Icy Veins - Feed

Players Are Dying on Purpose to Unlock This Secret Delve Gravestone

Neryssa — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 21:29:38 +0000

Gravestones are one of the more fun additions to Delves, allowing friends and other players to see where others have died. With Midnight, you can customize your own gravestones. With Patch 12.1, a new secret Lordaeron gravestone can be unlocked! Learn how to unlock and how to customize your Delve gravestones.

Shoutout to MrGM for the highlight and to Neek for the discovery!

Midnight Delves Guide Midnight Delver’s Headquarters

How to Unlock the Lordaeron’s Loss Delve Gravestone

The Lordaeron’s Loss gravestone is locked behind a secret achievement. Die in Lordaeron or Undercity is pretty self-explanatory: Die while in the Ruins of Undercity area. This is easily doable with a flying mount.

As of note, for this achievement to work, you need to be in the present, post-Battle for Azeroth version of Tirisfal Glades (as in, you don’t have the Time Travelling buff while in the zone. If you do, locate Zidormi and ask her to bring you back to the present).

This is a hidden achievement, which means you will not get a pop-up when you get it. You can check if you’ve obtained this achievement or not by running a command in-game. This command will dump a few lines of code in your in-game chat. If the value of line 4 says true, you have earned this achievement.

/dump GetAchievementInfo(61456)

How to Customize Delve Gravestones

You can customize your Delve gravestones with Nelthius Shadestone, located in the basement of the Delver’s Headquarters (accessible from a ramp at the back of the room). He teaches you how to do so via A Grave Concern, where all you need to do is select your gravestone using the selection next to him!

Midnight Season 2 Mythic+ Dungeon Difficulty Tier List

Anshlun — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 19:19:38 +0000

Season 2 is live, and the first question for most people pushing keys is which of the eight dungeons is worth their time and which one will lead to deplete-city. This tier list ranks all eight Midnight Season 2 Mythic+ dungeons by difficulty, from hardest to easiest, based on early keys in the +13 to +14 range completed during this week.

Altar of Fangs is the clear outlier of the Season, with the rest of the pool clustered tightly in the middle, and a few dungeons being almost free, if not a little boring.

All Eight Dungeons Ranked

This reflects the difficulty in the opening week of the season. Some of these placements, like Kings’ Rest, are difficulty-driven by unfamiliarity rather than tuning. These positions will likely soften as routes and mechanics get solved.

Altar of Fangs – Hardest

Every boss in the dungeon is a hard healing check. The whole dungeon is stressful on healers.
Rav’i is a “knowledge check”, causing very fast wipes if you don’t know what you’re doing
Zul’jan is incredibly difficult.
Trash before the first boss can be very annoying with the pulsating totems applying healing absorbs.

Altar of Fangs Dungeon Guide

Kings’ Rest – Hard

Hard bosses and trash, the scaling can be very unforgiving at higher key levels.
Dungeon will likely be easier as the season progresses and people learn the trash gimmicks.
King Dazar is likely one of the hardest bosses to tank in recent M+ seasons, pairing frequent movement with constant hits.

Kings’ Rest Dungeon Guide

The Blinding Vale – Moderate Hard

Thrashers are the biggest threats in the dungeon due to their stacked bleeds and poisons.
The first boss requires the whole group to participate in soaks, or it quickly goes south.
Other parts of the dungeon are easy.

The Blinding Vale Dungeon Guide

Temple of Sethraliss – Hard at Start, Trivial End

All the difficulty of the dungeon is front-loaded.
After you defeat the second boss, the dungeon is free.
For instance, Avatar of Sethraliss dies in ~2m even at +13/+14

Temple of Sethraliss Dungeon Guide

Voidscar Arena – Moderate, Route Dependent

Dungeon is a “route-check”.
At the start, the right hallway is easy, while the left will lead you to wipes.
After the first boss, it inverts: the right-side route is hard, and the left one is easy.
One hard part at the end is managing Devour from Devouring Brutalizers. Groups that can’t focus its target down quick enough will struggle and likely wipe.

Voidscar Arena Dungeon Guide

Murder Row – Easy but too much RP

It is honestly a very boring key, very streamlined, not a lot of variation.
Way too much RP.
The only hard part is the giant golems after the third boss, with their insane AoE damage.

Murder Row Dungeon Guide

Den of Nalorakk – Pretty Easy

Most of the trash in the dungeon is simple and straightforward, without a lot of challenges.
Only exceptions are the birds before the first boss that leave bleeds.

Den of Nalorakk Dungeon Guide

Ruby Life Pools – Easiest so far

Shortest and easiest dungeon of the season.
Only speed bump in the dungeon is the mini-boss before the first boss.

Ruby Life Pools Dungeon Guide

Mythic World Boss Nerfs – Nymrissa Wavecaller Tuning Changes

Anshlun — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 01:37:12 +0000

Blizzard has announced nerfs to the Mythic difficulty of Nymrissa Wavecaller, focusing on tuning down the AoE damage happening during Abyssal Rain.

Nymrissa Wavecaller Guide

Nymrissa has been an incredibly challenging fight on Mythic in its current form. Despite having dozens of public logs attempting the fight, no group has succeeded in defeating her. The major challenge of the fight has been the incredibly high healing check it poses, with some groups going as far as 6 or 7 healing it to no avail.

These changes will likely make the fight much more approachable, especially the nerf to Frost Burst, which was dealing over 200k per explosion on Mythic.

( Source URL )

Nymrissa Wavecaller Tuning Changes

Hello,

We just sent a hotfix with the following changes to Nymrissa Wavecaller on Mythic difficulty:

Abyssal Rain’s initial damage reduced by 12.5% on Mythic difficulty
Abyssal Rain’s periodic damage reduced by 20% on Mythic difficulty
Reduced Abyssal Rain’s damage scaling based on group size for larger groups
Frost Burst damage reduced by 40%

A Countdown in Season 2 Hints at When WoW’s Next Patch May Land

Miril — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 19:12:17 +0000

With the start of Season 2, players can get started on the Voidforge questline, which will eventually unlock Bonus Rolls and Ascendant Venomstones that are used to upgrade items at a later point in the season.

The questline starts at Decimus in Voidstorm, who sends you to the Voidforge, which has been conveniently relocated to Silvermoon. Players will then pick up a quest that requires collecting 10 Elementary Voidcore Shards from Raid bosses, M+ dungeons, Bountiful Delves, and Nightmare Prey Hunts.

Interestingly, the questgiver Orin Straylight displays a bar counting down the days until his research is complete and Nebulous Voidcores become available on the week of October 6th, which is exactly 8 weeks after the release of patch 12.1, hinting at the possible release date of patch 12.1.5.

In Season 1, Bonus Rolls became available with the release of patch 12.0.5, and the countdown coincides with the 8-week patch cadence that Blizzard has committed to.

Dungeon and Raid Tuning, Delve Changes: Midnight 12.1 Hotfixes, August 21st

Starym — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 01:57:47 +0000

Another batch of hotfixes arrives! The Altar of Fangs dungeon gets a lot of tuning, mostly to address ability readability and player reaction times. There’s also raid changes to the Venomous Abyss, as Vashnik and Ula’tek get adjustments. We also get some Delve, Prey, housing, and item tweaks, so let’s dive in!

( Source URL )

Delves

Phantasmal Spore Toxin and Frostheart Venom will now properly be removed when leaving the delve.
Illusory Deceit no longer incorrectly scales the number of Twilight Illusions based on the number of players during Infiltrator Gulkat’s encounter in The Darkway.
Players may now only pick up and carry one Oddball Ingredient at a time.

Dungeons and Raids

Altar of Fangs
- Ravenous Descendant’s Ravenous now grants 10% attack speed per stack (was 20%), and movement speed reduced by 20%.
- Twinfang Harrower’s Paralyzing Shots initial damage reduced by 50%.
- Venom Leech’s Septic Spatter no longer creates a puddle at the leech’s corpse location.
- Ritual Chieftain’s Blood Sacrifice absorb reduced by 10%.
- Caustic Mist Totem’s Unstable Totem damage reduced by 10%.
- High Evolutionist’s Evolve cooldown increased, Envenom cast time increased to 3 seconds (was 2.5 seconds), and Mass Envenom cast time increased to 3.5 seconds (was 2.5 seconds).
- Bloodletter’s Bloodletting now procs less frequently.
- Ascendant Serpent health reduced by 10%.
- Rav’i
  - Feeding Frenzy no longer increases the rate of Messy Eater and Carrion Burst.
  - Fresh Meat piles now display a warning visual when Rav’i is close enough to eat from them.
  - Hydrastrike damage reduced by 33%.
- Zul’jan
  - The initial cast of Ritual of the Fang now occurs a few seconds later in the encounter.
  - Ritual of the Fang cast time increased to 5 seconds (was 4 seconds).
  - Fang Empowered damage reduced by 20%.
The Venomous Abyss
- Vashnik the Malignant
  - Reduced target scaling for Adaptive infection to be less punishing for larger group sizes.
  - Fixed an issue causing Thinned Blood to be cast on non-mythic difficulties.
- The Lost Explorers
  - Resolved an issue causing Final Ascension to inflict less damage than intended.
Ula’tek
- Adjusted the Caustic Waves from the Gore Rattler so they remain above the floor of the main platform.
- The tooltip for Ula’tek’s Volatile Purge no longer contains an error.

Housing

Previewing decor in the Decor Catalog will now show accurate Voidlight Marl prices for decor sold by Silvermoon’s Disguised Decor Duel Vendor.

Items

Hex Lord’s Dooming Idol – Hex Lord’s Doom stacks are no longer removed upon ending a Mythic+ boss encounter.

