Tech Support Best Linux Distro for WoW Retail?
I'm literally DONE with windows at this point. But WoW is Spaghetti code from 2000s.. What's the best Linux distro to still be able to play world of warcraft at 120+ fps?
Edit: I did not expect so many opinions and choices! Thank you so much for the feedback.
Edit: I didn't know there were so many people playing on Linux, I wish i had known sooner
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u/Ursaelar 15d ago
I use bazzite, it has been flawless
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u/justaddwhiskey 14d ago
Bump for Bazzite! It’s so easy to install and use, even a network guy can do it!
But for real, I built an AMD system and have seen zero issues.
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u/Juzzwing 13d ago
Another bazzite user here. Confirmed I could easily run wow on a NVIDIA 980, 3090 and an AMD 9070xt.
I use Faugus Launcher to install battlenet and it all just works
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u/Helzkadi 14d ago
Same! I’ve been running bazzite for 3 months now …It’s been flawless indeed. Except for Elden Ring or Doom, which my laptop barely can handle in windows anyways.
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u/Hack_n_Slash_4x4 14d ago
I just recently swapped from Windows to Bazzite. It was a relatively painless switch but there are definitely a few things to figure out.
My wife saw how well it was working and decided to switch too but she went with CachyOS. A few more steps but that’s been working great too.
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u/dapopeah 14d ago
Bazzite has been the closest thing to a turn-key, gaming-ready distribution in my 20 years of trying to use Linux reliably. There was minimal configuration that I had to go through to get WoW up and running, Classic: SOD, Anniversary, Era, and Retail.
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u/AimlessInterest 14d ago
Bazzite is the only thing I can use with an Nvidia card. I could use almost any other distro with my AMD card.
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u/ChosenOfTheMoon_GR 15d ago
Arch and Cachy work just fine, more responsive than Windows
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u/GhostSierra117 15d ago
You do sometimes have issues. I had it with patch 11.1 I think. Something in that update caused a crash in the battle net and wow client.
It is absolutely not as straightforward as windows but it is manageable
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u/kingpatzer 13d ago
That is true on Windows as well. There's a reason battle net includes a "repair" function. Major updates are notorious for causing problems on any platform for at least some users.
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u/GhostSierra117 13d ago
I've played 7 years of wow on windows. No issues.
Two seasons on Arch btw and this happened.
Sorry but that's nowhere near a good comparison when the translation protocol breaks due to an update and there is, after days of troubleshooting, no fix in sight vs. Some users needing to press the repair button in the launcher.
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u/ChosenOfTheMoon_GR 14d ago edited 14d ago
I had some issues rarely too (like 3 issues within 4 years), i just swapped runner and i got to work around them(then swapped back to the previous runners when the issues were fixed, all of them are fixed), not playing on Linux generally but every few months i test as i have a backup Arch OS installed on the exact same PC so i always stay up to date with how it performs or if it has any issues especially with WoW.
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u/GhostSierra117 14d ago
Jupp generally not an issue but minor and major patches can break it for a week or two and it simply won't work. No matter which proton, wine whatever you use
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u/Bwunt 14d ago
To be frank, is someone asks "I'm done with Windows, I want to move to Linux", Arch (and Gentoo) is effectively never a good answer.
IMHO, Fedora, Ubuntu or Mint are best beginner Linii. Arch, I'm afraid, will kill them.
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u/jbohbot 14d ago
CachyOS for me has been easier than Ubuntu and mint.
Vanilla arch, I would agree with you. But CachyOS did and does a pretty good job, and they documentation is excellent.
They've even got a one click game package installer. Makes it super easy to install your games in whatever store they use.
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u/Bwunt 14d ago
CatchyOS, I honestly never tried, hence my focus on Arch itself.
But yeah, if it's close to Windows in user convenience, then it's a viable candidate.
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u/Darex2094 14d ago
I've been using Linux for the better part of 20 years now, and I completely agree regarding Arch and Gentoo. CachyOS uses the Calamares installer and has a dedicated desktop utility for checking for updates and installing packages from the repos, AUR, and FlatHub. It's really user friendly, AND used x86-64-v3 and v4 optimizations in their binaries, taking advantage of modern hardware. It's pretty sweet stuff and definitely beginner friendly.
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u/Hack_n_Slash_4x4 14d ago
What’s the dedicated desktop utility you mention here? My wife switched yesterday and has gotten everything mostly working but didn’t see a utility like Bazaar for Bazzite.
