Choose graphics and tune the new settings

Definitive Edition replaces Classic HD. Blizzard describes it as an optional HD treatment of the familiar Warcraft III art style. The old addon system is retired.

The presence of three modes in the client does not prove every new DLC mission supports every mode. Check the choices offered for the selected mission; do not use an older campaign’s menu as proof.

Blizzard re-deployed 3.0.1 to live on October 19; its hotfix post that day lists build 24371. The 3.0.1 changes described here now apply to the live game. Kingy has not retested them in an installed client.

The 3.0.0 update introduced Point Light Shadows, Water and Supersampling and renamed Shadows to Environment Shadows. Version 3.0.1 restores Ambient Occlusion to the options menu; Blizzard warns that enabling it may reduce performance. Definitive Edition now uses classic sounds.

The following is a testing method, not a benchmark. We have not measured frame rates or image quality on your hardware.

1. Write down your starting resolution and settings so you can restore them.
2. Revisit the same scene and compare unit silhouettes, selection visibility and how easily you can read the battlefield.
3. Change one option at a time. Compare Ambient Occlusion, Supersampling and shadow options individually if performance is poor.
4. Check a busy scene as well as a quiet one before settling on a preset. Stop when input response and readability are comfortable.

Patch 3.0.0 shares campaign unlock progress across graphics modes. That statement concerns unlocks; it does not establish that every old save, custom map or mod will work unchanged.

If the campaign is locked, use the access guide. If an existing save fails, preserve it and record the affected mission and version before trying another setting.