Prey

Fixed an issue that prevented alts from being able to access the Prey portal between Silvermoon and The Coiled Isle.

Class Tuning for Midnight Season 2 Coming on August 25

Anshlun — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 01:40:32 +0000

Blizzard has unveiled the second round of class tuning for Midnight Season 2.

Highlights

Frost Mages are getting a defensive buff with Ice Barrier returning
Warlock Pets will hit 350% harder
Affliction and Demonology receiving large buffs
Ret 4-piece buffed by 150% on main target
Resto Druid buffs for both PvE and PvP
Frost DK gets a small 6% overall buff and 15% to Obliterate
Holy Priest gets PvP nerfs
Demon Hunter nerfs on PvP, mainly to defensives
BM Hunters get a substantial AoE buff

( Source URL )

Class Tuning Incoming – August 25

As we previously indicated, we’re doing broad class tuning each week for the first three weeks of the Curse of Ula’tek content update. With scheduled weekly maintenance in each region, we’ll make the following tuning adjustments.

Classes

Death Knight
- Developers’ notes: Frost Death Knight has performed under our expectations at the beginning of Curse of Ula’tek, especially in the Venomous Abyss raid.
- Frost
  - All ability damage and melee damage increased by 6%.
  - Obliterate damage increased by 15%.
Demon Hunter
- Havoc
  - All damage increased by 3%.
- Vengeance
  - Mastery: Fel Blood effectiveness increased by 24%.
Druid
- Restoration
  - Developers’ notes: These changes are intended to address Rejuvenation and Wild Growth feeling weak in season 2, particularly in dungeons. We’re also increasing the power of the 4-piece class set to make sure it’s an impactful and noticeable set bonus. These changes are accompanied by slight nerfs to their raid healing to keep them around the same power in raid while increasing their power in dungeons.
  - 4-piece class set bonus increases Genesis duration by 8 seconds (was 4 seconds).
  - Rejuvenation and Germination healing increased by 15%.
  - Wild Growth healing increased by 10%.
  - Nature’s Bounty replicates 10% of Regrowth’s healing (was 20%).
  - Everbloom heals 5 targets (was 6 targets).
  - Everbloom heals for 48% of Lifebloom’s final heal (was 40%).
Evoker
- Preservation
  - Developers’ notes: We’re further increasing some of the Preservation triage heals to help them keep up with other healers in dungeons.
  - Verdant Embrace healing increased by 25%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  - Living Flame healing increased by 20%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  - Dream Simulacrum increases healing of Verdant Embrace by 40% (was 30%).
Hunter
- Beast Mastery
  - Developers’ notes: We’re looking to increase Beast Mastery area damage and cleave capabilities.
  - Wild Thrash now deals 300% increased damage when striking more than 2 targets (was 200%).
  - Beast Cleave now causes your pets to strike nearby enemies for 70% of the damage dealt (was 55%).
- Survival
  - All damage dealt by you and your pets increased by 4%.
Mage
- Frost
  - Developers’ notes: We’re primarily focused on Frost’s performance in Mythic Keystone dungeons. The recent removal of the health increase from Improved Ice Barrier had a greater effect on Frost’s overall survivability than intended. We like the symmetry of the three Improved Barrier talents having one additional effect, and Frost has historically had a slightly larger absorb than Arcane and Fire, so we’re baking it into the baseline absorb amount rather than re-attaching it to Improved Ice Barrier. We’re also making some targeted increases to Frost’s area of effect damage.
  - Ice Barrier absorb amount increased to 35% of maximum health (was 30%). Does not apply to PvP combat.
  - Blizzard damage increased by 10%.
  - Frostbite Talent: Shatter damage to nearby enemies increased by 10%.
  - Frostfire: Isothermic Core – Meteor damage increased by 25%.
Monk
- Brewmaster
  - Developers’ note: We’re adjusting the absorption of Celestial Brew and Celestial Infusion to improve its impact as a defensive option and to help address pain points players are experiencing in some encounters.
  - All damage increased by 3%.
  - Celestial Brew and Celestial Infusion absorb value increased by 20%.
Paladin
- Retribution
  - Developers’ notes: We’re increasing the damage of the Curse of Ula’tek 4-piece set bonus Divine Arbiter significantly, to make sure its rotational ask is worth executing.
  - Class Set 4-piece Divine Arbiter main target damage increased by 150%.
  - Class Set 4-piece Divine Arbiter secondary target damage increased by 75%.
Warlock
- Developers’ notes: We’re increasing the throughput of Affliction and Demonology by primarily focusing on their single-target tools with a secondary focus on their multi-target kit. Additionally, we’re considerably increasing the damage of Warlock demons so that they have a larger contribution to overall throughput. This should also help a bit more with aggro concerns during solo play.
- Imp, Voidwalker, Sayaad, and Felhunter damage increased by 350%.
- Affliction
  - Unstable Affliction damage increased by 15%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  - Hellcaller – Blackened Soul damage increased by 20%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  - Wrath of Nathreza damage increased by 35%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  - Shadow of Nathreza damage increased by 25%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  - Agony damage increased by 20%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  - Corruption damage increased by 15%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  - Hellcaller – Wither damage increased by 10%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
- Demonology
  - Shadow Bolt damage increased by 35%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  - Demonbolt damage increased by 30%.
  - Wild Imp damage increased by 20%.
  - Summon Felguard damage increased by 20%.
  - Demons summoned by Dominion of Argus damage increased by 20%. Does not apply to PvP combat.
  - Call Dreadstalkers damage increased by 30%.
- Destruction
  - Rain of Fire damage increased by 30%.
Warrior
- Protection
  - Fight Through the Flames reduces Magic damage by 8% (was 6%).

