World of Warcraft: News, Events, Patch Notes

World of Warcraft: The War Within

First I’ll let you know what’s happening right now in the game’s 10th expansion, The War Within, from this week’s in-game events to the most recent content update and season. I’ll also cover some of the upcoming content that has been announced so far for 2024!

Weekly Events in The War Within: August 27-September 2

There are plenty of limited-time events happening right now in retail World of Warcraft.

Mythic+ Affixes

Mythic+ dungeons will not be available until September 17th. Heroic and Mythic 0 dungeons will open on September 10th.

PvP Brawl: Deepwind Dunk

This week’s PvP Brawl takes us into Deepwind Gorge, where we’ll be shooting some hoops! Pick up the dunkball at one of the mines and shoot for the enemy’s basket at their base.

Next week’s PvP Brawl: Shado-Pan Showdown

September Trading Post

New items will be available in the Trading Post as of September 1st. Be sure to grab anything you want from July’s stock or freeze it for later.

Darkmoon Faire

The Darkmoon Faire returns to Darkmoon Island from September 1st through 7th. Head there via the portals at Goldshire in Elwynn Forest or outside Thunder Bluff in Mulgore to participate in the festivities and earn some unique rewards.

Current Patch in The War Within: 11.0.2

The first chapter of The World Soul Saga arrived on August 26th with the launch of The War Within!

Warbands

Warbands is a new system that connects all of the characters on your account, allowing them to share achievements, collections, reputations, currency, and bank space. Many existing account-wide features have been rolled into the system and expanded, and new features have been added such as the Warband Bank, a new tab in your character bank that functions like a personal Guild Vault.

Skyriding and Steady Flight

Dragonriding has been renamed Skyriding, and has been expanded to include most of the flying mounts in the game. You can now choose between Skyriding and Steady Flight, the old style of flight from the Burning Crusade expansion, and use either on almost any mount in almost any place in the game.

Interface Updates

Immediately when you log in to the game, you’ll be met with a new character select screen, where you can see every character on your account listed on the right side (regardless of realm). There’s also a new map legend, some updates to the quest tracker, and a redesigned Spellbook that has been moved to a tab in the Talents window.

New Leveling Experience

Dragonflight is now the default leveling expansion from level 10 to 70, replacing Battle for Azeroth. New characters will be pointed to the Dragon Isles, but you will still be able to choose other content by speaking with Chromie or heading to another zone.

New Crafting Mechanics

For crafters, the old Inspiration mechanic has been removed from the game and replaced by two new features. Concentration is a new ability that you can use to improve your crafted items on demand, and Ingenuity is a stat that influences the effectiveness of this ability.

Current Season for The War Within: None Until September 10

The first season of The War Within, Season 1, begins on September 10th and will bring a new Mythic dungeon rotation, a new season of ranked arenas and battlegrounds, and a new raid.

Raiding

The first raid of the expansion is Nerub-ar Palace, the stronghold of Queen Ansurek, current ruler of the Nerubian people of Azj-Kahet. The raid will have eight bosses and will be clearable on Story Mode, Raid Finder, Normal, Heroic, or Mythic difficulty.

Mythic+ Dungeons

The new 8 dungeons of the Khaz Algar continent will make up the Mythic dungeon rotation for Season 1:

• Ara-Kara, City of Echoes
• Cinderbrew Meadery
• City of Threads
• Darkflame Cleft
• Priory of the Sacred Flame
• The Dawnbreaker
• The Rookery
• The Stonevault

Ranked PvP

There’s a new season coming for ranked PvP for arenas and battlegrounds with a new set of ladders to climb. This season’s arena title will be Forged Gladiator and the rated solo shuffle title will be Forged Legend. There are plenty of other rewards to unlock as well.

What’s Next for The War Within: 2024 Roadmap

Blizzard released a roadmap for World of Warcraft late last year, laying out everything we could expect to see through the fall of 2024! They’ve since updated us with a timeline for Season 1 of this expansion.

The War Within Season 1

Season 1 of The War Within begins on September 10th, with a new slate of Mythic dungeons and the opening of Nerub-ar Palace. Mythic+ dungeons and Mythic raid difficulty will be available the next week on September 17th.

The World Soul Saga

At BlizzCon we saw the announcement of not just one, but three upcoming expansions for retail WoW. World of Warcraft: The War Within will mark the start of the Worldsoul Saga, followed by the Midnight and The Last Titan expansions.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic

There’s plenty going on in Cataclysm Classic, between the current in-game events and the most recent content phase.

Current Events in Cataclysm Classic: August 27-September 2

Here are the limited-time events that are currently happening in Cataclysm Classic!

Call to Arms: Warsong Gulch

This week’s Call to Arms is Warsong Gulch. From Friday through Tuesday, you’ll get extra Honor Points if you queue for this battleground.