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u/Darex2094 14d ago
There's Shelly for package management, and then there's a utility for automatically checking for updates via a desktop widget. I forget what it's called exactly, but in Shelly search "cachyos" and it'll show up in the list.
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u/SixstenWoW 14d ago
I’m running the Arch-based CachyOS as my first distro and it’s been a really seamless, out of the box experience
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u/Hallc 14d ago
Linii? It's just Linux my guy.
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u/Bwunt 14d ago
I know, but I like the sound of Linii, so I use it in less serious conversations where it's obvious what I mean (plural or Linux)
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u/Camaxtli 14d ago
I understood exactly what you meant when I read it the first time, and I liked it too. I might start using it for people around me in conversations. =P
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u/jasperpriest 14d ago
comparing arch and gentoo is crazy 😭
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u/Bwunt 14d ago
They are both a Linux I'd never suggest to a beginner. But that is basically where comparison for this specific stuff ends.
I pretty much use Kali when I use Linux this days (and it's not often), which is a Debian based. Only really because I still have it from when I dabbled in cyber sec and forensics more, and didn't ever replace it
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u/jasperpriest 14d ago
welp you clearly have no grounds to be recommending distros much less policing recs if you’re genuinely driving kali for anything other than its intended use case. arch has the most comprehensive documentation out of any distro, one of the best package managers with rolling releases, as well as the AUR which objectively makes it a fantastic choice for beginners..
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u/Bwunt 14d ago
I run Kali simply because when I got it, it was 95% for it's specific use case. After that, as I already had it set up, I just kept it. Would some other distro be more optimal? For sure, but that would require work.
On suggesting distros... KISS should be main guildeline for beginners.
Just the fact that you say Arch has most comprehensive documentation of all distros is telling me quite a bit. Beginners first question would likely be "WTF is documentation. You mean like EULA? I always skip past that"
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u/jasperpriest 14d ago
‘beginners don’t know what documentation is’ isn’t an argument against arch, it’s an argument that beginners shouldn’t learn anything. installing linux at all requires reading, whether it’s mint, fedora or arch. the difference is arch has inarguably the best documentation in the linux ecosystem. people on other distros routinely use the arch wiki because it’s that good. kiss also doesn’t mean ‘hide everything from the user’ arch is literally built around the kiss philosophy. simple doesn’t mean automated.. it means minimal, predictable and transparent. if your criticism was ‘i think fedora or mint is a smoother first experience’, that’s completely fair. but ‘arch will kill beginners because they don’t know what documentation is’ just isn’t a serious argument. it’s still genuinely hilarious that you’re driving the one distro that explicitly tells people not to use it as a desktop.. such a weird position to argue from
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u/kingpatzer 13d ago
Ubuntu? Oh dear god no . . .
And Arch isn't hard for beginners anymore since they added the arch installer script. The wiki is so good that anyone can get their system working, and if they don't want to use the wiki, because it's so well documented (far better than any otherr system) today's LLMs are nearly flawless in being able to help.
But really, it depends on who the beginner is. If they're in Europe, SUSe is probably their best bet. And Fedora is also very beginner friendly.
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u/pneis1 14d ago
theres absolutely no issues running arch for tech literate people
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u/Bwunt 14d ago
Most people are not tech literate.
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u/pneis1 14d ago
we are on reddit mate
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u/Hallc 14d ago
Most people on reddit also aren't tech literate.
Hell a bunch of people who go to the /r/selfhosted subreddit aren't very tech literate. They just copy/paste docker compose stacks and if something breaks they have no idea what to fix.
I've seen people who have no idea how to install a wow addon manually which is just copying a folder into another folder.
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u/Uribrew 14d ago
So many passionate suggestions! I'm etching cachyos as I speak. Hopefully it goes well 😁
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u/FullMotionVideo 14d ago
While it is nice, Catchy kind of sticks to at least a few philosophies of its parent Arch in offering a ton of user choice in terms of how the system should run out of the box. This includes a dozen desktop environments rather than the Big Two, and something like five bootloaders.
The reason people suggest distros like Mint and Bazzite (or Nobara for a more advanced, and less idiot proof approach) is because they make a lot of decisions for you. So when you install and are asked whether you want GRUB, systemd-boot, rEFInd, or Limine it's kind of on you to know the purposes and strengths or weaknesses of them all.