Player versus Player

Demon Hunter
- Developers’ notes: We feel the defensive kits of Devourer and Havoc are too powerful, so we are reducing some of their passive and active defenses to make them more viable targets for opponents.
- Glimpse now reduces damage taken by 20% while active (was 25%).
- Devourer
  - Void Ray damage increased by 33% in PvP combat.
  - Blur now reduces damage taken by 15% in PvP combat (was 25%).
  - Armor of Souls now increases Armor by 65% (was 100%).
- Havoc
  - Blur now reduces damage taken by 15% in PvP combat (was 25%).
  - Desperate Instincts now reduces damage taken by 5% while below 35% health in PvP combat (was 10%).
Druid
- Feral
  - Developers’ notes: Feral’s sustained damage is lower than our intended target, so we’re targeting their primary damage over time effects to improve this. We’re also targeting a buff for Druid of the Claw which has fallen behind Wildstalker in viability.
  - Druid of the Claw: Ravage damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
  - Rip damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
  - Rake damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
Evoker
- Augmentation
  - Developers’ notes: Augmentation has been underplayed in PvP, especially arenas, for some time. We’re increasing both their damage support capabilities and their personal damage to increase their viability.
  - Damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
  - Ebon Might grants 10% primary stat in PvP combat (was 8%).
  - Inferno’s Blessing damage increased by 25% in PvP combat.
Hunter
- Developers’ notes: Sentinel Hunters are slightly too strong during burst windows in PvP, so we’re reducing the damage of Moonlight Chakram and increasing the throughput of rotational abilities to compensate.
- Marksmanship
  - Sentinel: Moonlight Chakram damage reduced by 30% in PvP combat.
  - Rapid Fire damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
  - Arcane Shot damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
- Survival
  - Sentinel: Moonlight Chakram damage reduced by 30% in PvP combat.
  - Raptor Strike and Raptor Swipe damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
  - Kill Command damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
Mage
- Fire
  - Developers’ notes: Fire Mage execute windows and hard cast Pyroblast damage have been higher than we would like, so we’re reducing the effectiveness of Molten Fury and Pyroclasm in PvP.
  - Pyroclasm now increases the damage of Pyroblast and Flamestrike by 180% in PvP combat (was 230%).
    vMolten Fury now increases damage to targets below 35% health by 10% in PvP combat (was 15%).
Monk
- Windwalker
  - Rushing Wind Kick damage reduced by 20% in PvP combat.
  - Rising Sun Kick damage reduced by 10% in PvP combat.
  - Tigereye Brew now increases critical strike damage by 3/6% in PvP combat (was 5/10%).
Paladin
- Holy
  - Developer’s notes: Holy Paladin throughput has increased with recent changes past our targets for them in PvP.
  - All healing reduced by 4% in PvP combat.
- Protection
  - Developers’ note: Protection Paladins have been extending the duration of the matches that they participate in with frequent access to group utility. We’re reducing the effectiveness of Blessing of Sacrifice and Guardian of the Forgotten Queen to bring them in line.
  - Guardian of the Forgotten Queen duration reduced to 6 seconds.
  - Guardian of the Forgotten Queen cooldown increased to 4 minutes.
  - Guardian of the Forgotten Queen now has a 6 second internal cooldown.
  - Sacrifice of the Just reduces the cooldown of Blessing of Sacrifice by 30 seconds in PvP combat (was 60 seconds).
- Retribution
  - Developers’ notes: Retribution’s personal durability has been higher than we would like considering their complete team defensive package, and Templar’s damage has not been competitive with Herald of the Sun, so we’re increasing some sources specific to its hero tree.
  - Shield of Vengeance absorption reduced by 25% in PvP combat.
  - Divine Protection now reduces damage taken by 20% in PvP combat (was 25%).
  - Templar: Seal of the Templar now increases the damage of Templar’s Verdict by 35% (was 25%).
  - Templar: Hammer of Light’s damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
Priest
- Developers’ notes: Mindgames has fallen behind other spells and has been an underutilized talent for some time, so we’re increasing its viability to offer all Priest specializations more PvP talent options.
- Mindgames direct damage increased by 150%.
- Mindgames healing and damage reversal increased by 150%.
- Discipline
  - Flash Heal and Shadow Mend healing increased by 20% in PvP combat.
  - Atonement healing increased by 5% in PvP combat.
- Holy
  - Developers’ notes: Holy Priest is vastly overperforming due to a mixture of overall healing increases from the patch as well as some generous PvP specific healing increases to Prayer of Mending and Holy Word: Serenity. We’re reducing these PvP increases to Prayer of Mending, Holy Word: Serenity, and Prompt Prognosis which are all powerful instant cast spells.
  - Enlightenment regenerates mana 10% faster in PvP combat (was 25%).
  - Prayer of Mending healing reduced by 25% in PvP combat.
  - Holy Word: Serenity healing reduced by 15% in PvP combat.
  - Oracle: Prompt Prognosis healing reduced by 25% in PvP combat.
- Shadow
  - Developers’ notes: We feel Shadow is lacking in kill power, so we’re increasing some of its primary sources of burst.
  - Shadow Word: Madness damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
  - Void Volley damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
  - Shadow Word: Death damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
Rogue
- Assassination
  - Developers’ notes: Burst from Assassination’s Apex Talent is exceeding expectations and is getting toned down. Additionally, damage from Fatebound Coins is higher than intended and is being reduced.
  - Kingsbane initial damage reduced by 12% in PvP combat.
  - Implacable (Rank 3) Physical and Nature damage reduced by 15% in PvP combat.
  - Fatebound: Fatebound Coin (Tails) damage reduced by 10% in PvP combat.
- Outlaw
  - Developers’ notes: Outlaw’s damage and kill pressure is lower than we’d expect, so we’re putting more damage into core finishing moves.
  - Dispatch damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
  - Between the Eyes damage increased by 12% in PvP combat.
- Subtlety
  - Developers’ notes: Subtlety’s steady damage pressure is low, without which it can be difficult to create windows that capitalize on their burst potential. We’re increasing * Eviscerate damage moderately and Goremaw’s Bite bleed damage significantly to increase the frequency of these windows.
  - Eviscerate damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
  - Goremaw’s Bite bleeding damage increased by 33% in PvP combat.
Shaman
- Elemental
  - Developers’ notes: Elemental is lacking the sustained pressure we expect, so we’re targeting core damage sources to improve its viability.
    Stormbringer: Tempest damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
  - Lava Burst damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
  - Earth Shock damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
  - Earthquake damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
- Restoration
  - Developers’ notes: Restoration Shaman is slightly too strong compared to other healers (barring Holy Priest). We’re making some small adjustments to their mana and the Totemic hero talent tree to better balance their mana and throughput.
  - Mana regeneration is now reduced by 65% in PvP combat (was 60%).
  - Totemic: Splitstream now causes Healing Stream Totem to heal an additional ally at 15% effectiveness in PvP combat (was 30%).
  - Totemic: Earthsurge now causes allies affected by your Earthliving to receive 5% additional healing from you in PvP combat (was 15%).
Warlock
- Affliction
  - Developers’ notes: We’re increasing Affliction’s ability to maintain spread pressure by adjusting Agony’s damage and making a small adjustment to Unstable Affliction’s backlash damage to make dispelling all their damage over time effects more punishing.
  - Agony damage increased by 50% in PvP combat.
  - Unstable Affliction backlash damage increased by 20%.
- Demonology
  - Developers’ notes: We feel too much of Demonology’s damage is focused on Wicked Reaping and Power Siphon, so we’re reducing the power of these effects and increasing overall damage through our game-wide Demonology changes above.
  - Soul Harvester: Wicked Reaping damage reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
  - Soul Harvester: Necrolyte Teachings now causes Power Siphon to increase the damage of Demonbolt by an additional 10% in PvP combat (was 20%).
  - Power Siphon now increases the damage of your next 2 Demonbolts by 20% in PvP combat (was 30%).
- Destruction
  - Developers’ notes: Destruction is lacking in finishing power, so we’re increasing the damage of their primary nuke spells to allow for more burst potential.
  - Chaos Bolt damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
  - Shadowburn damage increased by 30% in PvP combat.
Warrior
- Arms
  - Developers’ notes: To compensate for the reduction in Fueled by Violence self-healing, we’re increasing Arms’ Hero Talents throughput by increasing Slayer’s Strike and Demolish damage in PvP.
  - Colossus: Demolish damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
  - Slayer: Slayer’s Strike damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
  - Fueled by Violence healing reduced by 15% in PvP combat.

Improved Readability and Player Reaction Windows: Altar of Fangs Dungeon Tuning, August 21st

Starym — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 20:38:36 +0000

Blizzard have adjusted the new dungeon, Altar of Fangs. The intention is to improve readability and room for player reactions throughout the dungeon, especially for the big abilities. Overall, this seems to be mostly nerfs, with delays to ability triggers, increased cooldowns, less frequent procs, HP decreases, and more. The changes are live already.

( Source URL )

With hotfixes that are now live, we’ve made some adjustments in Altar of Fangs to improve the readability of key abilities and give players more time to respond during some of the dungeon’s more demanding moments, while preserving their intended challenge.

Dungeons

Altar of Fangs
- Ravenous Descendant’s Ravenous now grants 10% attack speed per stack (was 20%), and movement speed reduced by 20%.
- Twinfang Harrower’s Paralyzing Shots initial damage reduced by 50%.
- Venom Leech’s Septic Spatter no longer creates a puddle at the leech’s corpse location.
- Ritual Chieftain’s Blood Sacrifice absorb reduced by 10%.
- Caustic Mist Totem’s Unstable Totem damage reduced by 10%.
- High Evolutionist’s Evolve cooldown increased, Envenom cast time increased to 3 seconds (was 2.5 seconds), and Mass Envenom cast time increased to 3.5 seconds (was 2.5 seconds).
- Bloodletter’ Bloodletting now procs less frequently.
- Ascendant Serpent health reduced by 10%.
- Rav’i
  - Feeding Frenzy no longer increases the rate of Messy Eater and Carrion Burst.
  - Fresh Meat piles now display a warning visual when Rav’i is close enough to eat from them.
  - Hydrastrike damage reduced by 33%.
- Zul’jan
  - The initial cast of Ritual of the Fang now occurs a few seconds later in the encounter.
  - Ritual of the Fang cast time increased to 5 seconds (was 4 seconds).
  - Fang Empowered damage reduced by 20%.

World First Heroic Ula’tek Kill, Final Boss of the Venomous Abyss

Starym — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 20:18:15 +0000

The Midnight Season 2 Race to World First is well underway, as we have our first Heroic kill of the final boss! While the non-top 3 guilds were having trouble with the penultimate boss, Liquid’s second day of splits included a visit to the final Heroic boss. It didn’t result in a kill after almost 10 pulls, and the guild continued with their splits. Two days and a big nerf round later, we have a kill, but it’s not by Liquid!

Chinese guild Clear Water grabbed the World First on the boss using a raid composition specifically built for the kill! This, of course, isn’t unusual generally, but this is a Heroic boss so it’s definitely worth mentioning.

We don’t have a video of the kill, but we do have a roster, courtesy of Raider.IO:

Tanks: 1 Blood Death Knight and 1 Protection Warrior
Healers: 2 Preservation Evoker, 1 Holy Paladin, 1 Holy Priest, 1 Restoration Shaman, 1 Restoration Druid
Melee: 3 Arms Warrior, 2 Frost Death Knight, 2 Subtlety Rogue, 2 Retribution Paladin, 1 Havoc Demon Hunter, 1 Windwalker Monk
Ranged: 4 Arcane Mage, 3 Destruction Warlock, 2 Marksmanship Hunter, 1 Devastation Evoker, 1 Elemental Shaman

Their average item level was 303.9, with their top player sporting 310!

World 2nd and 3rd

We did see more kills on the boss a couple of hours after that, with Liquid actually managing to grab the World 2nd with a split group! Despite having said they’re leaving the boss alone yesterday, they came back in today and immediately got the boss down under 1% after using some upgrades and Vantus runes. While they are doing Heroic splits, they did have to use some high item level players over and over in their few kills since then, like Wolfdiscos’s 307 item level Warrior, showcasing just how hard the boss is. Their total item level on the kill was just under 300.

Here’s the full kill pull:

While Liquid did go on to kill the boss more and are spending their entire day today in splits on Ula’tek, there was another guild that killed the boss. Collapse Gaming had an incredible string of wipes on the boss, starting with a 0.8% on pull 20, getting the boss down further to 0.2% on pull 25, and then needing another 13 pulls to finally down it.

This Malacrass Transmog Is One of the Best Hunter Looks Yet

Emma — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:49:33 +0000

A player has put together an amazing Hex Lord Malacrass-inspired transmog, and honestly, it might be one of the coolest Hunter sets we’ve seen in a while!

The centerpiece is the new Hex Lord’s Visage, which immediately sells the whole Malacrass theme. The rest of the outfit cleverly mixes pieces from a number of older raids rather than relying on a single matching set.

Malacrass Chosen | Cursed Weapon and Cloak
byu/Puzzleheaded_Tart322 inwow

Here’s the full item list:

Head: Hex Lord’s Visage
Shoulders: Pauldrons of Ancestral Vengeance
Chest: Corroded Val’kyr Chainmail
Waist: Waistguard of Elemental Resistance
Legs: Flesh-Raking Leggings
Feet: Treads of Panicked Escape
Hands: Gauntlets of Spiteful Haunting
Back: Shroud of the Soulhunter
Main Hand: Time-Lost Dreadbow of the Banshee
Illusion: Illusion: Wraithchill
Tabard: Loa-Blessed Tabard

Don’t get us wrong, there’s plenty of new gear to collect with Patch 12.1. But why would you want to wear any of it when you could instead look like Malacrass’ more heavily armed cousin?

