WoW 20th Anniversary — Events, Rewards, Release Date
World of Warcraft has (almost) officially survived 20 years. It is a remarkable feat for a game with as many ups and downs as it had over the years and for a game that requires people to be willing to be a perpetual subscription to play it.
Its 10th expansion, The War Within, was released not too long ago, and players are still hard at work uncovering all it has to offer. They're working on learning how to play their new mains with their new hero talents, finding secret mounts, and so much more. In the beginning of its 10th expansion, it reaches its 20th birthday. 20 years is a major milestone and one worth a massive celebration. Blizzard is trying to deliver a celebration worthy of 20 years.
Related Article: Should You Play Earthen in The War Within?
Event Overview — Start & End Date, Broad List of What's Included
Release Date
As of the time of this article, Blizzard has not provided an official release date for the anniversary event. They have stated that it will run through November and December. Current community speculation is that the event will likely start on October 22, 2024, and run until January 4, 2025.
Classic Timewalking
On top of the anniversary event, this update will also introduce Classic Timewalking.
Classic Timewalking will allow players to relive some of vanilla WoW's most iconic dungeons. This includes both Dire Maul wings, both wings of Stratholme, Zul'Farrak, and The Deadmines. A Classic Timewalking vendor will sell rewards similar to the other timewalking vendors.
Additionally, the old timewalking vendors are being updated to have new items for sale. Players will still have to wait until those expansions come back in timewalking to purchase the new rewards, but the rewards are being added.
Let's take a look at all of the content/events that will be available before taking a deeper look at each one individually:
Blackrock Depths Raid
Blackrock Depths was one of vanilla WoW's most iconic pieces of content. For the 20 year anniversary event, Blizzard is bringing it back as a raid. Here's a rundown of its most important details:
- 10-15 Players
- Can queue in LFR
- Normal & Heroic Difficulties
- 8 bosses and 5 mini-bosses
- Old school loot returns
The raid will be available for the entire duration of the event and gives item level gear on par with The War Within's Nerub'ar Palace.
Gates of Ahn'Qiraj Scenario
The event to open the gates of Ahn'Qiraj is one of the most important in the game's history. It comprised long and grueling quest chains that required entire guilds and servers working together, a title and mount only one person per server could get, constantly fighting enemies near the gates, donating supplies, and so much more.
For the 20 year anniversary, players will revisit this area of the world alongside Chromie. She will use a "Codex" to allow players to revisit specific events in Warcraft's past.
The scenario:
- Requires level 15 to participate
- Is queueable through the Group Finder
- Is for 10 to 20 players
- Consists of 3 enemy factions: Scourge, Qiraji, and Legion
- Consists of 3 bosses: Tichondrius, Kel'Thuzad, and Ossirian
Caverns of Time Minigames & Events
An anniversary event is a celebration of history and the past, so the Caverns of Time is always relevant during an anniversary event, and the 20-year event is no different. Players can visit the Caverns of Time to participate in various games and events.
Fashion Frenzy
Fashion Frenzy is a transmog competition that works similarly to Trial of Style. Players are given a specific style, category, or topic and have a limited time to put together their best possible outfit. A vote will then be cast to determine the winner.
Lorewalker Cho's Storytime
Lorewalker Cho has been given his own stage. Players can sit on various benches to join the audience and listen to Cho tell stories of Azeroth's past. This event does not involve player participation and is purely for the enjoyment of listening to Cho tell the stories.
Mount Mania
Mount Mania is likely to be a fairly popular game during the event. Inspired by the mount-off competitions done by various content creators over the years, most notably Asmongold. The objective of Mount Mania is simple.
An NPC will get on a random mount. Players then have a limited amount of time to look through their journal to also get on that same mount. Whoever is the last one standing wins. This event even includes some of the rarer mounts in the game. For most people, it's probably going to be hard to win.
Pet Corner
This is a little event for players to show off their Battle Pet collection. It will also occasionally allow players to transform into their pets. Is there a reason for that? No. It's just for the fun of doing it.
Other events include:
- Cosplaying as Major Characters
- Guest Relations
- Korrak's Revenge (PvP)
World Bosses
These iconic enemies make a return as world bosses for players to fight:
- Sha of Anger
- Dragons of Nightmare
- Azuregos
- Lord Kazzak
- Archavon the Stone Watcher
- Doomwalker
Anniversary Event Rewards
While having lots of stuff to do is cool and all, players are really going to be after the juicy rewards. There are a lot of rewards being added into this event with a few heavy hitters and a lot of nice additions. Here are the types of rewards players can obtain:
Players will earn a new currency called "Bronze Celebration Tokens" which will be required to obtain the rewards from the event. Getting all of the rewards will cost a lot of these tokens.
The table below shows a highlight of the events most notable rewards, but there are many more to be obtained.
Reward | Reward Type | How To Obtain |
|---|---|---|
Coldflame Tempest | Mount | META Achievement: "A Cool Twenty Years" |
Stormpike Battle Ram/Frostwolf Snarler | Mount | PvP Quest: "Korrak's Revenge" |
Core Hound Chain | Mount | Purchased from "Storekeeper Reginald" for Bronze Celebration Tokens |
Obsidian Worldbreaker | Mount | Purchased from "Storekeeper Reginald" for Bronze Celebration Tokens |
Blizzard Service Rewards | Transmog | Purchased from "Historian Ma'di" for Bronze Celebration Tokens |
Warcraft 30th Year Anniversary Rewards | Transmog | Purchased from Historian Ma'di for Bronze Celebration Tokens |
20th Anniversary Balloon | Toy | Purchased from "Historian Ma'di" for Bronze Celebration Tokens |
Baby Blizzard Bear | Pet | Purchased from "Storekeeper Reginald" for Bronze Celebration Tokens |
Updated Tier 2 Sets | Transmog | Purchased from "Traeya" for Bronze Celebration Tokens |
New Titles | Title | Purchased from "Notary Grably" for Bronze Celebration Tokens |
This is a massive event with lots to do and even more rewards to discover than just those listed above!