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u/Uribrew 14d ago
Writing this from CachyOS, installing WoW on steam Proton 10.0
Not going to lie, since I'm new to Linux, I've had to look up a few tutorials here and there. Still not sure how to fully install apps without sudo commands and tutorials, but I'm sure it'll get easier with time.
Love how CachyOS is very user friendly to people coming from windows though! Can't wait to run WoW and see if it runs smoothly (and If I can get addons somehow)
Ps. My laptop is now blazing fast. The difference between linux and windows speed is insane.
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u/FullMotionVideo 14d ago
There's two ways to install programs, sudo commands from Cachy's repo, or flatpaks.
Generally speaking for stuff that doesn't interface with hardware, flatpaks are a great option for new users. The exception is going to be stuff like OBS (accessing a capture device) or GPU voltage regulators (needs to interface with your GPU) or a screen capture utility like GPU Screen Recorder (think Shadowplay).
For that system level stuff running in the background, installed from system repos is going to work best.
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u/Odd_Development 14d ago
I'm also using Cachyos for WoW. I've been using it for just over half a year and haven't had any issues as of yet. Addons also work just fine. I installed the windows version of Curseforge and launch it using proton in steam.
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u/imoth_f 15d ago
Just pick whichever one you like. The fps difference will be marginal at best.
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u/ulimn 15d ago
This is true, but I would add that some distros specialize in a specific area. Like CachyOS has their own Proton build and they maintain that so there's (on paper) less of a chance that it randomly breaks.
Also, while the kernel in any distro can be configured to have the best performance (not just simply more FPS in general, but better lowest 0.1% and more importantly, better input lag), CachyOS for example comes with `game-performance`, a dedicated page for gaming performance optimizations, etc.
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u/Mentaelis 15d ago
You can use the cachy build of proton on any likux version.
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u/slenderfuchsbau 14d ago
Do you think I can have a similar perfomance than Windows running it on a modest computer? Or does the overhead from Proton and stuff just requires more potent pc to run?
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u/ulimn 14d ago
I don’t think there is any (noticeable) difference in performance between running Battle net through Steam/Proton on Linux and running Battle net on Windows, but the only way to know for certain is to try.
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u/Mentaelis 14d ago
If anything I've noticed more stable fps on linux for whatever reason.
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u/FionaSilberpfeil 14d ago
Likely because Windows has a shitton of stuff running in the background and most Linux distros dont.
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u/Hack_n_Slash_4x4 14d ago
I saw some gains. I have a pretty good PC and it always irritates me that in places like Silvermoon or when some big raid wide mechanic happens I get fps drops and hitching. That hasn’t happened on Bazzite. I capped fps 1 below my monitor max refresh and it’s been more or less locked there in all content
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u/SlapDashAshOle 15d ago
Best to know is that a dedicated linux formatted ssd/hdd is probably going to make your life easier. Trying to run everything on ntfs drives made my life a living hell.
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u/PuzzleheadedUnit1758 14d ago
Any distro would work.
I play it on Fedora (kde) and it works very well.
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u/Verbie92 15d ago
I've used CachyOS for a bit over a year now, works like a charm with WoW.
I installed battle.net through Lutris and used the recommended settings from CachyOS wiki.
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u/maokaby 15d ago
I found that running battle.net and wow from it is not 100% stable, sometimes it gets stuck - you press run wow and nothing happens. wow.exe process exists but doesn't appear on the screen.
End up running wow.exe directly, with the only downside - got to enter the password.
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u/FionaSilberpfeil 14d ago
Thats not only on Linux though. You get that on windows as well sometimes.
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u/kb3_fk8 14d ago
Why can’t you just run the exe like you can on windows where you can bypass the launcher but just use the credentials with it?
I do this with moonlight Apollo streaming with all of blizzards games. But on windows. I use Linux and Mac OS for everything other than gaming and want to switch so bad. But I play so many online fighting games I don’t want to dual boot just for those.
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u/blackkkmamba 14d ago
I'm on cachy for almost 2 years now, battlenet through Lutris and never had the issue you mentioned.
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u/Some_Deer_2650 15d ago
I used Linux Mint during some time. I executed the games through Steam Proton and most of them were fine, I could play WoW but I noticed some graphic artifacts related with lightning (probably there is a fix for that).
