World of Warcraft's grand nostalgia tour of old content is going strong, with Blizzard announcing that in addition to World of Warcraft: Classic adding the Cataclysm expansion, it's running a new event that will send players back to 2012's Mists of Pandaria expansion.
The event is called World of Warcraft Remix: Mists of Pandaria, and it will be available to all WoW subscribers as a separate playable game regardless of whether they play retail, classic, or both. Players will create new characters and level at super speed from 10 to 70 through the Mists of Pandaria expansion, playing through quests, dungeons, raids and other events as they were back in the day, but with a twist. Powerful items will be more readily available than before and with new customization options, and any collected items can be used as cosmetic upgrades in the main retail game.
Notably, this isn't World of Warcraft: Classic. Remix uses character talents, classes, and abilities from the current retail version, and characters will be able to be carried over at the end of Remix into the main game. Blizzard is teasing that the new Mists perks and upgrades will "enhance" current character abilities, so it will be interesting to see what, for instance, a Demon Hunter or a Dracthyr can get up to when plopped into the Timeless Isle.
This Remix event seems to be taking cues from a number of other successes World of Warcraft has enjoyed recently. Like battle royale mode Plunderstorm, it's a limited-time event separate from the main versions of the game with rewards that can carry over. Like Classic, it's an effort at revisiting a specific point in Warcraft history, but like Season of Discovery, there are a number of new twists. Blizzard seems poised to capitalize on a fan-favorite expansion here, and perhaps remind players of some of its key lore points ahead of the next retail expansion, The War Within. Could the Sha play a role in the Worldsoul Saga? What about Y'Sharrj? We'll have to wait and see.
It's a busy time in World of Warcraft right now. Limited-time battle royale event Plunderstorm is chugging along as the current main expansion, Dragonflight, winds down with upcoming closing event Dark Heart. The next expansion, The War Within is planned for release later this year. And in Classic, Cataclysm just got a release date of May 20, with a pre-patch on April 30.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
