Patch 8.2 Rise of Azshara brings new Heritage Armor for Tauren and Gnomes, as well as an update to their mount size.

Tauren and Gnomes Heritage Armor

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Source)

Rise up and stand tall with two new Heritage Armor sets—one for gnomes and one for tauren—coming in the Rise of Azshara content update.

Players with maximum-level (120) gnomes or tauren* who are Exalted with their faction (Gnomeregan or Thunder Bluff respectively) will be able to embark on a new quest line for each race to learn more about their history. Once you complete your quest, you’ll gain a new Heritage Armor transmogrification set unique to your race and be able to show off your pride.

*Players will also first need to complete the War Campaign quest Stay of Execution, on any character regardless of faction. Stay of Execution will be available shortly after the launch of Rise of Azshara.

Rise up to any challenge and show off the cog-nitive prowess of gnomish technology as you get ready to bolt into action in Mechagon and beyond.

Stand proud as you reconnect with your ancestors through a spirit journey to honor your tauren heritage.

Begin your journey by visiting the embassy in Orgrimmar or Stormwind after Rise of Azshara arrives.

Tauren and Gnomes Mount Size Update

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Source)

With today’s PTR update, you might notice mount size changes for gnome and tauren player characters. For a very long time, we’ve had issues that stem from gnomes and tauren riding on mounts that appear larger than intended. We’re adjusting their sizing down on normal* mounts.

This allows us to correct many art and animation bugs with these specific races when mounted, and they look better. Gnomes and tauren now look more like they should, gnomes can actually reach their reins, and tauren can fit through more doorways when mounted.

Here’s an example of how a gnome character looks when mounted, before the change and after the change.

This new tech also means that it’s now possible for us to address issues where some mounts are too small on some races. We’re looking to find examples along those lines, so please keep your feedback coming.

Thank you!

*There are a few mounts that are not considered "normal"-sized to begin with. For example, Hyena mounts are considered "small", and we’re not sizing tauren differently on small mounts at this time.

The first WoW Classic Stress Test is starting soon! Details about the invite process (for both beta and stress tests) have been posted on the forums.

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Source)

First off all, we want to thank all of you who have shown interest in testing WoW Classic. Having extra eyes on so many aspects of the game is a huge help as we prepare for the upcoming release.

At this time, we’ve finished sending out all of the invites for the first stress test. This large invite wave took a number of hours to process, so please check that thread for details about it and we’ll see many of you there when the test begins later today. Also, don’t forget that we have a couple more stress tests scheduled, so keep an eye out for updates on those in the coming weeks.

Related to this, we’ve seen a lot of questions about the general invite process and want to clarify a few things. The method in which people are invited from the opt-in pool is not on a first-come-first-served basis, but instead we look at a variety of factors such as the age of the account. That said, the amount of closed beta invites that we’re sending out is rapidly decreasing as we have met our current population needs for testing. We’ll regularly reevaluate the need for additional invites as we go through the testing process.

Thank you for your continued interest in WoW Classic and we can’t wait to see you in Azeroth on August 27!

Stress Test 1 Ending Info

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Source)

At this time, we have wrapped up our active testing period. The stress test realm will still be available for play until Thursday, May 23 at 6:00pm PDT. If you were selected for just the stress test, there will be no realm to login to at that time tomorrow.

The closed beta realms will soon be available again for those testers.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the WoW Classic stress test!

Blizzard has shared new PTR Development Notes for the upcoming content update, Rise of Azshara. In this update, players can test all Rank 3 Essences for the Heart of Azeroth within the class Proving Grounds.

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Source)

A new build with new testable content has been published to the Public Test Realms (PTR) for our upcoming content update, Rise of Azshara. This build retains progress made since test characters were deleted on May 14.

Now Available

• Test characters are now granted access to all Rank 3 Essences within the class Proving Grounds. Players can access the Proving Grounds by speaking to their respective class trainer in a capital city.