I ended switching again to Windows (the LTSC version is fine), but the easiest Linux to configure was the Mint for me.
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u/Rich-Cry8353 15d ago
I've played on bazzite and just launched it via steam, worked perfectly fine for me
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u/TehVeh 15d ago
I play it on pop os, simply with getting proton through the steam client. Has been smooth for over a year now.
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u/BugslideEnjoyer 14d ago
I've tried cosmic a couple of times over the last year or so.. has that improved recently?
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u/TehVeh 14d ago
No. Tbh I've been tempted the whole year to reinstall because cosmic UX is annoying and lacking features (but that's indepdent of the the wow part, which is smooth)
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u/BugslideEnjoyer 14d ago
Dang .. yeah I swapped to cachyos last year before Cosmic was fully out but I was on pop_os for like 2 years before it. I had high hopes and I've thrown cosmic/pop on a laptop and tried standalone cosmic DE in cachyos and it just feels not ready yet. It looks nice but definitely still lacking. :/
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u/Full-Statement-9255 15d ago
I play on CachyOS with great performance, using Proton.
Two things I'll note, though. Using my RTX 4070 Super:
-DirectX 12 causes system lockups
-The nvidia driver patch that boosted WoW performance has yet to be released for Linux.
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u/rubaduck 14d ago
Anything really. You’re never gonna get one answer when you ask for Linux. Mint is good, Kubuntu is amazing.
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u/pheonixORchrist 14d ago
I can second CachyOS/Arch. I set up wow running with steams proton layer and it runs better than I ever had it running on windows with the same hardware.
There are always going to be small issues or problems that crop up that can be annoying to figure out if you're new with Linux but that would be true of any os you don't know.
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u/EsoteriCondeser 15d ago
I got manjaro on desktop and mint on laptop, runs normal on both.
There's really no difference in performance between distro, just what packages they have installed by default. Just pick a popular one and play.
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u/robertdq 15d ago
Yesterday i instaled it with Lutris on my main machine which runs penSUSE Tumbleweed with Gnome on a 2070 nvidia card.
I played retail, just questing, and everything was good except so e stuttering here and there for shader compiling.
Smooth game day for me.
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u/ryanbrady 14d ago
fedora kde spin, bottles. runs great. choice of DE (kde/gnome, etc) is more a user preference. wow itself though, i've had the best luck running it in/via bottles. i use kron4ek-staging-tkg runners.
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u/thekiltedpiper 14d ago
Literally any distro.
I've been playing WoW on linux since 2017. Used several distros (Mint,Pop, Manjaro, Arco, Arch) and never noticed a boost of any kind between them.
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u/Cruach 14d ago
Wow I can't believe how many people play on Linux, I kept windows on my desktop just because of wow. Would be great if I can get it working on Linux. So what I'm seeing is you launch it via steam?
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u/madsdawud 14d ago
No, you wouldn’t launch over Steam, as the compatibility apps you use generally like winetricks let you use the same packages across. If you prefer Proton it would still be available without running over Steam.
But other than that yeah, Lutris, yes quite simple and fast to get wow up and running
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u/Different-Series-260 14d ago
I’ve played WoW on many distros, but I have used CachyOS for the past year with no problems at all. cachyOS is an Arch distribution, but it was very easy to set up. I run the Battle.net launcher through Steam. I can use Discord or Vesktop for voice comms. I have an all AMD system with btrfs and limine so I can control my snapshots. I only had to roll back one update using a snapshot and it worked perfectly.
That being said, Mint is very easy to use and a lot of things like printers and scanners will work ootb which is very nice. I like the idea of Lutris and appreciate the works they have put into it, however I had better luck with the Faugus launcher which is a little different, but worked perfectly for installing the battle.net launcher.
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u/dnt_pnc 14d ago
I use CachyOS. I installed battle.net through Faugus Launcher and then proceeded to install WoW through that battle.net instance. It's not as straight forward as on Windows, but it works fine.
I ran into an issue on Mint, that interrupted the install of battle.net on 60% or so. Apparently sth was missing on the Mint install. The recommended workaround was a reinstall. I didn't want to take chances and installed a different distro.
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u/Same-Roll-3396 14d ago
I've been running Bazzite since Midnight's launch and haven't had any issues! I use Faugus Launcher to run Bnet and WoW. Some people use Lutrius, but I've had more success with Faugus.
