Hardcore WoW Classic realms will go live globally on August 24, 2023 at 3:00 PM PDT! Blizzard has provided a time table in a Blue Post for launch times. If you'd like a helpful image of all times globally, you can view the unofficial image below --

Blizzard has updated the client for WoW Classic for Build 51056, addressing some of the issues that were in the Patch 1.14.4 Known Issues Blue Post.

Wowhead Writers have prepared Hardcore WoW Classic Leveling Guides for every class, covering best talent builds for leveling, hardcore tips and tricks, as well as various race and profession recommendations. Good luck to all Classic players looking to reach level 60 when Hardcore launches globally on Thursday August 24th at 3:00 PM PDT! To learn more about Hardcore in Classic WoW, check out our other guides below -- Hardcore WoW Overview Hardcore Tips & Tricks

It's been 27 years since Revolution Software's Broken Sword series introduced the world to protagonists George Stobbart and Nicole Collard, but the adventurous twosome still aren't ready for retirement just yet; they're returning for a new adventure, Broken Sword — Parzival's Stone, and a remake of their first outing, Shadow of the Templars, coming early next year.

Classic point ‘n clicker series Broken Sword is planning a big comeback starting next year with a remaster of the original adventure game, followed by a new sixth entry sometime after. Snooping tourist George and snooping professional (investigative journalist) Nico will reunite in the all-new Broken Sword: Parzival’s Stone, but first, over two decades after it launched, Broken Sword - Shadow Of The Templars: Reforged revamps the first outing of the nosy duo. As you can see from the reveal trailer, it’s enjoying quite a dramatic makeover.

Star Wars’ nineties first-person shooter Dark Forces is returning in a 4K-ified remaster from Nightdive Studios, the folks behind the recent System Shock remake. The upcoming Dark Forces Remaster will see its visuals bumped up to a crisp 4K, running at 120 frames per second, along with a number of quality-of-life improvements.

Classic point-and-click adventure series Broken Sword is set for a two-pronged return after a decade away; boutique U.K. studio Revolution Software has announced that it is working on a sixth title, Broken Sword — Parzival’s Stone, as well as a full 4K remaster of the 1996 original, The Shadow of the Templars.

The classic FPS Star Wars: Dark Forces is getting a modern makeover courtesy of developer Nightdive Studios.

Star Wars: Dark Forces was the first big film tie-in first-person shooter, and it was hugely impressive upon release in 1995. It wasn't as fast and bloody as Doom but it was definitely Star Wars, and that's what mattered most. It captured the spirit of the films really well, and with some fascinating tech trimmings to boot: the Jedi Engine allowed for some ambitious level design.

A brand new role-playing fantasy game has just dropped on Google Play. With a gripping story, turn-based battles, and endless dungeons to explore – Battlerise: Kingdom of Champions has a little something for everyone.

Today, we are looking at the DPS rankings during the week of August 15th for Phase 3 of Wrath of the Lich King Classic in Trial of the Crusader. For this analysis, we will use data provided by Warcraft Logs Trial of the Crusader statistics. Warcraft Logs' Trial of the Crusader Statistics

Server Maintenance is currently taking place for North American Realms on WoW Classic, where players noticed two new Hardcore Realms have appeared, Skull Rock and Defias Pillager. The realm names are a clear nod to two notoriously dangerous areas for Horde and Alliance players on the Hardcore Journey.Two New Hardcore Realms for NA Classic Era Other regions will likely see what their realm names are during scheduled maintenance, when realms are updated to Patch 1.14.4. Hardcore Realms will be launching globally on August 24th, 2023 at 3:00 PM PDT. To learn more about the upcoming Hardcore WoW Classic mode being added, check out our guides below -- Hardcore WoW Overview Hardcore Tips & Tricks

Blizzard has shared a table for the updated PvP Honor System coming in Patch 1.14.4, which goes live today with realm maintenance in North America.

Blizzard has shared a list of known issues for Patch 1.14.4 WoW Classic, which goes live in North America today after maintenance concludes. The Wand issue also has its own Blue Post, which you can find here.

Blizzard has shared Patch Notes for WoW Classic Version 1.14.4, which will introduce an updated PvP Honor System for all WoW Classic Realms, as well as a new Hardcore mode which will go live on Thursday August 24th, 2023 at 3:00 PM PDT.

New Classic Era Hardcore realms will open at 3:00 p.m. PDT on August 24.