TBC Anniversary Pre-Patch will arrive on January 13, 2026, and this short window is the best time for players to prepare their main characters, level alts, and build a strong economic foundation before the new content officially lands.
This guide covers everything you should do before the Pre-Patch, including must-farm materials, key quests to complete, professions to level, reputations to save, and gear to keep. It also includes a gold-making section so you can be fully prepared for flying training, 70-level gearing, and early raid entry.
Whether you're a returning player, a seasoned veteran, or someone planning a fresh start, this checklist will ensure you enter the TBC Anniversary Pre-Patch fully ready.
This is the simplest and most useful section of the entire guide—players love clear lists they can save and follow. Below is a full checklist covering all important systems.
With the Anniversary Pre-Patch changing the meta, many materials will spike in price. Prepare the following now:
Healing Potions
Mana Potions
Elixirs of Agility/Strength/Intellect
Scrolls (Agility, Strength, Spirit)
Bandages
These items always become more expensive once the leveling hype begins.
Many items will remain valuable during the transition:
Runecloth (for first aid + rep turn-ins)
Arcane Dust (enchanting leveling)
Felcloth (crafting bags)
Leatherworking essentials (Rugged Leather, Core Leather)
Large Brilliant Shards
Greater Eternal Essences
Mooncloth
Arcanite Bars
Players often underestimate how expensive profession leveling becomes during Pre-Patch. Getting these early saves a lot of TBC Anniversary gold.
Doing these before Pre-Patch gives you EXP, gold, rep, and headstart advantages:
Level 60 quests that reward high gold become an amazing money source in Pre-Patch; do not turn them in yet. Prepare:
Dungeon chain quests
Silithus quests
Eastern Plaguelands/Naxxramas questlines
Any unfinished zone story arcs
These quests become pure gold after Pre-Patch scaling changes.
Raid quests reward high gold values in Pre-Patch. Save them.
Turn them in after the update for free currency and gold.
Reputation bonuses will matter once players start preparing for gearing and professions in TBC Anniversary.
Highly Recommended:
Argent Dawn – early enchants, materials
Cenarion Circle – useful early crafting patterns
Thorium Brotherhood – fire-resistant pieces and valuable crafts
Zandalar Tribe – trinkets, enchants
Saving reputation hand-ins (Scourgestones, Twilight Texts, Bijous) can help you rush enchants or gear crafting early on.
Leveling your professions early will save you enormous amounts of time and gold once the Pre-Patch goes live. And if you're short on time or returning to the game after a break, our fast TBC Classic Anniversary boost can help you skip early-game bottlenecks and focus directly on gearing, professions, or preparing for Outland.
Best Professions to Level Now:
Engineering – PvP advantage + early raid tools
Jewelcrafting Prep – stock materials (the profession unlocks later, but you can prepare mats now)
Alchemy – flasks & elixirs will spike in price
Leatherworking – drums will become crucial
Enchanting – people always need enchants during early raid progression
You don't necessarily need to finish leveling, but prepare 70% of the mats now—prices will explode after Pre-Patch.
Do NOT vendor or DE these types of items:
Spell power gear for hybrid classes
Feral DPS/Tank gear
Ret Paladin offpieces
Off-spec gear for leveling
Trinkets with strong on-use effects
Hybrid classes gain massive buffs in Pre-Patch, so gear that used to be "trash" suddenly becomes great for leveling or dungeon runs.
The economy is the biggest part of Pre-Patch preparation. As the date approaches, more players farm aggressively to prepare for:
Riding + Flying training
Early raid consumables
Profession leveling
BoE upgrades
Here's what will matter most.