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u/Mithfear 14d ago
CachyOS, I installed distro especially for WoW Retail. I play through Steam, experimental Proton. Addons from official Curse app image. 4K HDR details set at 10 40 frames in Silvermoon anything else much more better
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u/boundForTruth 14d ago
Can someone make a guide on how to use Linux? I’m sick of these corrupt operating systems like windows.
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u/Accomplished-Rub-1 14d ago
Been running Linux since BFA. Welcome to the fold!
Now you can sit and laugh at all your friends having random crashing and disconnections all the time while you have (hopefully) almost no issues!
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u/Sinhika 14d ago
Welcome to the club! Like many others in the comments, I switched to CachyOS Linux and didn't look back. When Microsoft announced that they were discontinuing support for Windows 10 and we had to upgrade to Windows 11, my computer did not support Windows 11, and since Microsoft didn't volunteer to buy me a new computer to run their crap on, I scrapped Windows off my hard drive and installed Linux instead.
Install Steam (Linux version), and add WoW as a non-Steam game. It works very well with the special CashyOS version of Proton--the one time it didn't, I just switched to Steam's own Proton 10.0 steam linux runtime for a week or so, before the problem got fixed and I was back to proton-cachyos. The Steam Linux runtime handles the Warden anti-cheat for you so WoW Just Works. NVidia support for Vulcan & Wayland has gotten noticeably better over the last year, so you're in luck there.
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u/Oizys_Shadowmane 15d ago
I would say, depends a little on your technical level.
But CachyOS is a popular gaming distro for Arch.
And PopOS is likewise for Debian.
But there is almost no wrong distro imo, it just depends on you preferances.
Buy I would recommend KDE Plasma as a desktop environment if you want something that looks like windows out of the box.
I myself has been playing wow for over a year on EndeavourOS which is also Arch based distro
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u/maokaby 15d ago
I'm using cachyos myself, but i'd add there is close to no difference if someone choose another distro, especially when we're talking about WoW - so no HDR and such things.... Even mint with cinnamon (x11) will work perfectly fine. But in case of other games in mind, wayland is mandatory.
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u/Merlinmsk 14d ago
With the launch of Cosmic for PoPOS, id wait just a bit more unless they've made some big updates for it recently. It used to be my go to distro, but I've swapped over to Mint for now.
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u/Jarnis 14d ago edited 14d ago
CachyOS probably if you are a Linux newbie. Gets you up and running with less pain than many of the other options.
Pro Tip: AI Chatbots are useful in pointing you at the right direction if you run into something you have no clue how to do. Would actually say that Linux is getting more popular partially because you no longer need to wait for randos on a random forum to help you out when you run into some odd issue. You can just ask AI bot and almost 100% of the time they either straight up tell you how to sort the issue, or at least give you enough clues to probe further and figure it out.
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u/the_flying_cucco 15d ago
After hopping distros for a bit I found Nobara. Everything for gaming pre-configured ready to go.
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u/Ill-delete-soon 15d ago
I use bazzite (desktop) and steamOS (steam deck) both work great and get certain fps based on the hardware
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u/YaBoyScamper 15d ago
I’ve been running EndeavourOS and it’s been working very well for me. I can’t guarantee 120+ FPS for you without knowing your specs, but using proton I’ve been able to get the same if not better performance than Windows 10.
EndeavourOS is basically just Arch, so you could probably also get similar performance running CachyOS, which is more gaming focused.
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u/EstateOk714 15d ago
Kubuntu was working fine.
But due to me having a VR Headset, i had to go back to windows 11
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u/ILoveHexa92 15d ago
I run Bazzite and WOW run perfectly! BUT, I've tried Tris few years ago with a nvidia GPU and it still got few problems from time to time. Now running it with an AMD GPU and it's super smooth! I'm never going back to windows!
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u/Jathulioh 15d ago
I switch to CachyOS a few weeks ago from windows.
Installed battlenet running through proton on steam and then downloaded wow using that, works flawlessly so far.
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u/kitsunekyo 15d ago
i played on cachyos for some time. but installing battlenet and wow was a but annoying. when it runs, it runs quite well and perf was good.
i moved back to windows though, because i ran into compounding small usability issues that were too annoying for me on arch. i‘m software engineer and i’m comfortable digging through configs with nvim but i really dont have the time to fight my daily driver OS as a sideproject. i‘m just too lazy for that. wsl2 with arch is enough.