WoW Just Nerfed the Cursebreaker Achievement After Players Did the Math

Emma — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:29:28 +0000

We can all breathe a sigh of relief—the Cursebreaker achievement has officially been nerfed!

With Patch 12.1’s release, the Cursebreaker achievement initially required you to defeat 300 Curse Surges on the Coiled Isle.

As MrGM calculated, that would have taken 13500 minutes/225 hours/9.375 days! Whilst we can agree that “the Cursebreaker” is a cool title, is it really that cool?

This Achievement is absolutely insane.

As of right now, Curse Surges are every 45 minutes on the isle. Which means if you were to do all 300 in one sitting, it would take:

• 13500 minutes
• 225 hours
• 9.375 days pic.twitter.com/jPCxYDTpoF
— MrGM (@MrGMYT) August 13, 2026

Thankfully, Blizzard have listened, and the requirements for the achievement have been cut in half—you’ll now only have to defeat 150 Curse Surges!

It’s still a grind, but 112.5 hours is better than 225!

WoW’s Ulduar Gets the Cinematic Treatment in Stunning Hurricane Trailer

Emma — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 11:45:58 +0000

In a slight break from all the new patch news, we have something absolutely iconic to show you—and it comes from a very familiar name in the WoW community.

Hurricane has returned to one of his personal favorites with a stunning fan-made cinematic reimagining of Ulduar—and the result is nothing short of stunning. Check it out below:

If you’re unaware, Hurricane is a 3D artist and machinima creator behind some of WoW’s most iconic fan trailers, also working with Blizzard on official WoW Classic trailers.

Hurricane explains that a cinematic reimagining of Ulduar is something he has wanted to create since the raid first launched in 2009. But this wasn’t a quick project. The cinematic took one year and nine months to produce and was rendered across four RTX 4090s over two months.

Just keep in mind, this cinematic is entirely fan-made, and is not affiliated with Blizzard, WoW Classic, or the Anniversary servers. But it sure does get us excited for what we could expect to see in The Last Titan.

Hardest Heroic Endboss? Ula’tek Lives After Further Nerfs, One Mythic Boss Down: Venomous Abyss RWF Day 3

Starym — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:37:11 +0000

It’s been quite the day in the Midnight Season 2 Race to World First. Not so much for top guild Mythic activity, but unlike the day or so before, at least some things happened that weren’t hundreds of splits!

Heroic Ula’tek Is Crazy

We had quite a few attempts at Heroic Ula’tek by Liquid, as they tried both before and after the significant nerfs. These are still splits, but Liquid went in with all guild characters (the actual Mythic mains haven’t been decided yet) and still they decided the boss was not possible, let alone properly splittable. Then came word of upcoming nerfs so they waited and continued Normal and earlier bosses Heroic splits. Then came the nerfs:

Ula’tek Nerfs

Blight Vein damage reduced on Heroic difficulty.
Grasping Fangs now targets three players per side on Heroic difficulty, no matter the instance group size.
Volatile Purge’s area of effect now scales with raid size in Normal and Heroic difficulties. The effect radius is largest in a 10-player raid and gradually decreases as raid size increases, reaching its smallest size in a 30-player raid.
Resolved an issue causing the damage of Spectral Coils to unintentionally scale on non-Mythic difficulties.
Spectral Coils now requires 40% of the raid to reduce its damage to a minimum value.
Spectral Coils adjusted on Heroic difficulty so it has more consistent timing.
Corrected an issue where the Blight Vein debuff did not properly inflict its damage based on the number of stacks applied, on Heroic and Mythic difficulties.
Corrected an issue where Hunters’ Stampede pets from the Pack Leader hero talents would not properly damage the Heart of Ula’tek during the encounter.

Ula’tek Pulls

However, even those were not enough! Post-nerf Liquid even committed a 25-man Vantus group (again, these aren’t necessarily the mains yet, so it’s less of a commitment than in regular Mythic progression). In the end they came out with a sub-10% pull on the full enrage at 10 minutes:

And here’s that full pull so we get a proper look at the entire fight:

After that Liquid decided it wasn’t worth their time trying the boss. Max mentioned it is probably doable with a perfect pull, but considering they need to do a lot of splits on the boss (14!), a single kill after spending a lot of time on it isn’t really relevant.

That’s over 60 hours with no Heroic endboss kill so far! This hasn’t happened in a long time, and Ula’tek is looking to be one of the hardest Heroic bosses ever! We’ll see what Echo and Method decide, once they get to the item level Liquid is at.

Top 3 Guilds Item Levels Over Time

Speaking of gear, here’s a handy look at the progression of gearing up during Liquid, Echo, and Method’s splits. Interestingly, Liquid had over an item level over the other two guilds even before they stepped foot into the raid, just from the pre-season activities. Obviously they have the half-day’s extra time from the NA launch, so the EU guilds will catch up.

Mythic Kills

We also finally got some Mythic kills! And it wasn’t even the World Boss! In fact, Nymrissa in her Lair is proving to be very hard, with the best pulls coming in around 80%. The first boss of the Venomous Abyss turned out to be much easier, as we got several kills on him! The World First on Nek’zali the Soulcoiler went to Consequence:

And the full pull:

There were three more kills after that, with Daybreak, Mid, and Literacy Test all getting Nek’zali down.

It’s been a LONG week of splits and it’s not looking to slow down any time soon. Even if Ula’tek was further nerfed right now, it would still take the guilds a full day to do their splits on him. That means we’re not seeing any Mythic action from the top guilds at least until Saturday, possibly (and likely) Sunday. That Blizzcon date is looming larger and larger!

As always, for 24/7 live coverage, updates, clips, stats, and a lot more, head on over to Raider.IO’s global race coverage.

Heroic Ula’Tek Nerfed and Toxic Snare Slow Effect Reduced – Midnight Hotfixes

Miril — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 01:56:30 +0000

Blizzard has posted today’s hotfix notes, which include nerfs to Heroic Ula’tek, a nerf to the Toxic Snare Prey Affix, and an Omnium Folio bug fix.

Highlights

Ula’tek
- Blight Vein damage reduced on Heroic difficulty.
- Grasping Fangs now targets three players per side on Heroic difficulty, no matter the instance group size.
- Volatile Purge’s area of effect now scales with raid size in Normal and Heroic difficulties. The effect radius is largest in a 10-player raid and gradually decreases as raid size increases, reaching its smallest size in a 30-player raid.
- Spectral Coils now requires 40% of the raid to reduce its damage to a minimum value.
- Spectral Coils adjusted on Heroic difficulty so it has more consistent timing.
Prey
- Decreased the damage and slow effect of Toxic Snare.
Omnium Folio
- Fixed an issue with a previous change to the Omnium Folio’s Rune of Unleashed Fire that resulted in pulling enemies you were not in combat with.

( Source URL )

August 20, 2026

Classes

Demon Hunter
- Havoc
  - Aldrachi Reaver: Fixed an issue where Evasive Action was not granting an extra cast of Vengeful Retreat.
Druid
- Restoration
  - Fixed an issue where the tooltip for Tranquility incorrectly described how long it extended heal over time effects.
  - Fixed an issue where Overgrowth was applying healing over time effects to the incorrect target when used in tandem with Soul of the Forest.
Hunter
- Marksmanship
  - Corrected an issue where Hunters could benefit from the Precise Shots effect twice by casting Arcane Shot or Multi-Shot as Rapid Fire finishes channeling while talented into Unload.
  - Corrected an issue where the AoE damage from Explosive Shot was not properly reduced by damage taken reduction effects.
Priest
- Holy
  - Fixed an issue where casting Benediction and queuing a Holy Word would consume the proc.
Shaman
- Elemental
  - Resolved an issue causing Master of the Elements to not increase the damage of Earthquake.
Warlock
- Hellcaller: Fixed an issue where Blackened Soul could trigger from Unstable Affliction periodic damage.
- Affliction
  - Fixed an issue where Malefic Grasp was not affected by Withering Bolt.
  - Fixed an issue where Withering Bolt did not account for Wither when increasing Shadowbolt Volley damage.
  - Fixed an issue where Wither would not count toward Darkglare Eye Beam damage increase.
  - Fixed an issue where the Unstable Affliction granted by Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus would not grant a stack of Wither.

Delves

Fixed an issue where if Azta’rec killed a player it would display that Zek’vir has burrowed away and did not drop loot.

Dungeons and Raids

Ruby Life Pools
- Thunderhead and Flamegullet
  - Fixed an issue where certain abilities could cause their breath spells to cancel unexpectedly.
Temple of Sethraliss
- Avatar of Sethraliss
  - Fixed an issue where the progress bar could reach 100% when the Avatar reached 99% health.
The Venomous Abyss
- Resolved an issue where players could fall through the world in The Serpent Warren.
- Vashnik the Malignant
  - Fixed an issue causing Stygian Burst to inflict damage in a larger area than intended.
  - Shrouded Venom now has significant health and shields.
  - Fixed an issue causing players to get hit multiple times from the same wave in a short period of time.
  - Fixed a rare issue where players using Harpoon on a Venom while inside the Malignant Cavity would cause them to fall through the playspace.
- The Coiled Altar
  - Fixed an issue where the encounter would rarely fail to properly transition to Phase 3 at the end of the intermission.
- Ula’tek
  - Blight Vein damage reduced on Heroic difficulty.
  - Grasping Fangs now targets three players per side on Heroic difficulty, no matter the instance group size.
  - Volatile Purge’s area of effect now scales with raid size in Normal and Heroic difficulties. The effect radius is largest in a 10-player raid and gradually decreases as raid size increases, reaching its smallest size in a 30-player raid.
  - Resolved an issue causing the damage of Spectral Coils to unintentionally scale on non-Mythic difficulties.
  - Spectral Coils now requires 40% of the raid to reduce its damage to a minimum value.
  - Spectral Coils adjusted on Heroic difficulty so it has more consistent timing.
  - Corrected an issue where the Blight Vein debuff did not properly inflict its damage based on the number of stacks applied, on Heroic and Mythic difficulties.
  - Corrected an issue where Hunters’ Stampede pets from the Pack Leader hero talents would not properly damage the Heart of Ula’tek during the encounter.

