What is WoW 3.3.5a, and why does every WotLK server use it?
WoW 3.3.5a is the last patch of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, released by Blizzard in mid-2010. Its client is build 12340. It contains the complete expansion: all of Northrend, every raid up to Icecrown Citadel and the Ruby Sanctum, the Dungeon Finder, and every class change made during Wrath. Because it is the finished version of the expansion, and the last one before Cataclysm reshaped the game, 3.3.5a became the version almost every Wrath of the Lich King private server runs. When you see “3.3.5a” on a server listing, it tells you which client you need and what game you will be playing.
WoW 3.3.5a in short
| Expansion | Wrath of the Lich King |
| Patch | 3.3.5a, the final patch of the expansion |
| Client build | 12340 |
| Released | 2010 |
| Level cap | 80 |
| Final raids | Icecrown Citadel, the Ruby Sanctum |
| Followed by | Patch 4.0.1, the Cataclysm pre-patch |
Where 3.3.5a sits in the Wrath of the Lich King patches
Wrath of the Lich King launched in November 2008 and was updated with a series of major content patches. Each one added raids, dungeons and systems that stayed in the game, so the last patch carries everything that came before it.
| Patch | Name | Main additions |
|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | Echoes of Doom, then the launch | Northrend, level 80, the Death Knight, Naxxramas, the Obsidian Sanctum, the Eye of Eternity |
| 3.1 | Secrets of Ulduar | Ulduar, the Argent Tournament, dual talent specialization |
| 3.2 | Call of the Crusade | Trial of the Crusader, the Trial of the Champion dungeon, Isle of Conquest |
| 3.3 | Fall of the Lich King | Icecrown Citadel, the Frozen Halls dungeons, the Dungeon Finder |
| 3.3.5 | Defending the Ruby Sanctum | The Ruby Sanctum and its boss, Halion |
The “a” in 3.3.5a marks a small follow-up build released shortly after 3.3.5. It did not add content. It is simply the final client Blizzard shipped for the expansion, which is why build 12340 is the one that matters.
What WoW 3.3.5a contains
The full Wrath of the Lich King expansion
Everything from the expansion’s two years is in 3.3.5a. That means every Northrend zone from Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord to Icecrown and the Storm Peaks, Wintergrasp and its regular world PvP battles, the Argent Tournament, Dalaran as the faction-neutral capital, and the Death Knight hero class that starts at level 55. It also includes the old world and Outland as they were in 2010, before Cataclysm changed them, so leveling from 1 to 80 runs through the original zones. Our WotLK leveling guide walks through that route.
Icecrown Citadel and the Ruby Sanctum
Icecrown Citadel, added in 3.3, is the expansion’s final raid and ends with the fight against Arthas, the Lich King, on the Frozen Throne. It has twelve bosses in four wings: the Lower Spire, the Plagueworks, the Crimson Hall and the Frostwing Halls, followed by the Frozen Throne. It can be run in 10-player and 25-player sizes, each with a heroic mode. Late in the expansion a raid-wide buff that grew over time made the encounters gradually easier, which helped more groups see the Lich King. If you want the boss by boss detail, read our Icecrown Citadel raid guide.
The Ruby Sanctum, added in 3.3.5, sits beneath Wyrmrest Temple in Dragonblight. It is a shorter raid of three minor bosses and Halion, a twilight dragon fought across the physical and twilight realms at once. It was the last raid Blizzard added to Wrath of the Lich King.
The Dungeon Finder
Patch 3.3 also brought the Dungeon Finder. You choose a role (tank, healer or damage), queue for a specific dungeon or a random one, and the game builds a group and teleports everyone inside. Random heroics at level 80 rewarded emblems, which made the Dungeon Finder a reliable way to gear up for raids. It changed how people played dungeons more than any other system in the expansion, and it is one of the reasons players remember 3.3 so well.
The Frozen Halls dungeons
The same patch added three level 80 dungeons inside Icecrown Citadel itself: the Forge of Souls, the Pit of Saron and the Halls of Reflection. They are meant to be run in order, follow Jaina Proudmoore or Sylvanas Windrunner depending on your faction, and end with a chase through the halls as the Lich King pursues the group. For dungeons across the whole leveling range, see WotLK dungeons by level.
Why private servers use 3.3.5a
Wrath of the Lich King has been the most popular expansion for private servers for well over a decade, and almost all of them run 3.3.5a. There are a few reasons, and they reinforce each other.
- It is the complete expansion. Every raid, dungeon and system Wrath ever had is in the last patch. A server on 3.3.5a can offer the whole thing, or release it in stages, without changing the client.
- It is the last patch before Cataclysm. Patch 4.0.1 reworked talents and many class mechanics, and Cataclysm then remade the old world. For players who prefer the earlier design, 3.3.5a is the final version of the game they know.
- The class balance is the final version. Talents, spells and gear in 3.3.5a reflect the end of the expansion’s tuning, after two years of changes.
- The open source server software targets it. The large community server projects that recreate the World of Warcraft server were built around client build 12340. Years of work on quests, bosses and spells went into that one version, so any new server starting from that software inherits 3.3.5a.
- Addons and tools grew up around it. Thousands of addons were written or updated for the 3.3.5a interface, and many are still maintained for it today.
Put together, 3.3.5a stopped being just one patch among many and became the shared standard: one client, one build number, and a huge library of server software, addons and guides that all agree on it.
What “3.3.5a” means on a server listing
When a private server says it runs 3.3.5a, it is telling you a few practical things.
You need the 3.3.5a client
The server only accepts the exact client build 12340. A client from another patch, even another Wrath patch, will not connect. On most servers that means finding a 3.3.5a client, which is around 17 GB, and editing the realmlist file inside it so it points to that server.
You get Wrath of the Lich King as it ended
The level cap is 80, the talent trees are the Wrath trees, and the world is the pre-Cataclysm world. The content in the client is the full expansion, though each server decides what it actually makes available and when.
It does not tell you everything
“3.3.5a” describes the client, not the realm. Experience rates, PvP or PvE rules, how much content is released and whether anything is sold all vary from server to server. Our page on finding a free WotLK private server covers what else to check.
3.3.5a, 3.3.5 and “WotLK Classic”
These names get mixed up, so it helps to keep them apart.
| Name | What it is |
|---|---|
| 3.3.5 | The final major Wrath content patch, which added the Ruby Sanctum |
| 3.3.5a | The small follow-up build of 3.3.5, client build 12340, the version private servers use |
| Wrath of the Lich King Classic | Blizzard’s own modern re-release of the expansion, built on a newer client and engine |
Wrath Classic and a 3.3.5a server are not interchangeable. They use different clients, and a Classic client cannot connect to a 3.3.5a server or the other way round. For a broader look at how the versions differ, read WotLK vs Classic vs Retail.
Playing 3.3.5a without the download
The usual barrier to 3.3.5a today is the client itself: finding a copy, downloading 17 GB, and getting a 2010 game to run on a modern computer, a Mac, or not at all on a phone.
Lasthavens is a free 3.3.5a realm that removes that step. The real Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a client, decompiled and rebuilt for the web, runs in your browser on your own device. There is no launcher and no realmlist to edit. The first visit downloads about 50 MB to reach the login screen, and your browser caches it after that. It plays on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook, and on iPhone, iPad and Android with touch controls built from the game’s own buttons. The realm is PvP, with twice the normal experience from kills, quests and exploring, and you make an account on the login screen with Create Account.
If you want to know how that works, how WoW runs in a browser explains it. Otherwise, open Lasthavens and play.