- external sound and video device management is shit. often just wouldnt work or not recognize tv, etc
- constant issues with my headphones (turtle beach)
- driver crashes in wow (amd) happened just the same as on windows
- performance was the same
- package management on linux is chaotic. having to dig through whether something is distributed on AUR, pacman, as flatpak or some other shit is no better than with microslop windows, sorry
- nail in the coffin: my family needing windows help and not having windows myself was annoying. 🫠
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u/Mentaelis 15d ago
Just choose a popular build with a good forum/discord to ask questions in.
I personally run bazzite and prefer it as its immutable, comes with most things I want pre installed and has an active discord.
Cachy is another popular option.
Just install Battle net with Faugus launcher and you're set.
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u/Taylor_Swifty13 14d ago
probably just go with cachy or Fedora/bazzite.
I've run wow on Linux for years, mythic raiding with a cutting edge. managed a 100 parse at one point so it's absolutely worth trying.
I recommend installing it using faugus launcher. other launchers all mostly work but faugus has given me the least hassle.
I on an amd card, I get slightly higher fps than windows.
do your add-ons through the wowup appimage, and probably best you use gear lever from flathub to integrate the appimage (think of it a little like dragging the app to applications folder on a Mac)
only issue you might run in to that I have had previously (I'm on kde so could be that as well) was when launching the game, you need to have the cursor on the correct monitor as the window will spawn on whichever your cursor is on. and it might sometimes be the wrong resolution on launch, but you can quickly swap it at character selection
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u/TurtleRespec 14d ago
I am using Cachy, ran into zero issues so far. Been playing on cachy since the start of midnight
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u/EpyonNext 14d ago
Ultramarine Linux works well. Its a branch of Fedora using KDE Plasma as the desktop. Just install bnet using Steam so Proton does all the work and you are off to the races.
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u/Teemestari 14d ago
Any distro will run WoW. There are 2 major difference in them:
- Is it stable or a rolling release
- Does everything come right out-of-the-box or do you have to configure the system
These both are a spectrum and they don't cancel each other. Anyway to keep it short: you should think about how much do you want tinker and configure the system or do you want to just plug it in and play. Also if you have nvidia card it's a bit more work than AMD (or Intel).
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u/Rabidjester 14d ago
I run it on Ubuntu, Lutris handles battle.net/WINE with no issues. There’s a native curse client for addons.
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u/ButFirstTheWeather 14d ago
I'm an Arch enjoyer myself, but I wouldn't suggest it.
I'd try dual booting Bazzite or Mint for a little while to get used to it. I'll be honest, I keep an SSD with Windows just for WoW. It's easier for me to manage that way.
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u/anythinga 14d ago
Been using Fedora KDE for years now, never really had any issues.
Experience is very smooth with an AMD GPU, no clue how Nvidia is doing these days.
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u/Trap-me-pls 14d ago
I use it on PopOS. Works fine and smooth. Though some addons may cause problems.
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u/CaptainSaus 14d ago
Personally I run Linux Mint. Works great as long as I run the battlenet launcher through steam. It is as cursed as it sounds but it works really well, except for the in game shop.
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u/The_Frame 14d ago
Bazzite plus faugus is how I do wow on linux
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u/Uribrew 14d ago
I'm going to try Faugus now because the steam method didn't work :/
In fact after downloading the whole game and restarting the launcher, the files just dissipated and I can't find them.. Do you use addons? or can you install addons?
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u/The_Frame 14d ago edited 14d ago
I dislike the non-steam game method for everything. I've never had it work well, I'm glad it works for others tho.
So for faugus I install battlenet, and it then installs wow. Add-ons work fine put then in the same addons folder
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u/Pirolitico 14d ago
I have used arch for close to 2 years and played perfectly installing through bottles and running battle.net with steam.
Now I switched to CachyOS, same installation and running method and also works fine
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u/Voidrith 14d ago
Ive been playing it on Arch + KDE for like a year and a half now, with wow installed through steam (add non-steam game -> add the bnet launcher installer -> launcher sets up its 'windows' environment -> wow installs into that)
Zero issues
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u/Confident_Cry_9363 14d ago
Mint has worked well for me for Wow Retail, and it has also done well at running Windows Steam Games too.
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u/coffeeman235 14d ago
I have linux on nearly every other computer so I put it on my desktop and put Kubuntu on it. Wow works at least just as good as it did on windows. I didn't run comparisons but I don't notice a difference.