Items

Companion Command Crystal is now bind-on-pickup.

Omnium Folio

Fixed an issue with a previous change to the Omnium Folio’s Rune of Unleashed Fire that resulted in pulling enemies you were not in combat with.

Prey

Decreased the damage and slow effect of Toxic Snare.

Quests

“The Venomous Abyss” campaign quest should now complete for players who were dead at the end of the last encounter.
Fixed an issue that reduced player-characters’ turn speed after starting the world quest “Swift of Foot”.

Treasures

Fixed an issue where the Unguarded Chest would spawn without Farthik the Plunderer.

Most WoW Players Miss These Uncapped Mistcrests in Midnight Season 2

Neryssa — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 21:14:26 +0000

Season 2 of Midnight has started, and players are once again racing towards upgrading their gear. Once again, there are a few sources of Mistcrests that do not count towards the season cap. Do not miss out on these!

Midnight Season 2 Hub

Uncapped Crests from Tier 11 Delve

Completing a Tier 11 Delve for the first time this season will give you a Cracked Keystone as one of the end-of-delve chest rewards. This item starts the quest Cracked Keystone, which requires you to complete a Mythic Keystone dungeon at +2 difficulty or higher.

This is a one-time quest that rewards you with 20 Hero Mistcrest and 30 Myth Mistcrest, both uncapped.

Midnight Delves Guide

Uncapped Crests from Azta’rec Delve Nemesis

Like Nullaeus in Season 1, Azta’rec also grants uncapped Crests on your first kill.

Azta’rec Delve Nemesis Guide

Killing Azta’rec on Tier ? gives 30 uncapped Hero Mistcrest.
Killing Azta’rec on Tier ?? gives 30 Hero Mistcrest and 30 Myth Mistcrest, both uncapped.
If you kill Azta’rec on Tier ?? first, you will receive both crest rewards and no longer need to kill him on Tier ?.

In addition to these, Azta’rec will drop another 5 Hero Mistcrest and 5 Myth Mistcrest when looted. These are season-capped. You can see the uncapped crests below:

WoW Players Can Now Prepare for Every Venomous Abyss Boss in Midnight Season 2

Neryssa — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:49:35 +0000

With the release of Midnight Season 2, our guides for the Venomous Abyss raid are now live! Prepare yourself to take the fight to Ula’tek with our guides.

Patch 12.1 Overview

The Venomous Abyss Raid Guides

In the guides below, we have information about the Venomous Abyss Raid, including raid basics, a specific guide covering the tier’s Glory achievement, and the tier sets for Midnight Season 2!

Venomous Abyss Raid Guide Glory of the Venomous Raider Achievement Guide Midnight Season 2 Tier Sets

The Venomous Abyss Boss Guides

We have guides prepared for all bosses in the Venomous Abyss raid! All guides include mechanical breakdowns and quick tips, and cover Normal/Heroic difficulties. Guides will be updated for Mythic difficulty once more information is known.

Nek’zali the Soulcoiler

Entombed Sentinels Lost Explorers Vashnik the Malignant Sszorak Twin Fangs Coiled Altar Ula’tek

Mages and Rogues! The Best-Performing Specs in the Venomous Abyss Raid and Mythic+ Season 2: “Day 1” Logs

Starym — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 14:08:06 +0000

Both the NA and EU guilds have had at least a day in the new raids and dungeons, so it’s time for a sneak peek at what things are looking like in the DPS logs! The Venomous Abyss is looking particularly hard on Normal and Heroic, with the final boss not even dying yet on Heroic, and the penultimate boss only being defeated by three guilds! Mythic has had absolutely no kills, so we can’t even take a peek there.

With just the first seven bosses really giving us any proper data (the Lair boss Nymrissa was lumped in with the rest in the Venomous Abyss), the preliminary state of the logs below has never been more… preliminary! We’ll get back with a fuller picture at the end of the reset, but for now let’s dive in.

Note: We are using normalized scores instead of raw DPS for the Warcraft Logs rankings. Normalized scores take into account the outlier boss fights where certain specs could stack massive DPS (due to the nature of the fight, whether it’s AoE spam or something else), which would then affect their overall score for the whole raid.

Heroic Venomous Abyss

Overall Damage 95th Percentile

Mages and Rogues are back! After some low points in Season 1 we have not one but two different Mage specs on top in the different rankings. Arcane is slightly in the lead here in the top percentiles, slightly ahead of the pack of five right behind it. Devastation has made a comeback after a long time in the gutter, and Fire joins it in a meteoric rise compared to last season. The rest of the top 10 has quite a few familiar faces, with the biggest missing spec being the largest shift since Season 1. Augmentation went from the very top to almost the very bottom, swapping its No.1 spot for 26th. Out of all the preliminary stats here, that one’s most likely to change throughout the season, or even week.

All percentiles Heroic data by Warcraft Logs

Overall Damage All Percentiles

In the generalist bracket, we see another Mage on top, with Fire claiming the top spot. Arcane isn’t too far behind, sandwiching Subtlety in 3rd. We see all three Rogues in the top 10 here, With Outlaw doing a lot worse and Assassination a lot better than in the top percentiles. Devourer (and DHs in general) drops out of the top 10 entirely, with Destruction joining it just outside. The bottom is the same as in the top percentiles, as things are not looking promising for Frost DK, Demonology, Feral and Windwalker, at least before some tuning.

All percentiles Heroic data by Warcraft Logs

Tidebound Grotto

Neryssa has been lumped in to the Venomous Abyss raid on Warcraft Logs, despite living in her own grotto. She has a fairly different top 10, although we do see mostly the same faces there. Elemental is barely edging out Shadow for the top spot, and Devourer is doing a little better than in the Abyss. The bottom specs look about the same, with Unholy making it both DKs in the bottom 3.

All percentiles Heroic data by Warcraft Logs

Damage to Bosses

All percentiles Heroic data by Warcraft Logs

Individual Bosses

Vashnik the Malignant

The Lost Explorers

Sszorak

The Twin Fangs

Mythic+ DPS Logs

We’re comboing the raid with Mythic+ this time around, for a fuller preliminary look at the start of the season. The dungeon stats are more reliable than the raid this time around, as there aren’t the final two bosses that didn’t get almost any play.

Note: The below logs are based on POINTS, and not actual damage or healing. This means that they log the timed completion for the specs, with higher keys getting more points, obviously. The time in which the dungeon is completed is also a factor. It is a much, much smaller factor, however. It grants only a few points for significantly faster completions compared to just any in-time finish. We’re also using the Normalized Aggregate Scores numbers, for clarity. This means that the top spec is marked as 100 and then the rest are ranked in relation to that peak point.

95th percentile DPS

Devourer remains very strong, moving up a spot to the very top compared to the end of Season 1. Subtlety has climbed to the top of the Rogue pile, but all three specs are doing very well and are all in the top 5! Devastation is also doing well, and we even see a Hunter and a Death Knight in the top 10!

Mythic+ All Keys 95th Percentile Data by Warcraft Logs

All Percentiles

Devastation races past both Devourer and Subtlety in the generalist bracket, making an even bigger comeback than in the raid, climbing 24 spots since the end of Season 1. We see Demonology in the top 10 as well, with Arms going very strong here as well as in the top percentiles. The bottom actually still hosts two Mage specs, with Arcane sitting in the middle of the pack.

Mythic+ All Keys All-Percentile Data by Warcraft Logs

High Key Raw DPS Numbers

Note: We’re also taking a look at the raw damage numbers from Mythicstats. They take the top runs for extremely high keys (+10-16) from WarcraftLogs and list the overall DPS for the dungeon, which includes non-combat time as well. They’re ranked by the average DPS numbers, with the very top of the top shown next to it.

The high keys are especially sparse when it comes to logs, so these rankings may be even more inaccurate than the above. They confirm it’s a Rogue’s world in Mythic+ for now, as Devastation isn’t doing so great here. Devourer is still very strong, and Fury, despite being very low in the overall percentages, is doing great here. Mages are also doing better, especially Fire, with Feral being the other big outlier compared to the regular keys.

Raw DPS datafrom Myticstats

We’ll be back at the end of the reset with some proper numbers for the raid, dungeons, as well as the healers and tanks! And, as always, you can check out our tier lists, our raid guides, and our class guides, updated with the latest changes! And for even more stats, head on over to Warcraft Logs.

This Midnight Questline Hands You Item Level 331 Trinkets Just for Starting

Miril — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 13:50:26 +0000

Season 2 of Midnight has brought back the three-week PvP questline introduced in Season 1 to encourage players to try out Training Grounds.

Training Grounds are matches against bots, meant to help players get acquainted with PvP gameplay. Midnight initially introduced Battleground training grounds, and Patch 12.1 added Arena training grounds.

