Nozdor's fresh realm DUNE opens with more than 900 players online

Nozdor, a Russian Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a server, opened its fresh realm DUNE on 16 October 2026 at 19:00 Moscow time (16:00 UTC). The old realm, which had reached Ruby Sanctum, closed on 11 October. An hour after the opening the server's public counter showed 934 players online, and it peaked at 946 at 17:15 UTC, about two thirds of them Horde. Overnight it fell to around 220 and was back above 400 by Saturday morning.

Back to level 1

• Characters stay on their accounts but start DUNE at level 1. Gear, gold, other currencies and heirlooms stay behind
• Account-wide mounts, some achievements and every other collection except heirlooms carry over
• Later, copies of the old characters with their level and gear will appear on a separate test realm
• Each character picks x1 or x5 experience once, and both play in the same world. The realm-first races and their titles run on x1
• Leveling was reworked. Stances, auras, forms, pets and core attacks come in the first levels, death knights start at level 1, crafting gives experience and group buffs need no reagents

Five optional trials

When you create a character you can pick one of five trials, and the choice can't be changed later. In four of them the character has a single life, and the whole server is told who died, at what level, in which trial and to whom. These hardcore trials need a new character, and it can't use heirlooms, experience bonuses, the account bank or the normal dungeon queue.

• Long Adventure: slower experience and more dangerous enemies, but you can resurrect
• Broken Soul: one life, tougher monsters, gear that wears out twice as fast, and groups only with players on the same trial
• Wanderer: experience comes only from quests
• Dungeon Master: 52 bosses, from Edwin VanCleef in the Deadmines to Ley-Guardian Eregos in the Oculus, each with a level limit. Go past it without killing that boss and the character dies
• Survival: one life with hunger, thirst, cold and bleeding. Healing spells and potions are off, so health comes back only from food, bandages and resting at an inn

What opens when

• 16 October: normal Wrath dungeons, the Timeless Isle, professions and reputations. Heroic dungeons stay closed and come later as catch-up content
• 18 October: Hallow's End, with the Headless Horseman as a world boss and event gear at item level 190
• 30 October: the first raids, among them Siege of Dalaran and the Emerald Sanctum, which aren't in the original Wrath, plus the Obsidian Sanctum and the Vault of Archavon. Heroic+ keys, a weekly chest for them and the Celestial Tournament world boss open the same day

Nozdor lowered item levels across this first stage so the keys have a place next to raids. Keys pay out item level 187 to 199, and the weekly chest goes up to 206.

Realm firsts work differently too. The Nozdor Raid Championship for 25-player raids now goes to the team with the best full clear within one raid week, not the first kill of the last boss. The server scores it from combat logs, with 50% for kill time, 25% for attempts, 10% for deaths and 15% for mechanics.

The community speaks Russian, and the website is also available in English.

Sources: Nozdor's DUNE page, its forum posts announcing DUNE (1 October 2026) and its progression stages (16 October 2026), and the online counter on nozdor.com (16 and 17 October 2026). Trial names translated from Russian.