Phase 4 isn’t just the biggest patch in Wrath of the Lich King. It’s one of the biggest patches in WoW history. There are huge upgrades coming to nearly every system in Wrath from the new rep grinds to the new dungeons and raids to an entirely new weekly quest system.

I’ll cover all the biggest upgrades coming in Phase 4 you need to know about.

10. Quel’Delar Questline

At number 10, we have the Quel’Delar Questline. 

The upgrade we’re talking about here is the actual Quel’Delar itself. But I’m definitely excited for the epic 12 part questline, full of lore, adventure and, of course, that weird part where you wash gnome clothes.

But I’m even more excited because this is also the best way in the game to get a 251 item level weapon with zero requirements. The Battered Hilt item that starts the quest chain is a BoE drop from the three new Icecrown dungeons. That means as a fresh 80, you could just buy the Battered Hilt from the Auction House and quickly get a 657 Spell Power main hand sword or mace. 

This will be a huge game changer considering the biggest bottleneck for the new level 80s is a lack of high item level bite and equipped weapons.

9. Ashen Verdict Vendor

At number nine, we have the Ashen Verdict Vendor. 

The next big upgrade we’ll be getting in Phase 4 is the new Ashen Verdict reputation system. Running through Icecrown will give you reputation similar to Karazhan back in TBC.

There’s an upgradable ring which goes from 251 item level at friendly all the way to 277 and Exalted. I know I’ll be trying to max out my rep as soon as possible with trash farming methods. There are also new leg and boot recipes, which means more BoE upgrades for fresh characters and mains as well.

I’m also particularly excited about the new arrow and bullet recipes that require Gnomish and Goblin Engineering, respectively. These will be great gold makers, especially if Blizard gives us a well-deserved Hunter buff in time for the phase. 

8. New Dungeons

The number eight biggest upgrade in Phase 4 is the new dungeons for catchup gear. The three new dungeons are arguably the best catchup mechanic we’ve seen in Wrath so far. And unlike other dungeons in Wrath, there is an attunement process that basically requires you to run through Forge of Souls, which leads to the pit of Sauron and then finally holds the reflection.

Don’t worry. The questline involved is really easy and you’ll be given plenty of good Lich King related lore. These dungeons throw 232 item level gear at you like candy and there’s a possibility of getting a Battered Hilt drop with into the Quel’Delar Questline. Not only is this the best way to catch up with new alts, but you can also sell the Battered Hilts on the Auction House for bonus gold, too.

7. New NPCs

The number seven biggest upgrade in Phase 4 is the new NPCs. 

You may have heard that the new NPC Frozo is coming, and he exists to destroy your Frozen Orbs. You can turn one Frozen Orb into an eternal of your choice, which means Eternal Fire prices should come way down.

There is also another NPC I’m even more excited for, though, which is Brazie Getz. He’s hanging out an ICC near the Gunship Battle and originally sold a highly inappropriate gnome book, which is Brazie’s Black Book of Secrets. Though suspiciously in the last few years, the stock has been changed to be much more like a generic vendor.

6. New Wintersgrasp Gear

The number six biggest upgrade in Phase 4 is the new Wintersgrasp gear. This is a short and sweet one. But we’ll be getting brand new Wintergrasp gear from the new vendor, Champion Ros’slai. 

There are new 245 cloaks, shoulders, and necklaces available. This will be great for catching up your cloak slot if you never got that tribute chest cloak. This also may very well be the final time in your life you get to do Wintergrasp, so you’ll definitely want to grab those upgrades for both PVE and PVP.

Also on the Wintergrasp topic, we get a tour of on the final VOA boss who drops Tier 10 legs and gloves as well as Wrathful Gladiator Gear. 

5. Weekly Quests

At number five, we have Weekly Quests.

Weekly Quests are a huge upgrade for Phase 4 since we’ll be moving away from the daily system towards a more manageable and rewarding random quest system each week.

The first thing we get is the new weekly raid kill quest. This quest sends you to a random raid to kill a boss (Sartharion) and your reward is five Emblems of Frost and five Emblems of Triumph.

The other new set of weekly quests comes directly from the ICC. When you’re clearing Icecrown, one of five quests will randomly be available. Once you finish the quest, the reward will be a Sack of Frosty Treasures, containing five Emblems of Frost and random Epic Gems.

Also, sometimes the bag will contain a 264 item level trash BoE (Ikfirus’s Sack of Wonder) from the raid, which you can sell for huge profit. 

4. New Rings

At number 4, we have the Final Kirin’Tor Rings.

This is a welcome upgrade. If you’ve been home holding onto your Kirin’Tor Rings this whole time, Harold Winston in Dalaran will give you your final upgrade, which is 251 item level for 12.50 WOTLK Classic Gold. Please note: If you use the coupon code “Lich” here, you can also get a 3% discount.

All in all, maybe it would have been worth buying a Kirin’ Tor Ring eight months ago.

3. ICC Raid

At number three, we have the Icecrown Citadel.

Talking about the ICC raid, this may very well be the biggest upgrade in Phase 4. We get 12 bosses with some of the most epic and memorable fights in WoW history. This is a harder and longer raid than even Ulduar.

Luckily, your time won’t be wasted though since the gear is out of this world compared to the first three phases. We’ll be getting extremely contested. This drops up to 284 item level. The Raid is also directly tied in with the brand new Ashen Verdict reputation system and the buyable rewards.

Of course, when you talk about rewards, you can’t forget about raid drops, like Invincible, which will be jealousy inducing for years to come. The real treasure here, though, is the best legendary in the game since Thunderfury. 

2. Shadowmourne 

That leads us to the second biggest upgrade in Phase 4, which is Shadowmourne.

Shadowmourne is such a big upgrade. It’ll undoubtedly have half the game re-rolling to Warriors, Death Knights, and Paladins. This is the most difficult legendary to acquire with a nine-part quest chain. Not only will you have to kill bosses in the raid in specific ways, like Sindragosa, but you’ll also have to collect 50 Shadowfrost Shards. 

Retail data puts Shadowfrost Shards at around a 75% drop rate on heroic, which means it’ll take five to seven weeks of full rates to complete each Shadowmourne. That is, of course, unless your guild disbands due to Shadowmourne drama. 

1. Biggest Phase 4 Upgrade - Random Dungeon Finder 

Let’s get to number one. The likely biggest upgrade in Phase 4 we have is the Random Dungeon Finder, also known as RDF.

This is a cross realm system that cues up five players automatically for groups based on roll. If you’re thinking back to that Blizzard interview, they said RDF wouldn’t be coming to Wrath. 

Let me pitch you on why it’s likely to happen. The way Phase 4 is designed in original wrath is directly tied to RDF. The best example of this is the random dungeon option, which lets you earn extra rewards like two Emblems of Frost per day and bonus gold. If Blizzard wants to skip RDF, they’ll have to introduce a new NPC with daily quests all over again. Also, towards the end of the expansion, groups do tend to dry up.

By not adding RDF, they’d be purposely causing fewer groups to form, which just doesn’t make any sense. With RDF, you can queue up for specific dungeons as well and it overall makes the process of getting into groups took a small fraction of what it currently takes. And of course, there’s the downside of everything being randomized and the personal connections between players being almost completely lost. 

But the upside is that if you group with 100 random players you get access to perky pug who might just be the cutest pet in WoW history.