Blizzard has shared a full preview for the War Within expansion! We get the launch times in each region, including Early Access, the expansion launch timeline infographic, as well as previews for all the major features!
Get back in the fight as you defend Azeroth from the shadows below. Journey through never-before-seen subterranean worlds filled with hidden wonders and lurking perils, down to the dark depths of the nerubian empire, where the malicious Harbinger of the Void is gathering arachnid forces to bring Azeroth to its knees.
War Within Beta Launch Test – August 15
Please join us for a special test on the War Within Beta realms tomorrow, Thursday, August 15 at 1:30 p.m. PDT (4:30 p.m. EDT, 22:30 CEST).
At that time, only a special realm named “Launch Test” will be available for testing.
Please log into the Launch Test realm and copy your live character or use a level 70 character template and then head to Dalaran. At 2:00 p.m. PDT (5:00 p.m. EDT, 23:00 CEST), we’ll simulate a full expansion launch. Testers should receive the quest to start the expansion intro experience at that time.
Thereafter, we’ll play through the expansion intro and all the way into the first zone, the Isle of Dorn. We’ll aim to end the test at around 3:30 p.m. PDT (6:30 p.m. EDT, 00:30 CEST) and we’ll return other test realms to service thereafter.
Thank you and we’ll see you in Dalaran!
World of Warcraft’s next expansion—The War Within—will launch in the Americas, Europe, Taiwan, Korea, and Australia/New Zealand at the same time globally. Wherever you live and whatever faction you represent, you can be part of one globally unified front as the way into the Khaz Algar opens.
Check the details below for the exact time you can begin logging in to explore all that this new expansion has to offer.
Players who pre-purchase the Epic Edition of The War Within will also gain early access to The War Within on August 22 at 3:00 p.m. PDT. The War Within will go live globally on August 26 at 3:00 p.m. PDT. Players who pre-purchase the Epic Edition can also get bonus content—Gryphon Rider Sets and Squally’s Siblings.
Early Access Launch Times
Los Angeles New York São Paulo London Paris Taipei Seoul Sydney 3:00 PM. PDT
August 226:00 PM EDT
August 2219:00 Brasilia
August 2223:00 BST
August 2200:00 CEST
August 2306:00 CST
August 2307:00 KST
August 2308:00 AEST
August 23Global Launch Times
Los Angeles New York São Paulo London Paris Taipei Seoul Sydney 3:00 PM PDT
August 266:00 PM EDT
August 2619:00 Brasilia
August 2623:00 BST
August 2600:00 CEST
August 2706:00 CST
August 2707:00 KST
August 2708:00 AEST
August 27
Table of Contents
- Meet the Earthen
- Uncover the Secrets of Delves
- Take Your Character to the Next Level with Hero Talents
- Ride Into Battle in Deephaul Ravine
- Explore the Zones and Dungeons of The War Within
- Get the Band Together for Warbands (now live)
- Take to the Skies with Skyriding (now live)
- User Interface and Quest Updates (now live)
- The War Within Season 1 Schedule
- The Story So Far
- Additional Media
Meet the Earthen, A New Playable Allied Race
A new playable race arrives in The War Within—the Earthen. Unlock playable Earthen characters after completing their quests and the overall level-up campaign. Enlist this titan-forged race made of living stone by aiding them in their endeavors.
Champions of Azeroth must aid the Earthen and seek a way to restore their harmony and population. They can also be unlocked as a playable race, and you can choose Alliance or Horde to begin your journey starting at level 10 in their capital city of Dornogol. Learn more about them from our previously published article.
Uncover the Secrets of Delves in The War Within
Take your adventure to a new level with Delves. Explore bite-sized world instances, gain experience, and epic rewards! You can explore alone or with up to four additional friends, along with an NPC companion—Brann Bronzebeard— you customize through their talent tree. Learn more about this new feature and the rewards you can earn either solo or with a few friends in our previously published article.
