TBC Anniversary Launch: Level 70, Blood Elves, Draenei and the First Outland Raids

Classic Anniversary players who didn't want to continue into The Burning Crusade could move their characters to Classic Era realms for free until the January 12 maintenance; every character left on a Normal Anniversary realm moved on to TBC. See Classic Anniversary Realms Moved On to TBC: How Characters Stayed on Classic Era.

The pre-patch arrived on January 13, a week longer than Burning Crusade Classic's in 2021. Blood Elves and Draenei could be created right away, so new characters had time to level before the Dark Portal opened.

• Honor ranks froze. Each character's PvP rank before the pre-patch became their final one; the old ranking system doesn't continue.
• Double Honor, then more. Blizzard doubled Honor gains from the pre-patch until February 5, and a January 16 hotfix raised the bonus to 150%.
• New Honor quests. Level 51–60 versions of "For Great Honor" (Horde) and "Concerted Effort" (Alliance) awarded 400 Honor at level 60, to be replaced by level 61–70 versions once the Dark Portal opened.
• Pre-patch PvP gear cost what Blizzard intended for the pre-patch, more than the test realm's prices, which had been carried over from the end of Burning Crusade Classic in 2022.

The two new races each bring a class the other faction used to have to itself:

• Blood Elves join the Horde as Mages, Hunters, Rogues, Priests, Warlocks and, for the first time on the Horde side, Paladins.
• Draenei join the Alliance as Warriors, Paladins, Priests, Mages, Hunters and, new to the Alliance, Shamans. Their Gem Cutting racial raises Jewelcrafting skill.

Raid composition changes with them: both factions now have Paladin blessings and Shaman totems, so neither has to plan around the other's exclusive class.

• Karazhan: the cursed tower of the sorcerer Medivh.
• Gruul's Lair: Gruul the Dragonkiller, worshipped by the ogres of Blade's Edge Mountains.
• Magtheridon's Lair: Magtheridon, former lord of Outland, held prisoner by Illidan in Hellfire Peninsula.

Arena Season 1 opened three arenas: the Ring of Trials in Nagrand, the Circle of Blood in Blade's Edge Mountains and the Ruins of Lordaeron above Undercity, with gear, mounts and titles as rewards. The old honor ranking system doesn't return; competitive ranking now happens in the Arena.

• Flying mounts open up the parts of Outland that can't be reached on foot.
• Jewelcrafting is the new profession: rings, necklaces, trinkets and gems to socket into gear. The trainers are Kalaen at Thrallmar for the Horde and Tatiana at Honor Hold for the Alliance, both in Hellfire Peninsula.
• Guild Banks are available from day one, which Burning Crusade Classic in 2021 didn't have: up to eight tabs of 98 slots each, with the first tab costing 100 gold and each further tab more.

Phase 2 followed on May 14 with Serpentshrine Cavern and The Eye (TBC Anniversary Phase 2: Serpentshrine Cavern, The Eye and Arena Season 2), Phase 3 on August 27 with Black Temple and Mount Hyjal (TBC Anniversary Phase 3: Black Temple, Mount Hyjal, Netherwing and Arena Season 3), and Zul'Aman opens on October 22 (TBC Anniversary: Zul'Aman Opens October 22, With Badges From Every Raid and No More Attunements).

• Plan a level 70 build in the TBC talent calculator, which uses patch 2.4.3's talent trees.
• Level Jewelcrafting with the Jewelcrafting leveling guide.