If you're not sure what World of Warcraft Season of Discovery is check out our coverage on the game and why it's the best refresh to World of Warcraft in decades. If you aren't a huge classic WoW fan, you can wait for the modern World of Warcraft: The War Within expansion coming later this year.
As a side note, it is hard to be excited for Blizzard games on the news that Microsoft cut 1900 roles throughout Xbox, ZeniMax, and ABK not to mention that the champion of Blizzard and fan favorite Mike Ybarra has departed ABK.
Hopefully, the teams at Blizzard have been set on a good path and will be supported to continue to create the games we love. We haven't heard yet if the Season of Discovery team was affected by layoffs, but throughout the first phase of Season of Discovery the developers have been amazing at listening to community feedback and I hope that continues into Phase 2, even amidst layoffs.
What is Phase 2 in World of Warcraft Season of Discovery?
If you need a refresher on Season of Discovery, check out the video above, but if you already know what it is and want to learn about the changes coming in Phase 2 we have you covered.
- Phase 2 is set to launch on February 8th at 1:00 p.m. PST (21:00 GMT).
- It will increase the level cap from 25 to 40.
- A new 10-man raid will be available in Gnomeregan.
- Stranglethorn Vale will be the new PVP zone.
- There will be new runes opening up new class abilities, roles, and play styles.
- There will be more discovery of changes to the classic formula.
World of Warcraft Season of Discovery has captured some of the magic of the Mandella Effect in that they took something that people have been playing for 20 years, and have fond memories of, and tweaked it just slightly enough that players are enjoying finding all of the small changes.
Is that a new NPC in this field? What happens if I talk to him? Just to find out you're now on a globetrotting quest to gather tons of items in the hopes of getting a powerful rune for your character.
We do know a lot of information about what is coming to Season of Discovery but we don't know which runes will be added to the game for sure, we aren't sure how PVP will work, and most importantly we don't know what epic loot will be in the Gnomeregan raid.
Open question; should we delay the launch of the Gnomeregan 10-player raid by a week or just have it be open from day one of Phase 2? Why do you feel the way you do? Just trying to get a pulse check and some opinions to read. Thanks!(Note: I'm not going to answer any other p2…January 17, 2024
Josh Greenfield confirmed that Gnomeregan will be a 10-player raid, which some people are happy about, but others wanted it to be a 20- or 25-man raid. He also asked if the release of the dungeon should be pushed back a week from the launch of Phase 2. Based on the response in the comments, this will likely be the case as many players expressed the sentiment that they would rather enjoy their time leveling and discovering the new runes and changes to the game than rushing to get into the raid before the first lockout expires.
Again, this would be a pro-player decision in my eyes and would be another reason why I would continue to play the game. If the raid was open in the first week, slower players like me would likely lose our spot in our raid groups, since they would have to fill our spot while we leveled up. Giving us a week to get 15 levels seems to be a fair decision and doesn't hurt more casual players.
Will there be dual spec in Phase 2 of Season of Discovery?
Dual spec refers to the option to change your talents with the click of a button anywhere in the world, rather than having to wipe out the talents at a class trainer to start again. It is one of the best features ever added to World of Warcraft, and with how many new class and spec combinations there are in Season of Discovery, it would be a great addition.
Many fans have been asking for the option to be added in Season of Discovery and the developers have hinted that it would be possible, even going so far as to like some posts on X(Twitter) asking for it to be added. We don't know for sure if it's coming in Phase 2 or not, but hopefully it makes its way into the game at some point.
Will mounts be cheaper in Phase 2 of Season of Discovery?
As somebody who doesn't want to purchase gold from gold farmers for fear of getting my 20-year-old WoW account banned, I don't have much gold in Season of Discovery, so the news that mounts should be cheaper in the game is very welcome news for me.
It does appear that mounts will be cheaper if you go to a riding trainer and mount vendor in the game right now, the training seems to be set to 9 gold, and mounts at around 36 gold. This is down from 20 gold and 100 gold respectively in the vanilla version of Classic World of Warcraft.
Some players have expressed they are unhappy about this change and want more gold sinks in the game, but that would go against the very purpose of Season of Discovery, which is accessibility and respecting players' time. For me personally, I hope they continue to make prices and achievements more easily attainable, so the game can keep a casual fun aspect like it has had so far.
Why you should play Phase 2 of World of Warcraft Season of Discovery
To put it simply, Season of Discovery is fun and most importantly, it respects your time. Most people I know have had the time to level up several alternative characters or alts and have been raiding with them as well at level 25. For somebody like me, I just have one character and I raid with him 2 times a week thanks to the awesome 3-day raid lockout. I still have time to enjoy other games, write articles, and spend time with my family. When I play retail or classic, the game envelops so much of my time that it becomes a chore to play, but Season of Discovery has hit a great balancing act of fun and ease of access.
Phase 2 might be one of the best phases in the game. It is likely that after phase 2 we will have a phase 3 that sees the level cap go to level 50, and then finally a phase 4 to get to level 60.
World of Warcraft Season of Discovery won't be available forever.
Seasonal content can be super fun and engaging, but there is a factor of FOMO, or fear of missing out. I would say in the case of Season of Discovery, it is justified. Season of Discovery is amazing, and I've been able to make a bunch of new friends to raid with. Each phase will probably be between 2–3 months as the first phase was, potentially getting longer with how long the levels can take to grind at higher levels.
If you have any interest in joining the gaming sensation rocking the Azeroth Nation, this is the time to jump in. You still have 2 weeks or so to level to 25 and get ready for the grind on up to 40. Jump on it, the water's great.