Next week’s Call to Arms: Arathi Basin

Darkmoon Faire

The Darkmoon Faire is back on Darkmoon Island from August 25th through 31st. This event has been changed to occur every two weeks instead of once a month in WoW Classic. Head to Mulgore or Elwynn Forest to enter the portal and visit the Faire for all sorts of unique prizes and rewards.

Current Phase for Cataclysm Classic: Phase 2

Phase 2 of Cataclysm Classic released on July 30th! This phase brings the Rise of the Zandalari, with two newly revamped Heroic dungeons into the game.

Zul’Gurub

This former vanilla raid has been adjusted to be a 5-player Heroic dungeon. Noteworthy loot includes the Swift Zulian Panther and Armored Razzashi Raptor mounts.

Zul’Aman

Like Zul’Gurub, this raid from the Burning Crusade expansion has been changed into a 5-player Heroic dungeon. Clearing the first four bosses within the time limit rewards the coveted Amani Battle Bear mount.

What’s Next for Cataclysm Classic: 2024 Roadmap

Blizzard showed us their roadmap for WoW Classic at the end of last year, showing us what we can expect for all versions of the game in 2024. Here’s what’s up next for Cataclysm Classic.

Rage of the Firelands

Following the Rise of the Zandalari, the Rage of the Firelands patch is currently scheduled for autumn of this year. This patch includes the Firelands raid with its Tier 12 loot and a new legendary weapons: Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest. We’ll also see many new quests and a new faction.

World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery

WoW Classic: Season of Discovery is shaking up the vanilla WoW meta with some new class abilities and leveling phases. Here’s a look at the latest news for this game mode.

Current Events in Season of Discovery: August 27-September 2

Here’s a look at what’s happening this week Season of Discovery.

Phase 4 Launched

Phase 4 arrived on July 11th, and the Molten Core and Onyxia’s Lair raids opened on July 25th. This is the final leveling phase for Season of Discovery, bringing the cap to level 60. New runes, a new dungeon, and the new Blackrock Eruption event have been added to the game as well.

Raid Schedule

Lockouts for Azuregos, Lord Kazzak, and Onyxia’s Lair are twice a week, on Tuesdays & Saturdays for North America & Europe and Wednesdays & Sundays for Asia. Molten Core has a regular weekly reset schedule.

Darkmoon Faire

Head to Elwynn Forest to visit the Darkmoon Faire from August 26th through September 1st. You can speak with Sayge to get one of her fortunes – and one of several very useful world buffs! Be sure to store it in a Chronoboon if you want to hold onto it. Chronoboons can be purchased from a Reagent Vendor.

Current Phase for Season of Discovery: Phase 4

We’re currently in Phase 4 of this season of WoW Classic, which brings us to the maximum level cap of 60 and some iconic endgame content. Players will be able to learn many higher level abilities as well as purchase their epic mounts.

Raiding

Phase 4 brings us to World of Warcraft‘s very first raids, Molten Core and Onyxia’s Lair. Molten Core has been redesigned with 11 bosses and a 20-player raid size. Onyxia’s Lair has seen some changes too, and can be completed with anymore between 20 and 40 players. Two world bosses, Lord Kazzak and Azuregos, have been moved into instanced areas to make them more accessible to all players.

Dungeons

There’s an entirely new dungeon in Phase 4: Demon Fall Canyon is a level 55+ dungeon in Ashenvale that must be unlocked by completing a series of quests. All of the dungeons in the original game are now accessible, and many have had their loot revamped to be more useful. There’s also a new currency to be earned by completing dungeons which offers some valuable gear and rewards.

Runes

There is a new set of rune engravings this phase for every class for the cloak slot. There is also a large set of runes for the ring slot that can be used by any class, and which grant bonuses to weapon skills and various magical damage types.

Blackrock Eruption Event

There are new daily quests available in Searing Gorge which will help you earn reputation with the Hydraxian Waterlords and Thorium Brotherhood factions. While this new event is active, players will also gain double honor from PvP inside Blackrock Mountain.

What’s Next for Season of Discovery: Phase 5

We don’t know much about what Phase 5 will look like yet. There will be no more leveling phases in this season, so future updates will most likely focus on raiding. There may be new runes and other content as well.

Blackwing Lair and Zul’Gurub

The Blackwing Lair and Zul’Gurub raids are both being tested on the public test realm this Friday, August 30th. We can expect these two raids to be released with Phase 5, which should not be too far off.

World of Warcraft: Classic Hardcore

WoW Classic Hardcore is still going strong, having launched with all vanilla content already unlocked.

Self-Found Mode

A new self-found ruleset arrived in Hardcore on February 29. Self-found rules mean that you can only equip items you loot yourself. You won’t be able to get items by mail, trade, or the Auction House. This has commonly been used in player-made hardcore rules and will soon be officially supported in the game, although it will be completely optional.

Check out our Self-Found Mode Guide!