After finding new spell IDs last week that hinted at new Hardcore Iron Man support coming to the new WoW Classic Season of Mastery, Blizzard has now uploaded the new patch to the beta where the new hardcore mechanics have been implemented.
Players can now obtain a buff from two new High Elf Watchers in Ironforge and the Undercity, depending on their faction called the Soul of Iron.
The Soul of Iron shows a player has not been slain in combat (or the environment) and is proof that they are a hardcore character.
Once a player has died, the buff will then turn into a debuff called Tarnished Soul, which reduced all stats by 1%, and shows that the character has failed the challenge.
Read more: First Round Of Nerfs To Mage Boosting In The Season Of Mastery Are Now Live On The Beta.
Hardcore Support Confirmed For The Season Of Mastery
Since players need to venture to these cities to gain the buff, the question is asked if the system can be cheated by not accepting the buff until a later level, although this is not the case as any death prior to receiving the buff will still fail the challenge.
Players can remove the debuff by returning to the NPC who granted the buff, although this does not mean that they can start the challenge again.
Players who have not died are also granted a unique spell that does the /flex emote and turns them into stone to show off their commitment to the challenge.
Alliance players can visit Chronicler Fero in the Library in Ironforge, and Horde players can travel to the Undercity and speak with Chronicler Morta who resides in the Apothecarium.
There is no word from Blizzard if there will be dedicated hardcore servers at this point, so players should expect to play on normal servers where they can continue playing their character even after it has failed the challenge.
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!