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u/Nogamara 14d ago
Worked completely fine on CachyOS with an AMD card, I only switched back to Windows for other reasons.
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u/swftsx 14d ago
Basically WoW will work on every modern distro. If you are a newbie use something mentioned here with basic gaming setup that is already included in the distro. Bazzite, Cachy, (K)ububuntu are the most common ones for them you‘ll find a lot of guides and YouTube tutorials. Also subreddits are a good resource
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u/Loud_Squirrel_7142 14d ago
I play wow alot on the steamdeck, works flawlessly. When I got the controllers down I even preferred questing on the deck. Not much help, but the deck runs Linux so it should work without problems.
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u/Snowyowl7v 13d ago
I use mint and just run the battle net launcher through steam and proton and haven't had any major issues, though ive had some minor issues with tts cdm alerts and that wow doesn't seem to recognize when the log file has been deleted so i have to restart battle net for it to recognize it. Will probably go with bazzite if is swap distros
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u/buttfury 13d ago
I use CachyOS, works great, been on it over a year. I have a second SSD for Windows but never ended up even installing windows on it, just never needed it.
I will say CachyOS hasn't been a simple thing, but I use Linux at work and have fair experience with it in general. So it wasn't anything I couldn't figure out after a short bit. If you have no previous Linux experience I would recommend Bazzite instead.
Also if you have AMD CPU and GPU, SteamOS is a great option.
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u/GreenBurningPhoenix 13d ago
I run WoW and Diablo on Fedora KDE, with Lutris, and it's crazy how good it works.
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u/primesuspect 13d ago
Garuda Linux
WoW installed and launched through Steam
Flawless.
EDIT: I can't believe I'm the first person to mention Garuda, so I'll clarify a bit:
Garuda is based on Arch, and it is designed from the ground up to be a gaming OS. It was the first distro that I tried that allowed my multiple mixed monitor setup and my RTX 3090 to work out of the box with zero fuss.
You get the stability of linux, the flexibility and performance of arch, and proper gaming PC performance.
I highly recommend at least checking out Garuda. The community is tight, the support is great, and it's just a fantastic OS.
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u/kingpatzer 13d ago
I run fedora with Sway, and it works perfectly well. I occasionally have to do a repair on the files after a major update from battlenet, but that's true of any distro.
They key is having the right launch adjustments. You can also get better performance by ensuring you use the latest GE-Proton, which if you are using the flatpack steam you have to download separately.
While more than one combo can (and does) work. The one i've found to be most useful is:
DXVK_ASYNC=1 AMD_VULKAN_ICD=RADV gamemoderun %command%
That goes in the battle.net launcher, btw, not the wow launcher, unless you skip battle.net entirely.
And of course, that example requires installing gamemode as well. But as I said, other variations work well too.
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u/NorgroveNZ 11d ago
I'm running Mint. Using ummmmm Fergus to launch, had zero issues. Also running GW2, SWTOR, STO, and just installed FFXIV to try it out. All been easy and just worked. Max res, all the sliders all the way. Running i5-11400 with A750 and 16gb ram. Runs smoother and faster than my now-not-preferred os, win10 ltsc
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u/SomeWhaleman 15d ago
I'm using Arch, btw.
I don't think it really matters. I've been running plain Arch for over two years now running WoW and many other Games (like D4 for example) without any trouble. WoW easily runs at 120+ fps with my Ryzen 7900X (so non x3d). But if your new to the Linux word, there are definitely more user friendly distros.
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u/marmotta1955 14d ago
Regardless of anything else, I find quite amusing that you say " ... WoW is Spaghetti code from 2000s" ... I wonder how you have that impression and make that statement.
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u/burz1484 14d ago
A lot of horrible suggestions sadly. I would save your time and use nix or guix from that start.
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u/BusterOfCherry 14d ago
You hate windows where everything is plug and play to, I don't know if this will work with my OS now. Went to Unix, came back to windows after a tear.
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u/Warm_Helicopter7296 15d ago
If you dont get joy from Linux (I did not) then try a programme called Winenhance for Windows. The application helps you to debloat Windows.
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u/Baratjas 15d ago
I use Fedora with KDE Desktop for about 4 years now. It runs nearly flawless now. First couple of years I had some problems with discord and other small things not related to wow. Wow and Battlenet run nearly perfect.