Conquest of Azeroth is the most overloaded name in the private server scene right now. A reader searching it can land on a dead realm, a live bug-test realm, a closed-testing realm, a brand new phase of an unrelated server, or a project that never uses the name at all but ships the same class list. This page is the map, and every entry on the tracker now states which one it is.
The five, side by side
| Project | What it is | Status | Class count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conquest of Azeroth | The Ascension network realm. Shut down 4 September 2026 after a Blizzard cease-and-desist. | dead |
21, each with 3 specs |
| Conquest of AzerothCore | Open-source continuation on the AzerothCore core. Public bug test realm, not a live server. | dev, online |
22 |
| Conquest Reborn | Independent, non-commercial WotLK realm with its own roster and a Forging node system. | dev, closed testing |
Not published as a count |
| GrimfallWoW: Conquest of Azeroth | Phase 1 of a new product line on an existing Classless server, cap 20, opened 16 October 2026. | playable |
21 |
| ArdenWoW | Independent custom realm inspired by Ascension and Conquest of Azeroth. Uses a different name, not this one. | dev, closed alpha |
21 |
Five projects, four of them live or in testing, none of which we can show are affiliated with each other.
What each one actually is
- Conquest of Azeroth was Ascension's custom-class realm and part of the wider Ascension network that went dark on 4 September 2026 after a Blizzard C&D. It is the one people mean when they say "the Conquest that died". Our 2026 shutdown roundup has the network-level story.
- Conquest of AzerothCore is a separate open-source build on the AzerothCore emulator. Its own about page says it exists to find bugs, that progress can be wiped without notice, and that it is not a permanent or live server. It publishes a live player feed and a changelog written automatically from development commits. As of 17 October 2026 it had opened Manastorm Endless, an endless dungeon mode, and its changelog page was organising entries by realm kind, listing 1,026 for the Conquest realm against 47 Wildcard, 28 Warcraft Reborn, 14 Freepick and 37 Hero.
- Conquest Reborn is the most candid of the group. Its own text is "a free, non-commercial fan realm" and "run by the handful of people who play on it", plus an unusually direct warning to ask on Discord what works before installing. Its Forging system replaces talent tabs with a node web, and it is in closed testing.
- GrimfallWoW's Conquest of Azeroth is not a separate server but a second product line from an existing Classless realm that released 5 September 2026. Phase 1 went live 16 October 2026 with a level 20 cap, 21 new classes, more than 10 new races, scaled Heroic and Mythic dungeons and adapted Cataclysm dungeons. Details are in today's news post.
- ArdenWoW does not use the Conquest name. It says it is "inspired by Ascension WoW and Conquest of Azeroth" and lists 21 custom classes, and it is in closed alpha with applications open.
The uncomfortable overlap
Here is the part we are careful about. Four separate projects publish a custom class count of 21 or 22, and the named examples recur: the Necromancer, Chronomancer and Runemaster appear in GrimfallWoW's Phase 1 announcement, and ArdenWoW's full roster of 21 class names includes all three alongside the same archetypes.
That is a pattern, not proof. Things we can say:
- We have not verified any shared code, staff, or license. The projects have separate domains, separate realmlists, separate clients and separate teams as far as any of them state.
- A shared design space is expected here. After a high-profile shutdown, the idea of "custom classes on a Wrath client" does not disappear; it gets rebuilt by whoever was already working on it. Our Ascension shutdown explainer and the preservation stack piece cover what happened to that ecosystem.
- A class count is not an identity. Two projects can both ship 21 classes and share nothing. Verification would mean comparing code, and none of these publish enough to do that from outside.
If any project publishes a statement about lineage, we will record it, dated, in its entry.
How to tell them apart before you download
- Check the domain in the realmlist, not the name on the banner. Each of these has a different one.
- Check the client version. GrimfallWoW and Conquest Reborn run 3.3.5a. Conquest of AzerothCore publishes its own launcher.
- Check the cap. GrimfallWoW's Phase 1 caps at 20 by design. That is the fastest way to know which product you are looking at.
- Check whether progress is permanent. Conquest of AzerothCore says outright that it can be wiped. That is a test realm, not somewhere to invest a character.
- Check the count. 22 classes points at AzerothCore. 21 points at several others, so treat it as a hint rather than a label.
If you only want the short version: the one that died was Ascension's, the one that wipes is AzerothCore, the one with a level 20 cap is GrimfallWoW's, and the one that tells you to ask on Discord first is Reborn.
Related: three servers called Conquest, GrimfallWoW Phase 1, how we review a server, and our correction policy.