WoW Classic TBC Phase 3 is just hours away, and it comes with tons of awesome new content to explore!
This content includes the iconic raids Battle for Mount Hyjal and Black Temple as well as Arena Season 3 and more.
With that, let's get right into all of the latest news as we count down the final hours to the WoW Classic TBC Phase 3 release time.
Release Time & Date
WoW Classic TBC Phase 3 has no official start time just yet, though we expect Blizzard will reveal it on launch day.
TBC Classic Phase 3 Release Time
For now we know Phase 3 will release on Thursday, January 27th, and things are likely to go live around 6pm EST in accordance with previous phase launches.
Still, Blizzard has missed scheduled release times in the past in WoW Classic, so major delays wouldn't be unheard of along the way even after the release time is made official.
The TBC Phase 3 launch time will most likely be preceded by a length server maintenance, but this has also been a variable as of late. With that, players can safely expect at least 3 to 4 hours of servers going down for maintenance before Phase 3 launch.
New Content
Phase 3 brings tons of new reasons for players to get back to work in Outland.
Battle for Mount Hyjal
Battle for Mount Hyjal is the easiest of the two new Phase 3 raids in WoW Classic TBC, and that's a good thing, because players will need to complete it in order to fully attune for Black Temple.
The Battle for Mount Hyjal features five bosses, including Rage Winterchill, Anetheron, Kaz'rogal, Azgalor, and Archimonde.
Perhaps the most notable issue with this raid is its dangerous trash wave systems and AOE damage and fears from its final boss Archimonde. This will test your raid's DPS and tank positioning at all turns.
Black Temple
Black Temple is one of the most iconic raids in World of Warcraft history, and is a fitting final challenge for the third phase of WoW Classic TBC.
This raid will require players secure attunement by clearing the Battle for Mount Hyjal, then fighting through Black Temple's many foes to reach Illidan Stormrage.
In total, Black Temple features 9 bosses, including High Warlord Naj'entus, Supremus, Shade of Akama, Teron Gorefiend, Reliquary of Souls, Gurtogg Bloodboil, Mother Shahraz, The Illidari Council, and Illidan Stormrage.
Black Temple is a very challenging raid that will take things a bit further than Tempest Keep and Serpentshrine Cavern, so don't get discouraged if it takes many weeks to conquer it all.
Perhaps the biggest aspect of Black Temple is that it offers TBC's first Legendary item, the Warglaives of Azzinoth, a main-hand and off-hand sword pairing that will make any rogue or warrior drool at its power.
READ MORE: WoW Classic TBC Phase Schedule 2022
Arena Season 3
PVP is much more accessible in TBC Arena Season 3, as Season 1 gear is now available via Honor and Season 2 gear no longer requires specific arena ratings to get.
This gives players a much better starting point for Season 3 than the desperate grind to any amount of Resilience that players went through for previous TBC Arena seasons.
That won't mean lighter competition, however, as players motivated by reaching the best PVP titles and those that just barely missed out will be back for a vengeance queuing it up come launch.
TBC Arena Season 3 will also feature some changes to matchmaking, expanding rating searches to allow for teams further apart to match up in the interest of managing ridiculous arena queue times.
This will mean more blowout games, but at the least, it will also mean more games overall for your playtime.
Along with all of this, Blizzard will also be banning some powerful items from Arenas entirely in Season 3, a list that includes:
- Nigh-Invulnerability Belt
- Net-o-Matic Projector
- Dazzling Longsword
- Silent Fang
- Skull of Impending Doom
READ MORE: WoW Classic TBC: Best DPS, Tanks, & Healers