Take Your Character to the Next Level with Hero Talents
The War Within™ expansion introduces Hero Talents to World of Warcraft classes. They are an evergreen form of character progression for each class specialization that introduces new powers and class fantasies. There are 11 nodes in a Hero Talent tree. The first of these unlocks with the system at level 71, and you earn 1 talent point per level from level 71 to 80, so you get every talent in the tree by level 80. Learn more about the available Hero Talents for your class and specialization in our article here.
Ride Into Battle in Deephaul Ravine
Set your sights on your next PvP adventure within Deephaul Ravine in the Ringing Deeps where you’ll work with your team to secure resources in the mine. Teams earn points by controlling one of the two active mine carts on the map or by capturing the Deephaul Crystal located in the middle of the map. The first team to earn 1500 points wins! Learn more from our article.
Explore the Zones and Dungeons of The War Within
Uncover a land fraught with danger but ripe for exploration. Journey through never-before-seen subterranean worlds filled with hidden wonders and lurking perils. In the opening chapter of the Worldsoul Saga™, adventure down to the dark depths of the nerubian empire, where Xal’atath is gathering malicious forces bent on bringing Azeroth asunder. Learn more about the zones of Khaz Algar—Isle of Dorn, The Ringing Deeps, Hallowfall, Azj-Kahet— along with the dungeons that await within their lands in our article here.
Get the Band Together for Warbands (Now Live)
With the arrival of The War Within, upon first logging into World of Warcraft, the Warband conversion process automatically enables many of the game’s progression systems to be account-wide. Players will not need to log into each character individually for all progression, items, etc., to convert; however, there may be a short wait for the system to completely process your Warband the first time you log in. The Warband conversion process can take up to 20 minutes or longer, and depending on the amount of data being processed, there could be a login queue.
The new Warbands system is effective for all characters on a player’s Battle.net account and the items, Collections, and progression they share. It’s important to note that your Warband is limited to characters within a single region (for example, the Americas or Europe) but spans every realm, faction, and even subscription you may have within that region.
Please note that as the character selection screen shows all characters on the Battle.net account in one convenient location, some may show up as “gray” in the listing and are not available to select to use a Character Service on. To use a service for that character, you will need to select the realm that the character is from first by clicking on the “Realm” selection at the top of the screen and then apply the service to that character. You can also hover your mouse cursor over a character listed on the right side of the screen to see additional information including the realm it is currently on.
Learn more about Warbands in our previously published article.
Take to the Skies with Skyriding (Now Live)
Dragonriding is here to stay and is available for many flying mounts in all flyable areas. Players can also toggle between Skyriding (previously known as dynamic flight) or the flying style introduced originally in The Burning Crusade (TBC) which we’re calling Steady Flight.
You can easily identify the mounts that are enabled for Skyriding from within the Warbands Collection tab (Shift-P) which is noted as Skyriding. To switch between Skyriding and Steady Flight, you can do so directly in the mount collection by clicking on the Skyriding icon in the middle of the interface and selecting “Switch Flight Style” in the drop-down menu. It’s important to note that any mount that doesn’t support Skyriding will be grounded if Skyriding is active. You will also be able to open your Skills Unlock here as well.
The ground mounts in your collection will continue to stay grounded, but most flying mounts will be able to be put to use for Skyriding save for a select few such as the Otterworldly Ottuk Carrier, some fish mounts, and brooms.
User Interface and Quest Updates (Now Live)
We’ve made some improvements to the User Interface and to quest icons in The War Within that will help navigate your adventures even better— including a new map legend, quest log updates, spellbook updates, crafting reagent tooltips, and even a new arachnophobia filter! Learn more from our previously published article.
The War Within Season 1 Schedule
With the start of Early Access on August 22, Normal difficulty dungeons will become available.
Dungeons
- Ara-Kara, City of Echoes (Levels 70-80)
- Priory of the Sacred Flame (Levels 70-80)
- The Rookery (Levels 70-80)
- The Stonevault (Levels 70-80)
- Cinderbrew Meadery (Level 80)
- City of Threads (Level 80)
- Darkflame Cleft (level 80)
- The Dawnbreaker (Level 80)
With the launch of the expansion on August 26, Heroic difficulty dungeons will be available to play.
