Get into the game

• Full client — 3.3.5a (build 12340)

  The plain game, with none of the realm's files in it. Only needed if you do not already have a 3.3.5a install. It unpacks to a folder called World of Warcraft 3.3.5a; put the install pack on top of it.

  16.5 GB

  Download Full client — 3.3.5a (build 12340)

  SHA-25654ed5737cf9954e77c3e70050f35a045b17b882e6adc957e34fb5d417d132819

Install pack

• Eternion-WotLK-Complete.zip

  Every file the launcher would put in your game folder, in one zip: the realm's patches, the patch-Z.MPQ folder, the realm's Wow.exe, voice chat and the realm address. Extract it and drag everything into the folder that holds Wow.exe.

  540.7 MB

  Download Eternion-WotLK-Complete.zip

  SHA-256b4f804c21ff702df17a194840581dee70a49ec608ebc55501f6ec79da39f928b

Patches

• patch-4.MPQ

  Spells. Required. Goes in Data/.

  31.0 MB

  Download patch-4.MPQ

  SHA-256a75f6cc42f84d439dde5090aba229c2af2e99143bb181ced4780580d64b423d8

• patch-5.MPQ

  Art and sound. Required. Goes in Data/.

  410.6 MB

  Download patch-5.MPQ

  SHA-2562fd42a76508786fb2a15a590bdb7199dc2953f19042222dd831ba3f98bdc033e

• patch-6.MPQ

  Creature and mount appearances. Required. Goes in Data/.

  84.2 MB

  Download patch-6.MPQ

  SHA-256e701bad342c0ef0fac34c863770505f4e9172c448a36487556b20e5058753705

• patch-F.MPQ

  Item appearances. Required. Goes in Data/.

  7.6 MB

  Download patch-F.MPQ

  SHA-2566f78c01f22fdcc2ff97817b22c2ad1c093b312528f1659a697dabeb6f13f0881

• patch-Y.MPQ

  The Vanity wardrobe add-ons. Required. Goes in Data/.

  2.8 MB

  Download patch-Y.MPQ

  SHA-2564813b429d2a93849b24a3c6594ed30fb5f2ad5beafef38182ab2f3a314fc64d0

The same files the install pack puts in Data/, one at a time, for replacing one that has gone missing or bad. On their own they are not a working install: the realm's Wow.exe, the patch-Z.MPQ folder and voice chat come with the install pack or the launcher.

With the launcher

1. Run the installer

   It is an ordinary Windows installer for Windows 10 or 11. The first time, Windows may put a blue “Windows protected your PC” box in front of it: the installer is not code-signed yet, so Windows shows it as coming from an unknown publisher. Click More info, then Run anyway. If you would rather not, use the by-hand steps underneath instead; they install the same files, though for Cataclysm the launcher is the more reliable way to play.

2. Pick a realm and a folder

   Choose Wrath of the Lich King or Cataclysm on the left, then Pick Folder. Point it at a folder that already holds that game and it checks what you have and fetches only what is missing or out of date. Point it at an empty folder and it downloads the whole game there first. For Wrath that is a 16.5 GB download, and the launcher tells you to make room for about 35 GB: the zip and the unpacked game sit side by side until it finishes. For Cataclysm it is about 16.1 GB, fetched file by file.

3. Install, then Play

   Click Install — or Update, if the folder already holds the game — and let it finish. When the button says Play, press it: it sets the realm address and starts the game. Log in with the account you registered here. Each time you open a realm's page in the launcher it checks that realm's patches and shows Update when there is something new.

By hand — Wrath of the Lich King

1. Start from a 3.3.5a client, build 12340

   This is the one thing that cannot be skipped. The version line in the bottom-left corner of the game's login screen should start with Version 3.3.5 (12340) — the game calls itself 3.3.5; the “a” is only what players call this build. If the first number in brackets is not 12340, the realm will not accept it. No client yet? Download the full client above and extract it — it unpacks to a folder called World of Warcraft 3.3.5a.

