World of Warcraft : Cataclysm World of Warcraft : Cataclysm ( or Cata for short ) is the third expansion for " World of Warcraft " . Set primarily in a dramatically reforged Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms on the world of Azeroth , the expansion set follows the return of the evil Dragon Aspect Deathwing the Destroyer - - formerly known as the ancient guardian Neltharion the Earth Warder - - whose fiery arrival from Deepholm , the elemental plane of earth , causes a massive worldwide catastrophe known as The Shattering . " Cataclysm " will return players to the two continents of Azeroth for most of their campaigning , after years away in Outland and Northrend , opening new zones such as Mount Hyjal , the sunken world of Vashj ' ir , Deepholm , Uldum and the Twilight Highlands . It will include two new playable races : the worgen from the legendary kingdom of Gilneas for the Alliance , and the goblins of the Bilgewater Cartel from the isle of Kezan for the Horde . Flying mount s will finally be usable in Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms , while the new secondary profession Archaeology will be introduced . Reforging will make its debut in game , while player classes will be fully updated , including new race - class combinations . " World of Warcraft : Cataclysm " was officially announced on August 21 , 2009 at BlizzCon 2009 . The " friends & family " phase of the " World of Warcraft : Cataclysm " alpha began on May 3rd , 2010 , while closed beta began June 30th , 2010 . . Patch 4 . 0 . 1 on October 12 , 2010 updated the game to new system architectures ( as well as the new talent trees ) for the expansion , Patch 4 . 0 . 3 , released on November 16 , 2010 , updated the final pre - expansion core files ( " The Shattering " itself , with the classic world changes ) . The game ' s official cinematic debuted October 17 , 2010 . Both standard and Collectors ' Edition content and pricing were announced on August 17 , 2010 . On October 4 , 2010 , Blizzard Entertainment officially announced the release date for the expansion : December 7 , 2010 , including for the first time a digital download edition at release . Introduction . From the official site : New zones . Unlike in the previous two expansions , " The Burning Crusade " and " Wrath of the Lich King " , there is no new continent / world for additional content ; instead , " Cataclysm " returns players primarily to Azeroth itself , with seven new high - level ( 80 - 85 ) zones . Each of the five leveling zones features its own unique breadcrumb ( introductory ) quest and cutscene ; afterwards , each is accessible quickly through portals in Stormwind City and Orgrimmar . Tol Barad is also available at level 85 via these portals ; Molten Front is only accessible via Mount Hyjal . New level 80 - 85 zones . Also included as a new zone , albeit unpopulated , is , the site of the above - ground level 60 raid dungeons Temple of Ahn ' Qiraj and Ruins of Ahn ' Qiraj . There has been no word as yet if this will continue questlines from Silithus , or simply marks flyover territory for flying mounts venturing into the area . In addition , the Maelstrom appears as a region on player maps ; Deepholm , Kezan and the Lost Isles appear as individual zones on the Maelstrom region map . New starting zones . In addition , many changes were made to starting areas for other races . Most notably , the gnomes now begin in an instanced part of the Gnomeregan dungeon rather than share their starting experience with the Ironforge dwarves , before heading out into Dun Morogh as before . Dungeons and raids . Blizzard developers announced at BlizzCon 2009 that they intended for " Cataclysm " to ship with the most end - game content yet seen in an expansion . While there are technically fewer dungeons and raid instances than in the previous two expansions , it is expected that each will be sufficiently challenging . Dungeons . There are currently seven new dungeons expected to be included at " Cataclysm " release , with both regular difficulty versions ( levels noted below ) and heroic difficulty content to be encountered at level 85 : Four additional dungeons from classic " World of Warcraft " , both low - level instances or former raids , have had level 85 heroic 5 - man versions added with new content : Raids . " Cataclysm " will ship with three end - game raid dungeons and a PvP - unlocked raid dungeon ( in the same style as the Vault of Archavon ) , each with both 10 and 25 - man settings . Once the final boss of each has been defeated , players can set each boss to heroic mode ( as in Icecrown Citadel ) . Factions and organizations . New end - game factions . Numerous new factions are introduced in the expansion , and like in previous expansions feature quartermasters selling gear and other faction perks . New factions for end - game and leveling content include the following : PvP . Several new options for player - versus - player game play are available with " Cataclysm " , including : Both of the new battlegrounds released with " Cataclysm " will be rated , like arena s , and will provide the same rewards as arenas . New arenas are planned to be added with the expansion , but not directly at the release . Prominent figures . Among the many figures confirmed to have major roles in the story of " Cataclysm " are : The Naga ruler and former leader of the Night Elves , Queen Azshara , makes a small but important appearance during the leveling process in the Darkshore region . However , she is not expected to be an end - game boss during this expansion ; it is surmised she will play a much larger role in the next expansion pack . Detailed expansion alterations / updates . Race and class changes . All of these combinations , excluding the goblin and worgen options , will be available to all players regardless of expansion level in Patch 4 . 0 . 3 . Goblins and worgen are limited to " Cataclysm " purchasers . Zones affected by the Cataclysm . These changes are not phased . The world - changing patch will happen in Patch 4 . 0 . 3 , not Patch 4 . 0 . 1 as believed earlier . They will be seen by everyone , from level 1 to 85 , whether or not they buy the expansion . MVP Frejya has an excellent series of posts detailing the zone changes . Interface . Launcher . The launcher has been updated to stream installation and patch data from the servers instead of being required to download it all before playing . The new launcher is broken up into three stages of download progress : The updater and downloader have been integrated closely into the Launcher , resulting in less application switching when patching and installing . Criticisms . While the initial reception of this expansion was good and in line with previous expansions , there were quite a few criticisms that cropped up over the life of the expansion . Scams . Thousands of players have received e - mails inviting them to join an " alpha test " . These are scammers who are looking to capitalize on unsuspecting victims . A few points to remember if you receive an invitation to help test any Blizzard product : " US " External links . " EU "