Continuing Testing

• Heart of Azeroth system update-- Essences
• New Zone-- Mechagon
• New Zone-- Nazjatar
• New Raid-- Azshara’s Eternal Palace
• New Dungeon-- Operation: Mechagon
• New Arena-- The Robodrome
• Mount Equipment
• Crestfall and Snowblossom Island Expeditions
• Ashran Epic Battleground
• New Missions
• Gnome and Tauren Heritage Armors
• New Profession Recipes
• Pet Battle Dungeon-- Stratholme

Coming Soon

• Heroic Battle for Stromgarde Warfront
• Mythic Keystone Dungeon Updates

Please keep an eye on this forum for dedicated feedback threads on these testable features, such as Feedback—Operation: Mechagon and Feedback—Nazjatar.

Get into the PTR!

The PTR is now available. To log in to the PTR, simply create a PTR account and copy the character you wish to test from your account. Step-by-step directions can be found here.

Note: World of Warcraft PTR realms are only available to players who have a full World of Warcraft account.

The first WoW Classic Stress Test is happening today, May 22, from 4-6pm PDT (May 23, from 1-3am CEST for Europe). A lot of invites have been sent out for this test, so make sure to check the launcher to see if you got in!

As a reminder, don't forget that there will be no Beta Keys for this test session, and to get in you will have to opt in to "World of Warcraft Classic" on the Beta Profile Settings page in your account.

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Source)

We’ll be performing our first stress test for WoW Classic on Wednesday, May 22, from 4–6pm PDT. During this time, the closed beta test realm will be unavailable. Those who are currently in the beta test will only be able to login to the stress test realm during this time and beta testers can participate using their existing installation. We’ll also be adding a significant number of players to the stress test from the pool of people who have already opted in for the beta but have not yet been selected.

Since the same client is used for both our stress test users and our normal beta users, the name in the Battle.net App has changed to “Beta & Stress Test: WoW Classic . ” If you’ve been selected to participate in the stress test, you’ll see this option appear in the Region/Account drop down menu so you can download and install the WoW Classic client in advance, but you’ll only be able to see the stress test realm when it becomes available.

For the stress test, all races and classes will be available for creation, but the maximum level will be set to 5. The test will also take place on a PvP realm, but since the starting areas are sanctuaries you don’t need to worry about attacks from the other faction if you just want to level up to 5. We expect to put a lot of people in the starting zones, though, and we’re looking forward to seeing what you all do as we test the servers under crowded conditions.

We’ll be actively monitoring the server, sending server messages, etc. during the 4-6pm PDT period and it’s important to have as many people as possible log in during this window! The stress test realm itself will be available until Thursday, May 23 (becoming unavailable around 6:00pm PDT).

If you encounter any issues during the test, you can submit them through the bug reporting tool in-game. If there are any aspects you’d like to discuss, feel free to post in the Classic Discussion forum.

Performing tests like these are very important in contributing to a smooth launch on August 27 and we appreciate your support.

Blizzard has shared new PTR Development Notes for the upcoming content update, Rise of Azshara. In this update, you can now test Nazjatar from its beginning stage.

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Source)

A new build with new testable content has been published to the Public Test Realms (PTR) for our upcoming content update, Rise of Azshara. All test characters previously created on PTR realms have been deleted.

Now Available

• Nazjatar can now be tested from its beginning stage.

Continuing Testing

• Heart of Azeroth system update: Essences
• New Zone: Mechagon
• New Raid-- Azshara’s Eternal Palace
• New Dungeon-- Operation: Mechagon
• New Arena: The Robodrome
• Mount Equipment
• Crestfall and Snowblossom Island Expeditions
• Ashran Epic Battleground
• New Missions
• Gnome and Tauren Heritage Armors
• New Profession Recipes
• Pet Battle Dungeon: Stratholme

Coming Soon

• Heroic Battle for Stromgarde Warfront
• Mythic Keystone Dungeon Updates

Keep an eye out here in this forum for dedicated feedback threads on features, such as Feedback—Operation: Mechagon and Feedback—Nazjatar.

Get into the PTR!

The PTR is now available. To log in to the PTR, simply create a PTR account and copy the character you wish to test from your account. Step-by-step directions can be found here.

Note : World of Warcraft PTR realms are only available to players who have a full World of Warcraft account.