WoW Classic SoD phase 4 delayed, Blizzard cites "a lot of plates spinning"

There's some unfortunate news for WoW Classic SoD Phase 4 - it’s going to be delayed for a little while. While this is bad news for some, it will be great news for World of Warcraft players as a whole. One of the developers, Aggrend/Josh Greenfield, gave an honest reason for the delay: the developers have “a lot of plates spinning right now”, and they want the fanbase to ultimately not have to pick between content drops.

Typically, there’s a major content draught late into a World of Warcraft expansion, when nothing interesting is happening. However, there’s WoW Classic SoD Phase 4 on the horizon, the ongoing Phase 3, Season 4 of Dragonflight, and WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria, to name a few updates. The development team has opened up on the why, and what players can expect.

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Why was WoW Classic SoD Phase 4 delayed?

There's still plenty to do in the World (of Warcraft) (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

WoW Classic SoD Phase 4 is delayed to make sure the next update is as good as players expect it to be. The developers pointed out that they’ve delivered a lot of content lately, and while they didn’t list the specific updates, these include:

• Dragonflight Season 4
• Hardcore Self-Found in Classic
• WoW Classic SoD Phase 3
• WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria
• Cataclysm Classic

All of these things are happening at once, so it’s incredibly hard for some fans to find the time to play. Developer Josh Greenfield pointed out that doing this was the right thing to do, not just for the fans, but for those who develop the game. This just means that Phase 3 will last a little longer than originally intended.

The developers also pointed out that WoW Classic SoD Phase 4 will have a different PTR experience. Players will have level 60 templates with all runes and abilities learned and might get access to the level 60 tier set bonuses. The focus will be on combat and class testing, and they will not get access to the new, unique content that’s on the way.

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Is there a revised WoW Classic SoD Phase 4 release date?

If you don't want to wait, the Mists of Pandaria are there for you (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Unfortunately, we currently don't have a revised WoW SoD Phase 4 release date. The developers have said it will “be here before you know it”. Josh Greenfield said that it will be several more weeks than normal, for Phase 4, but that it will also be the right thing for the game, to make sure it’s as good as possible.

There is supposed to be lots of new, unique content coming with Phase 4, so they want to make sure it’s not overshadowed by anything else that’s going on in the World of Warcraft, especially with the incredibly popular Mists of Pandaria limited-time mode.

The developers want to ensure fans don’t have to make too many stressful choices about what game version they’re playing right now. This isn’t to say that Phase 3 won't get updated, because there is something on the way.

The developers have stated some of the Sunkten Temple raid gear will be updated as it fell short of players' expectations. In particular, caster gear is set to be improved, because it felt more underwhelming than any other set.

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In the interim, there are still plenty of other things for WoW players to enjoy right now. Cataclsym Classic, farming new mounts in WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria, and so much more await.