Forget deadly monsters or even other players; the ground is World of Warcraft Classic Hardcore’s most dangerous foe.
Blizzard in a new video has revealed the latest stats for WoW Classic’s permadeath servers, where players only get one life. Nearly 3 million players have died so far, amounting to about one death every one and a half seconds since servers went live in late August. But it’s the list of the deadliest things in Azeroth’s that is really putting into perspective just how dangerous the journey to level 60 can be.
As revealed in Blizzard’s stats breakdown video, even low-level enemies can become terrifying when one life is all a player has. The NPCs that have claimed the most lives are almost all found within the game’s lower level zones, with monsters like Kobold Tunnelers and Wendigos found just a small walk from some of the game’s literal tutorial areas. It all makes sense considering the lower-level zones are also the most populated, but it’s still a little shocking to learn than a puny level 7 enemy is capable of cutting so many adventures short.
Other players have contributed their fair share when it comes to lives lost. Though PvP is disabled by default in WoW Classic Hardcore, a new duel to the death mechanic does allow players to challenge one another in high-stakes battles, with the loser dying permanently. That helped PvP become the seventh most common cause of death, with more than 34,000 deaths and counting.
Perhaps most surprising is the fact that two of the most common causes of death aren’t at the hands of hostile enemies at all, but rather the environment itself. Drowning is the eighth most common cause of death WoW Classic Hardcore, having claimed more than 33,000 players so far. It’s shockingly easy to run out of breath if playing any race other than undead, resulting in probably one of the worst ways to die in the old-school MMO.
As for the deadliest foe in all of Azeroth? Gravity, as it turns out. Over 74,000 players have died thanks to good ol’ fashioned fall damage. Falling off cliffs, missing a jump, or even mistiming one of the elevators in capital cities like Undercity or Thunder Bluff can all end in tragedy, as more than a few players have discovered. Only a handful of classes have a way to survive such a fall, meaning most players are simply out of luck if they take one wrong step.
Falling to certain death isn’t a great way to go out, but players have shared plenty of other embarassing WoW Classic Hardcore deaths. Previous WoW Classic Hardcore stats released by Blizzard revealed that Hunters have had the most deaths of any class, with Warriors also having a rough time when it comes to surviving Azeroth (though the high death stats are partially thanks to Hunters and Warriors also being two of the game’s more popular classes). Blizzard will be revealing what’s next for both WoW Classic and the modern version of the game at BlizzCon on November 3.
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