The Ruby Sanctum is supposed to be the last raid content patch for WoW WotLK Classic. The exact release date for the Halion raid instance has now been revealed by Blizzard.
With the opening of Icecrown Citadel, Wrath of the Lich King Classic has entered its most exciting phase. Azeroth's heroes have been fighting up their way through the Citadel during the last months, beating eleven bosses to reach the evil Lich King and eventually end his reign.
If you have managed to defeat the Lich King (who is considered to be one of the most challenging bosses World of Warcraft has ever seen), you'll have completed the expansion's main story – congratulations! But – one raid boss still remains: Within the Wyrmrest Temple in Dragonblight, you will be able to fight the dragon Halion in the Ruby Sanctum.
WoW History: The Original Ruby Sanctum Release Was Pretty Pointless
The original Icecrown Citadel (ICC) patch was released in December 2009. Cataclysm was already confirmed to be the next WoW expansion, but it still took Blizzard a whole additional year to finish it (it was released in December 2010).
With WoW being a subscription-based game, it was pretty obvious that more and more players would cancel their subscription after finishing ICC. So, to give the community a reason to continue playing WoW, Blizzard released the Ruby Sanctum raid in June 2010, six months after ICC.
The problem with the raid, though, was that it was pretty pointless at that time. The loot wasn't much better than the one from ICC, and with only one boss encounter, Halion, which wasn't even very hard to beat, the Ruby Sanctum was rather disappointing.
Ruby Sanctum Release Date: When Will The Halion Raid Hit The WotLK Classic Live Servers?
Enough history for now: Blizzard has finally revealed when the last WotLK Classic raid will open its gates: You'll be able to face Halion from December 11 on (3 pm PST / 23:00 GMT) within the Ruby Sanctum.
| Wrath of the Lich King Classic: Patch Release Dates So Far | ||
Expansion Release (Phase 1) | September 26, 2022 | |
| Ulduar (Phase 2) | January 19, 2023 | |
| Trial of the Crusader (Phase 3) | June 20, 2023 | |
| Icecrown Citadel (Phase 4) | October 10, 2023 | |
| Ruby Sanctum (Phase 5) | January 11, 2024 |
WoW Cataclysm Classic: The Journey Continues
From the very first moments when WoW Classic was released, many players stated that they would love to play oldschool WoW until Wrath of the Lich King, but refuse to play a Cataclysm Classic (which was considered to be a rather unsatisfying expansion). But as expected, Blizzard isn't going to give up on WoW Classic after WotLK – there are just too many players preferring it to retail WoW, and the process of re-releasing older game versions is probably not all too costly.
Cataclysm Classic has officially been announced at this year's Blizzcon. Blizzard has already confirmed that there will be some differences to OG Cataclysm, and it is planned to release in Summer 2024. An exact release date is still missing, though.