It’s been a long, long journey, but the end of the wait is finally in sight – again. Blizzard announced today that the World of Warcraft; Shadowlands expansion would be releasing on November 23rd, 2020, a bit less than four weeks from now.
But four weeks is still a pretty long, long journey too, after so much waiting! Thankfully, Blizzard came with the news that there would be something else for players to sink their teeth into before the release of the expansion itself.
On November 10th, players can expect to step into the Scourge Invasion prepatch event. This event is anticipated to lead right up into the launch of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, providing the needed bridge from prepatch to expansion.
There’s plenty to do with this prepatch, but first – what’s the difference between this Scourge Invasion event and the prepatch that’s currently active in the game as we speak?
Simply put, prepatch was readying the playing field, and the Scourge Invasion is the game starting. The prepatch was set to put in all of the major Shadowlands changes – new talents and abilities, leveling overhaul, etc – but brought little in the way of actual new content.
This invasion is that new content, leading up to the expansion itself. After the events of the Shadowlands cinematic trailer, the Scourge are mindless and kingless once again, and have begun to run rampant across Azeroth.
There’s been a few leaks regarding this event as well, such as earlier this week when players found themselves able to track down and kill Nathanos Blightcaller, co-conspirator and wanted fallen ranger, though there was no reward for doing such.
We also recently discussed strange ads that were running on YouTube and other platforms, claiming that the event was already live. The two combined was making the upcoming release look a bit shaky at best, with plenty of players wondering why so many things had been slipping through the cracks at Blizzard.
Either way, the event will be arriving in a bit less than two weeks, so players are advised to get their last few things in order. Once the Scourge Invasion event begins, there’s no turning back – from there, it’s just thirteen days until the expansion drops properly.
There’s going to be plenty to do during the new event, from catchup gear for preparing alts to tracking down the Blightcaller properly. Regardless of what you intend to do in your defense against the Scourge, we’re entering the beginning of Shadowlands very shortly.
