The World of Warcraft: Dragonflight pre-patch event is almost here, and Blizzard seems to be cooking up something fun. These pre-patch events are often looked forward to by the community as they help usher in some of the new expansion's biggest features, and they give players a slew of limited items to unlock. So many World of Warcraft pre-patch events are fondly remembered, and Blizzard is hoping to deliver another strong one in the next couple of weeks.
Some World of Warcraft pre-patch events have been a lot of fun, and others have been very forgettable. Many of these events offered content like no other, and due to their time limited nature they can only be relived through stories or gameplay videos. Players who missed out on them may look back with jealousy, and the players who lived through them have stacks of special cosmetics to flaunt as they traverse Azeroth.
Wrath of the Lich King's Scourge Invasion
One of the most popular pre-patch events was the Scourge Invasion for Wrath of the Lich King. The pre-patch saw the armies of the Lich King rampage across Azeroth. The Scourge invaded multiple zones and both Alliance and Horde players had to protect their capital cities from invasion. The undead dropped Necrotic Runes that players could use to purchase new armor sets.
Perhaps the best part of the WoW Scourge Invasion came in the form of the plague that could infect players. Players could get infected with a minute-long infection that would turn them into a zombie unless they were able to get cured by another player. Once they became a zombie they could cause havoc by attacking other players or NPCs. These zombies would gradually lose health, and the only way to keep going would be by killing as many people as they can. Every person that they killed would also become a zombie, and cities could quickly fall into disarray as the zombie horde overwhelmed the living.
Cataclysm's Shattering
Cataclysm's pre-patch event was story focused and built up the destruction of Deathwing over a couple of months. The event started with Operation Gnomeregan and Zalazane's Fall which helped fill in some backstory. A month later, the Elemental Invasion event began, leading players to combat the rampaging elements all across Azeroth. They would have to protect their capital cities and various zones form the Elementals, and would unravel the Twilight Hammer's plot to destroy Stormwind and Orgrimmar.
The pre-patch invasions of the World of Warcraft capital cities would occur every couple of hours, and max level players had to work together to protect the citizens. Low level players would quickly evacuate, and max level players would get to work. They had a limited amount of time to beat back the enemy and close all the elemental rifts, and then they would pursue an elemental lord to its lair through the Dungeon Finder. Just like most pre-patch events, players could get an assortment of armor sets by participating.
Legion's Demon Invasions
Legion's pre-patch event saw the Burning Legion invade six different zones across Azeroth. These invasions would happen at random intervals until the last week of the pre-patch when every single invasion was up at the same time. Players as low as level 10 could participate in the invasions, and they were rewarded a decent amount of experience upon completion.
Each Burning Legion Invasion was presented in multiple stages, and players would work together to progress. The first stage had players defend a critical invasion point from demons, the second had them take out the commanders, the third sent them around the zone to clear the demons out, and in the fourth stage, they killed the main boss. Each zone offered a different set of bosses to kill, and players would be awarded Nethershards that they could spend on armor sets and catch-up gear.
Every expansion has had pre-patch events for players to check out, but only a couple of them proved to be a hit. Dragonflight will see four zones get invaded by Primalist forces, and players will have to wait and see if the content is rewarding. The release date of the pre-patch is unknown, but it is expected to hit live servers soon.
World of Warcraft Dragonflight will launch on November 28.