Similar to Season 1, a PvP questline is available that requires players to win arenas or battlegrounds in the Training Grounds over three weeks. At the end of this questline, players are rewarded with a choice of a Hero-track neck or ring. The questline can be picked up from Archmage Aethas Sunreaver in Silvermoon.

Additionally, picking up the questline provides players with a Venomous Aspirant’s Medallion and a Venomous Aspirant’s Insignia of Alacrity. These two trinkets scale to 331 item level in PvP combat and help players get an early start with PvP gearing.

Nightmare Prey Has New Rewards and a Dangerous New Twist in Midnight Season 2

Emma — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 13:48:38 +0000

With Season 2, Prey gets a pretty big update, adding four new snake-themed bosses, new rewards, and the new Curse of the Isle mode.

What’s New for Season 2?

Curse of the Isle adds a little extra torment to your regular world content. After a short questline in Silvermoon, you can head through Astalor’s portal to the Coiled Isle and speak to the image of Astalor to activate the curse. This applies all of the Nightmare Prey affixes to the zone’s world content.

The main goal here is to summon and defeat Ral’kala, a repeatable boss that can drop Remnants of Anguish, Voidlight Marl, Champion and Hero Crests, plus a new pet, toy, and mount!

For more information on Curse of the Isle and how to summon Ral’kala, check out our Midnight Prey Guide.

More Gear? Yes Please!

More gear never seemed like a bad idea! You’ll unlock Afflicted Souls at Preyhunter’s Journey Rank 4 and Tormented Souls at Rank 9. These drop from Tier 6+ Bountiful Delves and instantly reveal your next Nightmare Prey, while also giving you an extra piece of Champion/Hero level gear, respectively.

Season 2 Shakes Up the Affixes

Prey Season 1’s affixes are gone, with three new affixes taking their places!

Pack Ambush – A pack of serpentine enemies will ambush you on your hunt
Exploding Corpse Snakes – After defeating an enemy, snakes will come to poison you
Toxic Snare – Heavy AoE damage with a slow

Normal Prey will only have Pack Ambush active, while Hard and Nightmare have all three.

Very Venomous Rewards

The following items have a chance to drop after defeating the new repeatable Prey boss, Ral’kala:

Item	Type
Preyhunter’s Masquerade	Toy
Pale Hexscale	Pet
Hexflame Reaver	Mount

Construct V’anore sells the following rewards, unlocking throughout your Season 2 Prey journey:

Item	Unlocked at Level	Type	Cost (Remnant of Anguish)
Preyhunter’s Trophy Stand	4	Toy	800
Companion Command Crystal	4	Toy	600
Vaunted Preyhunter’s Plumed Helm	6	Cosmetic	500
Vaunted Preyhunter’s Shoulder-Spikes	6	Cosmetic	500
Vaunted Preyhunter’s Knapsack	6	Cosmetic	500
Ensemble: Preyhunter’s Polished Armor	7	Plate Armor Transmog Set	1600
Ensemble: Preyhunter’s Rugged Armor	7	Mail Armor Transmog Set	1600
Ensemble: Preyhunter’s Sleek Armor	7	Leather Armor Transmog Set	1600
Ensemble: Preyhunter’s Refined Armor	7	Cloth Armor Transmog Set	1600
Arsenal: Preyhunter’s Lost Armaments	7	Cosmetic	1600
Preyhunter’s Riftbreaker	8	Pet	1200
Preyhunter’s Prismguard	8	Pet	1200
Preyhunter’s Fury	10	Mount	2250

For the Player Housing enthusiasts, Construct Ali’a sells some new decor items:

Item	Unlocked at Level	Cost (Remnant of Anguish)
Sturdy Silvermoon Crate Lid	1	100
Mysterious Sin’dorei Candlestick	2	100
Gilded Silvermoon Compass	3	100
Sturdy Silvermoon Crate	4	100
Crimson Crystal Fragment	5	200
Bound Silvermoon Drapes	5	200
Stonecarved Sin’dorei Jar	6	200
Adorned Sin’dorei Satchel	7	200
Blood Knight’s Decorative Shield	9	350
Crimson Crystal Column	10	350

And finally, reaching Prey level 10 will award you with the “Servant of Astalor” title for your efforts to defend Silvermoon City!

You can check out our Midnight Season 2 Prey Guide here!

Unholy Death Knight Gets Buffed Thanks to Hotfixes in Season 2

Miril — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 04:21:39 +0000

Blizzard has posted the hotfix notes for August 19th. These include class bug fixes, primarily to Death Knight, as well as fixes to multiple issues with quests, enemy abilities in dungeons, and raid encounters.

Highlights

Death Knight
- Resolved an issue causing Army of the Dead Epidemic Orders to cast from the Death Knight instead of the Lesser Ghoul.
- Unholy
  - Resolved an issue causing Forbidden Knowledge Rank 4 to not have a chance to activate when the Dread Plague target has a damage absorb effect.
  - Resolved an issue causing Transfusion to not empower already summoned Lesser Ghouls.
  - Resolved an issue causing Lord of the Dead to occasionally have a delay in between casts.
Temple of Sethraliss
- Fixed an issue where Static Anomaly creatures did not contribute properly to the enemy forces count.
The Venomous Abyss
- Resolved an issue where the door to The Twin Fangs room would close upon engaging combat but would not reopen, preventing players from backtracking to the entrance of the raid.
Items
- Aman’muso, Warlord’s Vengeance is again restricted to the main-hand slot only.

You can read the full patch notes here:

( Source URL )

August 19th Hotfixes

Classes

Death Knight
- Resolved an issue causing Army of the Dead Epidemic Orders to cast from the Death Knight instead of the Lesser Ghoul.
- Unholy
  - Resolved an issue causing Forbidden Knowledge Rank 4 to not have a chance to activate when the Dread Plague target has a damage absorb effect.
  - Resolved an issue causing Transfusion to not empower already summoned Lesser Ghouls.
  - Resolved an issue causing Lord of the Dead to occasionally have a delay in between casts.
  - Dark Simulacrum can now be tracked through the Cooldown Manager.
Druid
- Restoration
  - Fixed an issue where Rejuvenation could be removed early if the player gained or lost haste while it was active.
Hunter
- Marksmanship
  - Corrected an issue where Rapid Fire fired fewer shots than intended when hitting a second target with the Aspect of the Hydra talent.
Paladin
- Retribution
  - Fixed an issue where Paladins talented into Radiant Glory would not have Avenging Wrath be applied after casting Wake of Ashes while silenced.
Shaman
- Restoration
  - Totemic: Corrected an issue where the Whirling Water effect was not properly working.

Delves

Fixed an issue where the “Seasonal Refresher: Midnight” quest could not be completed.
Fasten from Engorged Gnarlticks on Gnarldor Isle should now be removed properly when leaving a delve.

Dungeons and Raids

The Blinding Vale
- Ikuzz the Light Hunter
  - Resolved an issue preventing Death Knights from casting Consumption after the Death Knight has been picked up by Bloodthirsty Gaze.
Ruby Life Pools
- Kyrakka and Erkhart Stormvein
  - Addressed an issue where Ekhart could target an unexpected player with Stormslam.
Temple of Sethraliss
- Fixed an issue where Spark Channeler could be turned unexpectedly.
- Fixed an issue where Static Anomaly creatures did not contribute properly to the enemy forces count.
  - The enemy forces requirement has been adjusted to take this fix into account. This change does not affect routing.
The Venomous Abyss
- Resolved an issue where the door to The Twin Fangs room would close upon engaging combat but would not reopen, preventing players from backtracking to the entrance of the raid.
- Nek’zali the Soulcaller
  - Addressed an issue preventing Nek’zali from leashing near the entrance of the play space.
- Vashnik, The Malignant
  - Fixed an issue causing Shrouded Venom to sometimes evade after spawning.
- The Lost Explorers
  - Resolved an issue where Trader Gebbo would sometimes not despawn.
- The Twin Fangs
  - Resolved an issue causing Coiling Ichor to impact game client performance.
  - Resolved an issue where Zul’jarra and Orweyna could fail to path across the bridge after The Twin Fangs were defeated.
- The Coiled Altar
  - Fixed an issue where the encounter would end unexpectedly.
  - Resolved an issue causing Hex Lord Malacrass and Zul’jan to regain too much health during their intermission.

Items

Aman’muso, Warlord’s Vengeance is again restricted to the main-hand slot only.
- Developers’ notes: The recent change to this weapon was more disruptive than anticipated and resulted in adverse incentives for certain specializations. This does not impact Zatha’tek, Breath of Corruption.

Player versus Player

Conqueror’s Venomous Lacquer should now add PvP item level to tier shoulders when used.

Quests

Players above level 80 can once again complete “Step Into the Light”.
The weekly quest “Midnight: Vaults of Atal’Utek” no longer incorrectly suggests that it rewards two Sparks of Tide. This was a UI typo only.
Fixed an issue that would prevent “Purging the Vaults” or “Vaults of Atal’Utek: A Toxic Tour” quests from being completed if you already had Trovehunter’s Bounty in your inventory.
The required Quest Item for “Seeking Knowledge Week 5 of 5: Off-World Magic” can now drop from Elite Rares, Overseers, and Rivals on Val and Naigtal.

One Midnight Season 2 Dungeon Is Wiping Groups Way More Than the Rest

Nighstalker314 — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 21:50:23 +0000

The first 24 hours of the 1st week of Midnight S2 have passed, and Nightstalker314 is taking a look at the early data provided by Raider.IO. From season to season, we have the usual pattern: a noticeable decline in activity. The decline is slightly higher than in the previous two expansions, but not nearly as bad as during the worst days of M+. Dungeon tuning is looking almost as good as last season. The returning dungeons got a good makeover, but the new ones have an expected outlier. So, let’s look at the details.