On September 10, The War Within Season 1 will begin with Heroic and Raid Finder Wing 1 of Nerub-ar Palace opening, Mythic 0 dungeons also become available along with Heroic Seasonal dungeons and the new World bosses.
World Bosses
- Kordac, the Dormant Protector
- Aggregation of Horrors
- Shurrai, Atrocity of the Undersea
- Orta, the Broken Mountain
On September 17, Mythic raids, Raid Finder Wing 2, Mythic+ dungeons and raid Story Mode will open.
On September 24 Raid Finder Wing 3 will open.
Dungeon Item Rewards:
| Difficulty | Pre-Season | Season 1 | Great Vault |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | 554 | 554 | – |
| Heroic | Explorer 4 (567) | Adventurer 4 (580) | Veteran 4 (593) |
| Mythic | – | Veteran 4 (593) | Champion 3 (603) |
| +2 | – | Champion 1 (597) | Champion 4 (606) |
| +3 | – | Champion 1 (597) | Hero 1 (610) |
| +4 | – | Champion 2 (600) | Hero 1 (610) |
| +5 | – | Champion 3 (603) | Hero 2 (613) |
| +6 | – | Champion 4 (606) | Hero 2 (613) |
| +7 | – | Hero 1 (610) | Hero 3 (616) |
| +8 | – | Hero 1 (610) | Hero 4 (619) |
| +9 | – | Hero 2 (613) | Hero 4 (619) |
| +10 | – | Hero 2 (613) | Myth 1 (623) |
The Story So Far
Catch up on the story so far with our video.
Additional Media
WoWCast: Dive into The War Within’s Delves, Dungeons, PvP, and Raid
Threads of Destiny
Short Stories
“Trials”
After several younglings are lost attempting their om’gora rites, Thrall begins questioning the value of the trials. The new generation places such emphasis on martial strength and battle prowess that they would risk death attempting the rites before they are ready. Walking through Orgrimmar with his family, Thrall reflects on his son’s readiness for the trials, his own coming of age, and how to prepare this new generation to build on the legacy he and his friends started long ago. Read it here.
“The Lilac and the Stone”
Queen Regent Moira Thaurissan is exhausted. Her son, Dagran II, is rapidly coming of age and stands to inherit leadership of both the Dark Iron and Bronzebeard Clans. But Dagran is bookish and odd: He would easily choose the company of his library over leadership. Can Moira inspire her son to take up his birthright, or will her fears for his future—and the future of the clans—prove true? Read it here.
“The Goblin Way”
Monte Gazlowe, Trade Prince of the Bilgewater Cartel, has been probing working conditions among the goblins. Everywhere he tours he sees a burned-out workforce, cheap machinery, and unhealthy working conditions that drag production and denigrate their people. “This is the goblin way! Dog eat dog! Only the winner comes out on top!” But is this really the goblin way, or is it just the way Jastor Gallywix wanted them looking? Read it here.
“The Calling”
Since leaving the realms of Death, Anduin Wrynn has only sought to keep his hands busy. Plagued by night terrors and grisly flashbacks, the young king finally finds the isolation he seeks in Stormsong Valley, milling flour for a local village. But while Anduin may be able to hide his identity, he cannot escape who he is or the stuff he is made from. Read it here.
“A Whisper of Warning “
Khadgar has dispatched Alleria Windrunner on a dark mission, one that portends an uncertain future for Azeroth. Before she departs, she visits her lost home of Silvermoon on a mission of peace and connection. Much remains unsaid between Alleria and her son, Arator—hindered by fear and misunderstanding—but Alleria would have her son know his mother and her intentions before a new evil threatens Azeroth again. Read it here.
Wallpapers
Gather your allies and we’ll see you in The War Within!