2. Drag the install pack in

   Extract the install pack anywhere, open the folder that holds Wow.exe and drag everything from the pack into it, saying yes to replacing files. The folders already line up: the patches land in Data/, voice chat in Interface/AddOns/, and Wow.exe and EternionVoice.dll in the game folder itself.

   Data/patch-Z.MPQ arrives as a folder, not a file. That is correct — leave it as a folder; the game reads it as a patch, ahead of every other one. The realm's Wow.exe replaces yours: it carries the realm's extra equipment slots, such as Wings and Soul, which a stock Wow.exe does not have, and it starts voice chat with the game — which is why it needs Windows 8 or later. Keep a copy of the old one if you play somewhere else too.

3. Check the realm address

   The address lives in realmlist.wtf, inside the locale folder — Data/enUS/realmlist.wtf on an English client. The install pack already writes it for enUS and enGB. On any other language, open that folder's realmlist.wtf in a text editor, delete what is there and leave one line:

   set realmlist logon.eternion-wow.net

   Your locale folder is the one language folder inside Data/ — enUS, enGB, deDE, frFR, ruRU and so on. A realmlist.wtf anywhere else is ignored.

4. Start the game and log in

   Start it with Wow.exe and use the account name and password you registered on this site. If the client was previously pointed at a different realm, delete the Cache folder next to Wow.exe first — it holds that realm's item and creature data.

   No account yet? Create one here.

5. Check the add-ons are ticked

   The launcher switches the realm's add-ons on for you. By hand, if /voice does nothing in game, click AddOns at the bottom left of the character screen, tick Eternion Voice Chat and the Vanity add-ons, then enter the world again.

6. Pick your realm

   One address and one account cover both realms: Eternion runs Wrath of the Lich King (3.3.5a) — the client these steps set up — and Deathwing runs Cataclysm (4.3.4) on its own client, set up below. Both are custom haste realms.

   The realm screen uses the server's own names, which can differ from these. Pick the realm for the client you started — Wrath or Cataclysm.

By hand — Cataclysm

This works, but the launcher is the reliable way to play Deathwing: the 4.3.4 client damages its own install now and then. The launcher clears read-only files before every launch, and offers to put back a deleted patch when you open its Cataclysm page. By hand, the last step is yours to do.

1. Extract the full client

   The 4.3.4 download above unpacks to a folder called Cata. Put it wherever you like — it is a separate install, so your Wrath client is left alone.

2. Put the realm's game program in

   The Wow.exe inside the zip is an older build than the one the realm uses now. Download Wow.exe from the Cataclysm files above and put it in the Cata folder, saying yes to replacing the old one. It is the same file the launcher installs.

3. Add the patches

   Put wow-update-base-15602.MPQ and wow-update-base-15603.MPQ straight into Cata/Data/, next to the wow-update-base files already there — not into a sub-folder.

4. Start the game and log in

   Start Wow.exe in the Cata folder and log in with the same account you registered on this site. The realm address is already set: the download ships WTF/Config.wtf with this line in it, which is where the launcher writes it too:

   SET realmlist "logon.eternion-wow.net"

5. If it will not start

   The 4.3.4 client sometimes deletes one of the realm's patches when it starts, and marks the files in Data/ read-only while you play. Either one can stop the game starting, with “Cannot stream required archive data” or error 134. The launcher clears read-only before every launch, and each time you open its Cataclysm page it checks the patches are there and offers Update to put back one that has gone. By hand:

   Check wow-update-base-15602.MPQ and wow-update-base-15603.MPQ are still in Cata/Data/ and download any that has gone. Then right-click the Cata folder, choose Properties, untick Read-only and apply it to all sub-folders and files. Do not set the patches read-only to stop them being deleted — the game then stalls while loading and never reaches the login screen.

   Tired of doing this? Point the launcher at the same Cata folder: it checks every file, fetches only what is missing and does the rest for you.