The First-to-Second Season Drop-off

Regarding the general drop-offs from the first to the second season, Midnight is trailing a bit behind DF and TWW, but doing much better than BFA and SL. In the latter two, activity in the first weeks dropped by 51.11% (BFA) and 65.20% (SL). Anyone who can remember the grind overkill (BFA) and content drought (SL) shouldn’t be surprised. In DF, the drop-off was just 22.09%, though this was warped by a massive switchover from Chinese players to Taiwanese servers after the temporary shutdown of Blizzard services in China. In TWW, the drop-off was even lower at 18.33%. Here, we are excluding Chinese data, which was not equally available for both seasons.

MN S1 was a big outlier and showed that, early on, players just kept running more and more dungeons due to much easier tuning. The big difference in MN S2 might tip the scales a lot, though. Raiding has become quite relevant for vault rewards. So, after this first week has finished, we might have to look at the raid data too.

The First 24 Hours of Previous Seasons

Just like last season, we will be taking a look at snapshot data from the first 24 hours of previous seasons. The Asian servers have not had their reset yet, and missing Chinese data from older TWW seasons does not impact this comparison. Values for total runs and active characters are rather close in the early hours. A higher ratio of runs per character can be attributed to pushing further before swapping to another character or taking a break due to harsh tuning. But later in an expansion, players also tend to focus on a chosen character for that season.

The drop-off in terms of runs is slightly larger than in the previous expansion, 30.40% compared to 25.72%. This could be due to vault reward changes. But a really easy start to a first season was a novelty in this expansion. And many players went all in from the first moment. MN S2 is doing much better than TWW S2 overall. In addition, the drop-off in runs over the entire week turned out to be smaller (25.72% down to 18.33%) in TWW. This might also happen for MN S2. And the drop-off in terms of active characters is a lot smaller this time around. Just 26.47% compared to a whopping 38.14%. MN S1 also stood out a lot with its massive activity drop-off from week 1 to week 2. This could be a lot smaller this time around.

Total Runs Across All Dungeons

The spread across all dungeons is rather tight this season. In MN S1, the difference between the most and least popular dungeons was 3.05 percentage points. In MN S2, this value sits at just 1.90 points. And the reasons for their order might be a mix of lucrative loot and short travel times, for now. The least popular dungeon, Den of Nalorakk, is quite a few miles away from Silvermoon, while the portal for Murder Row is reached within seconds. And the top dungeons offer a variety of trinkets and jewelry with sought-after stats and effects.

In terms of success rate, we are looking at a slightly lower value than in season 1, 89.22% compared to 92.96%. The returning dungeons are doing quite well in S2. Ruby Life Pools (92.86%) is well ahead of King’s Rest (92.37%). Murder Row (92.13%) is the easiest Midnight dungeon, followed by Temple of Sethraliss (91.49%), the third legacy dungeon. The Blinding Vale (90.75%), Voidscar Arena (88.54%), and Den of Nalorakk (87.65%) are still within a reasonable distance.

The Worst Dungeon for Now

While the easiest dungeons in S1 were 1 to 3 percentage points higher, the worst dungeon back then did not fall quite as far behind. After 24 hours, Algath’ar Academy sat at 85.52%, and now Altar of Fangs is trailing badly at 78.38%. This should be addressed within the next few days with a few band-aid fixes. When looking at the encounter attempts (beta feature) from logged Raider.IO profiles, we can see the wipe rates for each dungeon boss. And the first and third bosses of Altar of Fangs stand out compared to all other bosses this season. With wipe rates of 21.15% (Ra’vi) and 14.81% (Zul’jan), respectively, they are way beyond the rest. Most bosses show values in the single digits and rarely exceed 10%.

The trash also seems to have its issues. When comparing the in-time percentages across key levels for all dungeons with those for Altar of Fangs, the difference becomes quite clear once the affixes kick in. At level 7, Fortified becomes active in week 1, and the gap widens into the double digits. Once Tyrannical joins in, things don’t really improve. And levels 12 and above show the biggest contrast overall.

Split Across All Key Levels

32.61% of all keys in the first 24 hours were completed at key level 10 or higher. In MN S1, this value was just 26.76%. This could be another indicator of a greater focus on sticking to your chosen main for S2 and filling the vault. The 22.78% share for +10 alone is also higher than the value for MN S1 (20.58%). But the total number of 90,077 +10 runs in S1 still surpasses the 69,302 in S2. For key level 12, farmed for the myth crests, the numbers come quite close (3,970 vs. 4,082 in S1), and only +11 is seeing more runs than in S1 (25,726 vs. 22,554). The top key level of +16 is ahead of S1 (+15) at this point, but S2 will probably reach a similar ceiling over time.

The success rate across all key levels is clearly tanking once we enter the double digits. And for S1, it did not dip below 55%, while +12 and +13 are rough terrain in S2 for now. +10 keys for your vault are still quite smooth, with a current in-time % of 83.21%, slightly lower than in S1. In the past, seasonal tuning was a lot harder early in the expansion and got significantly easier towards the end. Maybe this time around the devs deliberately made it super easy at the start of the expansion. In recent interviews, they mentioned that they did not intend for it to be “that easy”, and maybe S2 will be a small course correction. It’s not a complete nosedive, but it offers a bit more of a challenge.

Conclusion and Forecast

For now, Season 2 of Midnight is still easy, just not as simple as Season 1. Fill your vaults as much as you can! Altar of Fangs needs some clear nerfs, preferably before the weekend. And hopefully those come in full force and don’t leave it with a gap to the rest of the field.

If M+ activity remains within a comparable range (-30%) for the rest of the week, we might see somewhere around 3,700,000 runs. But that would also rely on a similar pattern on the Asian servers, which still have not had their reset yet. If we get some major nerfs for M+ within the next few days, we’ll take another look at the numbers over the weekend. Regardless, expect a full breakdown of week 1 metrics the following weekend.

Players Can Unlock Three New Valeera Poisons in WoW Midnight Season 2

Neryssa — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 16:58:54 +0000

Midnight Season 2 has started, and with it, a new layer of customization is available for Valeera Sanguinar, our trusty delve companion: Three new poisons are now available in her arsenal! Learn how to unlock these poisons and what they can do for you.

Midnight Season 2 Delves Guide Valeera Sanguinar Delve Companion Guide

Unlock Three New Valeera Poisons With Seasonal Questline

With the start of Season 2, Valeera offers a new seasonal questline, starting with Seasonal Refresher: Midnight. This short questline includes a scenario in which you play as Valeera. The bigger reward for this questline are the new poisons you can give Valeera.

One of the ways you can customize Valeera this season is by being able to select her weapon poisons. Previously, the spec you had Valeera on determined which poison effects you’d gain. With Midnight Season 2, you’re able to choose which poison Valeera wields. You can customize her poisons by interacting with the Delver’s Supplies at the start of each Delve.

Here are the three default poisons you can choose for Valeera:

Poison of the Forgotten Master: Valeera coats her and her allies’ weapons with an ancient poison that grows in potency over time, increasing all damage done by 5%, stacking every 3 sec while in combat up to 5 stacks. All stacks are removed if the wielder of the poisoned weapon takes damage.
Soulthirst Venom: Valeera applies wicked poison to her and her allies’ weapons, increasing Leech, Avoidance, and Speed by 10%.
Bloodcrypt Toxin: Valeera applies a debilitating poison to her and her allies’ weapons. Enemies struck by these poisoned weapons have their damage reduced by 10% and their Haste reduced by 10% for 20 sec.

Completing the quest Slithering Spoils (the follow-up to Seasonal Refresher: Midnight) unlocks three new poisons to Valeera’s arsenal:

Bursting Toad Toxin: Valeera applies toad derived toxin to her and her allies’ weapons. Enemies struck by these poisons occasionally burst with poison, inflicting Nature damage every second for 8 seconds to all enemies within 8 yards.
Frostheart Venom: Valeera applies a frost-infused poison to her and her allies’ weapons. Enemies struck by these poisoned weapons have their movement speed decreased by 30% and their melee attack, ranged attack and casting speeds reduced by 20% for 10 seconds.
Phantasmal Spore Toxin: Valeera applies a fungal poison to her and her allies’ weapons. Enemies struck by these poisoned weapons are interrupted and feared for 1 second.

Confused About Season 2 Gearing? This WoW Cheat Sheet Has the Answers

Emma — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 13:43:23 +0000

Midnight Season 2 is here, and we’ve found the perfect all-in-one resource to help you with the gearing grind.

Gandalin’s Gearing Guide

GandalinGaming on Reddit has created “Gandalin’s Gearing Guide”, a one-stop-shop resource displaying all the info you need in one place.

Gandalin's Gearing Guide: Midnight – Season 2
byu/GandalinGaming inwow

The guide is essentially a huge, all-in-one cheat sheet for gearing your character. It brings together item levels, upgrade tracks, gear sources, crest drops, and Great Vault rewards in one place, so you can quickly see how WoW’s endgame gearing system works.

The chart covers the major gearing sources, including Raids, Dungeons, Delves, crafted gear, PvP, and Ritual Sites. That makes it particularly useful at the start of a new season, when there are plenty of different ways to get gear and it can be difficult to keep track of which activities offer the best rewards.

Whether you’re gearing your main, trying to catch up an alt, or simply trying to work out what you should be doing each week, this is definitely one to keep in the bookmarks!

Mythic Nymrissa Is Now Live – But Is This Week’s Lair Actually Worth Running?

Emma — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:52:59 +0000

The first week of Midnight Season 2 is here, and players can now take on Nymrissa Wavecaller in The Tidebound Grotto on Mythic Flex difficulty!

