Summary
- The infamous Corrupted Blood Incident from World of Warcraft has re-emerged in Season of Discovery.
- Zul'Gurub raid in Phase 5 of Season of Discovery reintroduced the Corrupted Blood spell, leading to chaos.
- Players have recreated the Corrupted Blood Incident by spreading the deadly plague in Stormwind City, echoing the 2005 event.
The notorious Corrupted Blood Incident from World of Warcraft has made an unexpected return in the Season of Discovery realms. Players have been sharing video footage of the deadly plague wreaking havoc in cities, with some finding humor in the situation while others worry about its potential impact on Hardcore realms.
The incident originally surfaced with the release of Patch 1.7, Rise of the Blood God, in September 2005. This patch introduced the Zul'Gurub raid, a 20-player instance where players battled Hakkar the Soulflayer, a deity revered by the Gurubashi trolls. Zul'Gurub was reintroduced in World of Warcraft: Season of Discovery during Phase 5, which launched in September 2024. Hakkar's Corrupted Blood spell, which causes damage over time and spreads to nearby players, was intended to be manageable with strong healing from classes like Priests or Paladins.
However, following the release of Zul'Gurub, the Corrupted Blood debuff could affect both players and their pets and minions, allowing the plague to spread beyond the raid and cause widespread chaos in World of Warcraft. A video shared by Lightstruckx on the r/classicwow subreddit captured the debuff in action in Stormwind City's Trade District. The footage showed Lightstruckx using Priest spells such as Flash Heal and Power Word: Shield to survive while the Corrupted Blood debuff quickly felled other players, mirroring the chaos of the original 2005 incident, where "pet bombs" were used to spread the debuff throughout towns and cities for nearly a month before Blizzard managed to contain it.
World of Warcraft Players Accidentally Re-Create The Corrupted Blood Incident
Some World of Warcraft players have pointed out that the re-emergence of the Corrupted Blood debuff in Season of Discovery realms indicates an unresolved issue that Blizzard has yet to address. There are also concerns about how this debuff could be exploited in Hardcore realms, where permanent death is a core feature, meaning players must start over if their character dies.
Despite previous fixes implemented in World of Warcraft, the legacy of the Corrupted Blood Incident persists. With the seventh phase of Season of Discovery set to launch in early 2025, it remains uncertain when Blizzard will resolve the latest outbreak of Corrupted Blood.
