World of Warcraft Guides, Lore, Addons & News – Noob to Boss From Azeroth's Newbie to Champion – World of Warcraft Guides
The Burning Crusade Classic recreates the first WoW expansion — Outland, flying mounts, Arena, and the original Draenei and Blood Elf starting experience. It installs as its own client inside the Battle.net app, separate from both Retail and vanilla Classic, so this guide covers the full setup from scratch.
What You’ll Need Before You Start
- A Battle.net account with an active WoW subscription or game time.
- Roughly 40-50GB of free drive space.
- The Battle.net desktop app installed and up to date.
- A quick check of the official WoW system requirements page if you’re on older hardware.
Step 1: Set Up Battle.net
If you don’t already have an account, register one at the Battle.net account sign-up page. If you’re new to Blizzard games entirely, you’ll also need the Battle.net app itself installed before anything else will show up.
Step 2: Install the TBC Classic Client
- Open the Battle.net app and click the Games tab.
- Select WoW Classic from the game list — TBC lives under the same Classic umbrella entry, not as a separate tile.
- Click the version dropdown near the Play button and switch it to Burning Crusade Classic.
- Click Install and pick a drive with enough free space.
If you already have vanilla Classic installed, Blizzard patches the existing client into TBC rather than downloading a second full copy, so the process is faster for returning players.
Step 3: Choose Your Faction and Race
TBC Classic adds two new playable races on launch: Draenei for the Alliance and Blood Elf for the Horde, both starting in their own dedicated zones rather than the classic starting areas. If you’re rolling a fresh character, this is a good excuse to try either race for the first time.
Step 4: First Launch Checklist
- Character transfer: If you’re continuing a vanilla Classic character, it carries over automatically once you switch clients — no extra step needed.
- Addons: TBC Classic uses its own separate AddOns folder from both Retail and vanilla Classic, so any addons you used before need to be reinstalled into the TBC-specific path.
- Flight paths: Once you hit level 58, your class trainer sends you to Hellfire Peninsula to begin the Outland storyline — keep an eye out for the portal quest.
Playing on Mac or Linux?
TBC Classic installs the same way on other platforms, but the base client setup differs slightly:
Want a Different Version of WoW?
TBC is just one stop on the Classic progression timeline. Here’s the rest of the lineup:
- How to Download & Install World of Warcraft (2026) — Retail
- How to Download & Install WoW Classic (2026 Guide)
- How to Download & Install WoW WotLK Classic
- How to Download & Install WoW Cataclysm Classic
- How to Download & Install WoW MoP Classic
- How to Download & Install WoW Season of Discovery
- How to Download & Install WoW Hardcore Classic
Or browse the full WoW Download & Install Guides hub to compare every option at once.
Troubleshooting Common Install Issues
The most common TBC Classic hiccup is the version dropdown defaulting back to the wrong client after a patch, or the game launching into vanilla Classic instead of TBC. Double-check the dropdown next to Play before each session. For anything more persistent, the official WoW support page covers known patching and login issues, and the official WoW website lists current server status.
