World of Warcraft's Corrupted Blood Incident Returns in Season of Discovery

The infamous Corrupted Blood Incident, a notorious event in World of Warcraft's history, has unexpectedly resurfaced in the Season of Discovery servers. Players have recreated the 2005 chaos, unintentionally spreading a deadly plague across major cities like Stormwind.

The incident stems from the return of the Zul'Gurub raid in Phase 5 of Season of Discovery (September 2024). This raid, originally introduced in 2005 with Patch 1.7, features Hakkar the Soulflayer, whose Corrupted Blood spell deals damage over time and spreads to nearby players. While normally manageable with sufficient healing, players have exploited the spell's mechanics to spread the plague far beyond the raid instance.

Videos circulating online, such as one posted on r/classicwow by Lightstruckx, vividly demonstrate the Corrupted Blood debuff spreading rapidly through Stormwind's Trade District. The footage mirrors the original 2005 event, where players used pets to spread the plague across the game world for weeks before Blizzard intervened.

This resurgence has raised concerns, particularly regarding the impact on the upcoming Hardcore realms. Unlike Season of Discovery, Hardcore mode features permanent death, making the uncontrolled spread of Corrupted Blood a significant threat. Some players attribute the issue to unresolved bugs, highlighting the enduring legacy of the original incident.

While Blizzard has implemented past fixes, the reappearance of Corrupted Blood underscores ongoing challenges. With Season of Discovery's seventh phase slated for early 2025, the question remains: when will Blizzard permanently resolve this persistent problem?