How to connect

Install the Frontier launcher, point it at your 3.3.5a client, press Play.

Registration and the launcher download open here any moment now. Discord announces it. Anyone can join.

Before you start

What you need.

A free account, a client and our launcher.

✦

A 3.3.5a client

Build 12340, English (enUS), clean and unmodified. We do not hand out the game.

❖

Write access to it

The launcher writes into the client folder. In Program Files, run it as administrator.

✧

Our launcher

Windows, Linux or macOS. It downloads our patch, patches your own Wow.exe and starts the game. Free, like the realm.

Account

Create your account.

The account name and password you choose here are your game login.

  1. Enter your e-mail below.
  2. Open the link we send you and choose an account name and password.
  3. Log in to the game with that name and password.

Registration opens here any moment now. Discord announces it.

Download

Get the launcher.

The download buttons appear here any moment now. Discord announces it.

Recommended

The launcher

  • Downloads the Frontier patch into your game folder.
  • Patches your Wow.exe; the original stays as Wow.exe.orig.
  • Sets the realm, then starts the game.
  • Updates you automatically every time you start it.

Not code-signed: if Windows warns you, choose “More info”, then “Run anyway”. Linux and macOS run the game through Wine, not tested by us yet: tell us how it went.

No launcher

Manual install

  • Back up your Wow.exe and Data\patch-4.MPQ (if you have one).
  • Extract the zip into your game folder and let it replace Wow.exe.
  • Delete the Cache folder, then start Wow.exe. The realm is already set.
  • Updates are by hand: download the new zip after each patch.

Same files as the launcher. Its README lists every file’s SHA-256 and how to undo the install.

What the patch does

Frontier runs 1.12 rules. Your 3.3.5a client does not know them.

patch-4.MPQ

The game data: spell, talent and item tooltips with Frontier’s values, the talent trees, new icons, the login screen and interface changes.

Wow.exe

A few bytes: the game accepts our interface files instead of refusing them as corrupt, and mob levels turn green or grey on the 1.12 scale.

Why it is required

Without it the client shows stock 3.3.5a numbers and talent trees: tooltips are wrong and Frontier’s new talents are missing.

Setup

Getting in.

Create an account

Use the form above. The name and password you choose are your game login.

Install the launcher

Put the launcher and its frontier-launcher-config.json next to Wow.exe and start it. It downloads our patch, patches your Wow.exe (the original is kept as Wow.exe.orig) and sets the realm.

No launcher? Extract the manual zip into a clean client folder, delete the Cache folder and start Wow.exe. Realm address: logon.frontierrealm.org.

Press Play

Always start the game through the Frontier launcher. Log in with your account name and password, pick Frontier - Beta, roll a character, then read the beta guide.