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WotLK phase ladder

Reference only — what each phase changed for the 19, 29 and 39 brackets, so you can tell which lists still apply on your server. Filter guides by phase in the guide lists.

Phase timeline in WotLK19 · 29 · 39 brackets

What each phase added, and which gear or gates it opened for the low brackets.

Dates vary by realm and region. Treat the order as fixed and the timing as approximate.

Phase 1P1
21 guides written
Launch — Naxxramas, Arena Season 5
PROFESSIONall
Inscription arrives — shoulder and off-hand options shift
Phase 2P2
21 guides written
Ulduar, Arena Season 6
ITEM_POOL39
Ulduar BoEs widen the 39 caster pool
PVP_VENDOR29 · 39
Season 6 rollover reprices the honour lists
Phase 3P3
18 guides written
Trial of the Crusader, Isle of Conquest
RULE_CHANGE19 · 29 · 39
XP-off queue split existed in the original release but not in the re-release — check your server
Phase 4P4
16 guides written
Icecrown Citadel, Arena Season 8
CURRENCYall
Emblem consolidation makes older gear cheap across brackets
Phase 5P5
14 guides written
Ruby Sanctum
ITEM_POOLall
End of the expansion — lists are frozen
Buff stacking in WotLKPatch 3.3.5, true in every phase

The elixir slots survive from TBC, but scrolls drop to one effect, potions gain Potion Sickness, and class buffs collapse into shared categories.

Three systems, not one. An item takes an exclusive slot, its effect belongs to a category that something else can overwrite, and the item itself sits in a shared cooldown group. Two buffs can both show in your bar and still not add.

Slotswhat you can hold at once
Battle and guardian, unchangedThe old low level consumables keep their TBC classification. Minor Agility and Firepower are Battle; Wisdom, Defence, Minor Fortitude and Strong Troll's Blood are Guardian.
Only one scroll effectThe 3.0.2 change, and the big one for twinks. Strength, agility and protection scrolls together was a legal TBC stack; in Wrath it's strictly one of the three.
Windfury left the weaponIt's a 16% melee haste aura now rather than a main hand enchant, so a 39 Rogue finally gets main hand poison and Windfury haste at the same time.
Categorieswhat silently overwrites what
Compare category, not spell nameBattle Shout and Blessing of Might are one attack power category and don't add; the stronger one applies. Melee haste, spell power, health, strength and agility all behave the same way.
Scrolls lose to the categoryAn intellect scroll is overwritten by Arcane Intellect and a stamina scroll by Power Word: Fortitude. With only one scroll effect available, spending it on a buff you already have costs you the slot as well.
Two providers rarely both show upMost alternative providers of a Wrath category sit above level 39, so in practice the bracket feels the scroll and potion changes far more than the consolidation.
Cooldownswhat shares a timer
Potion SicknessOne potion per uninterrupted combat, which is not the same as one per battleground. Drop combat, let it clear, and you can drink again in the next fight.
Elixirs and Healthstone unaffectedPotion Sickness governs potions only. Your battle and guardian elixirs ride through it, and a Healthstone stays outside the potion system.
In the twink bracketsFlasks are out of reach here too. Flask of the North is an alchemy skill item rather than a practical twink option. The three changes you'll actually feel at 19, 29 and 39 are one scroll, one potion per combat, and Windfury off the weapon.
Consumable cooldowns in WotLKPatch 3.3.5, true in every phase

Potions get faster and rarer at the same time: the cooldown halves to a minute, but Potion Sickness means you only get one per fight. Everything else works as it did.

A different question from stacking. Stacking asks whether two buffs can coexist; this asks which items lock each other for the next stretch of the fight. Items from different groups can all be used in the same fight.

Shared groupsuse one, lock the rest
Potion1 minHalf the old timer. Swiftness, Free Action and Combat Healing all read one minute here.
Potion Sicknessper combatThe real limit. Drink in combat and you get no second potion until that combat genuinely ends. Not one per battleground, one per uninterrupted fight.
Aggressive1 minExplosives and the rest, unchanged.
Non-aggressive2 minHealthstone still lives outside the potion system, and Potion Sickness doesn't touch it. Greater Healthstone opens at level 36.
Recently bandaged60 secUnchanged, and now more valuable than ever: it's the healing that Potion Sickness can't take away.
Anti-Venom1 minUnchanged, and also immune to the potion problem.
Thistle Tea5 minFull 100 energy under level 40 in Wrath too.
Items worth knowingwhere the group timer isn't the whole story
Free Action Potionlevel 20Thirty seconds immune to stuns and movement effects, and it does not clear what's already on you. Use it before the trap, not after.
Combat Healing Potionlevel 35700 to 900 health, one minute here rather than two, and fully subject to Potion Sickness. Sold by the battleground vendors.
Heavy Netherweave BandageFirst Aid 325 to useStill 3400 over eight seconds, still reachable through Master First Aid at 300. The best bandage a 39 can hold.
Copying a tooltipdon'tA database showing one minute is telling you half the story in Wrath. The cooldown is one minute; the fight limit is one.
At 19One potion per fight cuts hardest here, where a Healing Potion was a big share of your health bar. Bandages and a Healthstone carry the rest.
At 29Free Action against a Swiftness Potion is now a genuine choice for the whole fight, not just for two minutes.
At 39Heavy Netherweave, a Greater Healthstone from 36, Anti-Venom and one potion. Layering across systems matters more here than in either older version.