With the WoW Classic Season of Discovery Phase 2 having been available for nearly 2 months now, it’s likely that Phase 3 will come out next month in April. We have access to some leaked information that helps us make reasonable guesses.

Sunken Temple

As recent leaks about new raid content have suggested, the upcoming raid is likely to be the Sunken Temple. Datamining from the PTR reveals notable changes, such as a shift in Sunken Temple’s lockout to a 3-day duration and its instant ID being assigned the number 23.

Notably, Sunken Temple already accommodated up to 10 players, consistent with many vanilla dungeons. Blizzard has confirmed that the next raid will support 20 players. Taking these factors into account, it seems unlikely that the next phase will see 2 raids. Expect us to see a 20-man Sunken Temple raid.

The Sunken Temple could be the next raid following Stranglethorn Vale. Blizzard claims to highlight underrated instances, and Stranglethorn Vale falls squarely into that category. Sunken Temple aligns well with the ongoing Stranglethorn Vale PvP event. This connection could be attributed to our actions empowering the Blood God, Hakkar, through encounters like the world boss Lord Kazzak, thus potentially increasing Sunken Temple’s significance in the game world.

Sunken Temple’s intricate design includes some hidden bosses, which may have been overlooked by many players. Coordinating a team for these encounters could be challenging. Summoning Atal’hakkar, for instance, required players to manipulate snake statues on balconies in a specific sequence. Atal’hakkar boasted a formidable health pool and could unleash a devastating knockback.

Sunken Temple housed another hidden boss, the Avatar of Hakkar, accessible through a questline. Defeating this boss was no simple feat, as players had to withstand the relentless waves of Hakkari Bloodkeeper. In Phase 3, there are hints suggesting a revamp of heroic PvE content, possibly introducing heroic plus dungeons or similar challenges.

Blizzard’s recent email survey included a question about the importance of Heroic Plus or Titan Rune dungeons in the Season of Discovery. Blizzard hinted at adding more difficult modes, indicates a potential expansion of challenging content. Such additions would align with player expectations and keep the game engaging across each phase release.

New Runes

There have also been a number of interesting datamined class runes in the latest PTR build. Some seem reasonable and obviously seem a little wacky and far-fetched.

Mage: The Balefire Bolt is similar to Arcane Blast, but you lose Spirit on every stack rather than being increased mana consumption, and then when you reach zero Spirit, you actually die. Deep Freeze and Molten Armor might be getting added.

Warlock: There are Summon Felguard, Pandemic, Backdraft, Unstable Affliction and Immolation Aura, but these were determined to be in the Phase 2 PTR, so I’m not sure whether we’re going to get these.

Priest: The Despair that hints that we might be getting crit on dots. There’s also this ability called the V-zone. It’s basically a bit similar to a Death Knight’s Death and Decay.

Rogue: may be getting Honor Amongst Thieves along with some new runes to increase their energy regen.

Druid: Get a solid AOE ability as Gale Winds that increases the Hurricane damage and removes the cooldown.

Hunter: Get something new called Focus Fire, where they can consume a pet’s Frenzy Stacks to increase their own ranged attack speed or you might be getting Taste for Blood. This is a proc that allows your overpower to be usable in rats.

Paladin: There’s purifying power allowing you to use Fanaticism and Holy Wrath on any target, and this should be a huge buff to them. They may also get their raft cooldown.

Gold Farming

It appears that there is a new trend emerging as a gold bot epidemic among Horde gold farmers, as they are unable to farm stockades. Instead, they have turned to fishing squid. This strategy makes sense, as one only needs to reach Level 5 to get started, and it can yield a decent amount of WoW SOD Gold, especially with people buying these in anticipation of Phase 3.

Setting up fishing bots is much simpler compared to full-scale farming bots. Although the Grilled Squid recipe for the 10 agility food buff is not yet learnable, people are profiting from stockpiling it for the Phase 3 release, when it is expected to become the most sought-after food buff in the game. There's a possibility that they are transferring their stock of squid to unused bot accounts to avoid losing it.

Gnomeregan Speedrun

Taking a closer look at the top 3 speedruns for Gnomeregan reveals some intriguing insights. Despite variations in team compositions, one consistent factor stands out: a Warlock Tank. This choice is logical, as Warlocks not only inflict substantial damage but also excel at handling the bombs on the final boss.

What's particularly interesting is the inclusion of 2 Shadow Priests in the world record run, despite their reputation as underperformers. This suggests that factors beyond boss DPS play a crucial role. Shadow Priests shine in managing trash mobs, a vital aspect of speedruns.

The composition heavily favors casters, which can pose challenges because of mana regeneration issues. However, the addition of 2 Shamans providing Shamanistic Rage, a potent mana regeneration tool, mitigates this concern. This setup underscores the dominance of Horde in the current speedruns.

Notably, DPS characters are significantly contributing to healing, signaling a shift in the meta strategy. Stacking Shamans for Shamanistic Rage to support a caster-heavy group appears to be the preferred approach. This allows casters to excel in dealing AOE damage to trash mobs, further optimizing speedrun performance.