The latest update to World of Warcraft Classic has essentially ended exploits used for XP boosting in certain dungeons.
The official patch notes on the hotfix are pretty light, simply noting that "creatures in most dungeons have been adjusted so that it is now significantly more difficult to snare and kite them to a large degree," and that there have been nerfs to group XP when there's a big disparity in player levels.
Fans and outlets like Wowhead have been collecting more specific changes, however. Enemies in popular boosting locations like Stratholme are now using the knockdown ability to stun paladins, even breaking through things like the divine shield ability and free action potions. Perhaps most notably, mobs are now becoming immune to slow and root abilities after 30 seconds. Together, all this means that players can no longer gather together a massive group of enemies and kill them as a group in order to get loads of XP all at once.
Members of the community are broadly celebrating the changes. "Boosting as we know it is now removed from the game," one player named Kazium writes on Reddit. "LFG channel full of people looking for actual dungeon groups while the boosters are crying, what a glorious day," lolattb says in a comment. "Thanks Blizzard."
While this change has been requested more or less since the launch of WoW Classic nearly three years ago, Blizzard's been reluctant to make too many changes to the game. After all, what's WoW Classic if it doesn't provide the same experience as the old game? But with the studio recently explaining that it plans to drop its old "no changes" philosophy in order to provide a better experience to players, it seems Blizzard's going to keep tilting those nostalgia glasses toward a rosy tint.
Wrath of the Lich King Classic has been confirmed for a September 26 release, and a 50% experience boost will help you get ready without the exploits.