At a first glance, a single-boss raid might not sound super exciting, however there are a few reasons why you might want to add this encounter to your weekly to-do list.

Mythic Nymrissa Wavecaller Rewards

Facing Nymrissa Wavecaller on Mythic Flex (15-25 players) difficulty will drop 318 item level Myth 1/6 gear, immediately making it some of the best easily accessible rewards available this week.

However, there are a couple of important caveats:

The loot is Bind on Pickup
There are no tier set pieces available

The Real Reward Is Your Great Vault

Lairs count toward raid objectives for the week, meaning Nymrissa Wavecaller can help you work toward the 2/4/6 boss requirements needed to unlock the raid row of your Great Vault.

And this season, raid rewards from the Great Vault are significantly more valuable than they were in previous seasons. Vault rewards from Heroic raids now grant Myth 1/6 318 ilvl gear, with Mythic raids rewarding maximum Myth track item level gear!

So, Is Mythic Nymrissa Worth Doing This Week?

Honestly? Yes.

Even without tier pieces, a chance at 318 Myth gear combined with progress toward your raid Vault makes Mythic Nymrissa Wavecaller one of the best activities you can complete this week!

Great Vault Best-in-Slot Picks for Every Specialization in Midnight Season 2

Emma — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:09:30 +0000

The Great Vault is officially open for the first time in Midnight Season 2! But what should you pick?

Check out our BiS lists for every class, spec, and role below!

BiS Tank Gear List

Class	Specialization	BiS Gear List
Death Knight	Blood	Blood Death Knight BiS
Demon Hunter	Vengeance	Vengeance Demon Hunter BiS
Druid	Guardian	Guardian Druid BiS
Monk	Brewmaster	Brewmaster Monk BiS
Paladin	Protection	Protection Paladin BiS
Warrior	Protection	Protection Warrior BiS

Healer BiS Gear List

Class	Specialization	BiS Gear List
Druid	Restoration	Restoration Druid BiS
Evoker	Preservation	Preservation Evoker BiS
Monk	Mistweaver	Mistweaver Monk BiS
Paladin	Holy	Holy Paladin BiS
Priest	Discipline	Discipline Priest BiS
Priest	Holy	Holy Priest BiS
Shaman	Restoration	Restoration Shaman BiS

Melee DPS BiS Gear List

Class	Specialization	BiS Gear List
Death Knight	Frost	Frost Death Knight BiS
Death Knight	Unholy	Unholy Death Knight BiS
Demon Hunter	Havoc	Havoc Demon Hunter BiS
Druid	Feral	Feral Druid BiS
Hunter	Survival	Survival Hunter BiS
Monk	Windwalker	Windwalker Monk BiS
Paladin	Retribution	Retribution Paladin BiS
Rogue	Assassination	Assassination Rogue BiS
Rogue	Outlaw	Outlaw Rogue BiS
Rogue	Subtlety	Subtlety Rogue BiS
Shaman	Enhancement	Enhancement Shaman BiS
Warrior	Arms	Arms Warrior BiS
Warrior	Fury	Fury Warrior BiS

Ranged DPS BiS Gear List

Class	Specialization	BiS Gear List
Druid	Balance	Balance Druid BiS
Evoker	Augmentation	Augmentation Evoker BiS
Evoker	Devastation	Devastation Evoker BiS
Hunter	Beast Mastery	Beast Mastery Hunter BiS
Hunter	Marksmanship	Marksmanship Hunter BiS
Mage	Arcane	Arcane Mage BiS
Mage	Fire	Fire Mage BiS
Mage	Frost	Frost Mage BiS
Priest	Shadow	Shadow Priest BiS
Shaman	Elemental	Elemental Shaman BiS
Warlock	Affliction	Affliction Warlock BiS
Warlock	Demonology	Demonology Warlock BiS
Warlock	Destruction	Destruction Warlock BiS

Eight Mythic+ Teleports Are Live in Season 2, but You Might Only Need Five

Anshlun — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 11:31:50 +0000

Midnight Season 2 is live now! Let’s take a look at the Mythic+ dungeon rotation coming with the new season.

Mythic+ Overview in Season 2

New Dungeons

These five dungeons are additions from Midnight, with Altar of Fangs being an entirely new dungeon for Patch 12.1

Added with Patch 12.1
- Altar of Fangs
Added with Midnight
- The Blinding Vale
- Den of Nalorakk
- Murder Row
- Voidscar Arena

Altar of Fangs The Blinding Vale Den of Nalorakk Murder Row Voidscar Arena

Returning Dungeons

Together with the new dungeons, three dungeons are returning to the Mythic+ rotation:

Kings’ Rest
- Last Available in Battle for Azeroth Season 4
Ruby Life Pools
- Last Available in Dragonflight Season 4
Temple of Sethraliss
- Last Available in Battle for Azeroth Season 4

Kings’ Rest Ruby Life Pools Temple of Sethraliss

Mythic+ Affixes in Midnight Season 2 – Copy from Season 1

If you’ve played Midnight Season 1, there’s nothing new to learn. The affix composition is exactly the same.

Mythic +2, +3, and +4
- Only Lindormi’s Guidance
Mythic +5 through +11
- One of four affixes, changing every week:
- Xal’atath’s Bargain: Ascendant
- Xal’atath’s Bargain: Voidbound
- Xal’atath’s Bargain: Devour
- Xal’atath’s Bargain: Pulsar
Mythic +7
- Adds either Tyrannical or Fortified
Mythic +10
- Adds Fortified or Tyrannical, whichever wasn’t added at +7
Mythic +12
- Bargain affix from +5 gets removed
- Replaced with Xal’atath’s Guile

Dungeon Teleports for Midnight Season 2

Eight teleports are available this season, but three come from the returning dungeons. This means that if you already earned those in Battle for Azeroth or Dragonflight, you only need five. Unlocking a teleport to the dungeon requires you to time that given dungeon at +10 or higher.

Here’s the breakdown of teleports available with Season 2:

Keystone Hero: Altar of Fangs unlocks Path of Venomous Evolution
Keystone Hero: Murder Row unlocks Path of the Devious Smuggler
Keystone Hero: Den of Nalorakk unlocks Path of the Worthy Aspirant
Keystone Hero: The Blinding Vale unlocks Path of the Blooming Verdure
Keystone Hero: Voidscar Arena unlocks Path of the Brutal Combatant
Keystone Hero: Kings’ Rest unlocks Path of the Slumbering Conqueror
Keystone Hero: Temple of Sethraliss unlocks Path of the Sacred Temple
Keystone Hero: Ruby Life Pools (Midnight Season 2) unlocks Path of the Clutch Defender
- New Achievement, same teleport.

Only These Specs Can Clear Poison, and Midnight Season 2 Is Full of It

Anshlun — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 11:12:13 +0000

With Midnight Season 2 starting today, we want to highlight Tactyks’ Midnight S2 M+ Ability Tracking Sheet. This spreadsheet lists every single mechanic from the Mythic+ dungeon pool. It lists every mechanic in the Mythic+ dungeon pool and highlights the most important ones at a glance.

With the sheet, we can see the prevalence of Poison debuffs this season when compared to previous seasons. Only Ruby Life Pools has no Poison debuff, with Temple of Sethraliss and King’s Rest each featuring three separate Poison debuffs.

It makes sense when you consider the overall theme of the season, but groups without Poison removal will likely have a harder time this season.

The following Specs or Classes can remove Poison:

Preservation Evoker: Naturalize
Mistweaver Monk: Detox
Holy Paladin: Cleanse Toxins
All Druid Specs: Remove Corruption
All Shaman Specs: Poison Cleansing Totem

Tactyks’ Midnight S2 M+ Ability Tracking Sheet

Nerfs, No Mythic Kills, a Pretty Hard Heroic: Venomous Abyss Race to World First Recap, Day 1

Starym — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 07:49:34 +0000

NA day has come and gone, with the EU guilds now in the fray as well. It was a particularly uneventful day as we didn’t get any Mythic kills whatsoever, and the raid is looking to be pretty hard on Heroic already! We did see a nerf already, some lag and bug issues, with Liquid pretty unhappy with the state of things.

No Heroic Week Means Splits!

As expected, the top guilds went straight for splits, from Normal to Heroic. Liquid dove into 6 at a time, focusing on Normals and only doing a few Heroic ones to start. They spent most of the day on 5/8 Heroic in their splits, clearing the first boss and the four “choice”. Here’s a handy look at the raid structure to make it clearer, courtesy of Raider.IO:

Instant Dollars were the only ones going deep into the raid in one of their few Heroic splits. They managed to get to the penultimate boss, Coiled Altar, but after quite a few pulls decided to call it and just move on to their next split. Mind you, Instant Dollars are the World 5th guild and have been in the top for quite a while, so this difficulty spike is quite notable. But, it wasn’t to last.

Nerfs Already, and Lag

With the difficulty of the Coiled Altar, Blizzard have already put in hotfixes to lower it. You can check out the details on Wowhead, but Zul’jan and Malacrass’ health bonuses have been dramatically lowered on all difficulties, dropping around 100% (so from 180% HP bonus down to 87% on Heroic for Zul’Jan for example.

NA guilds were also facing some lag issues, having to go out and reset the raid to alleviate them.

That wasn’t all for the issues either, as a particularly problematic bug on Coiled Altar meant groups were just stuck and unable to continue, which was especially tricky for Liquid’s Normal splits.

At the end of the day Liquid did grab the next two Heroic bosses as well, after the bug fixes and nerfs went in, ending on 7/8 Heroic.

Mythic

When it comes to Mythic, only a few guilds did any proper pulls at all, with no kills. Reigned In and Big Blue House took one or two stabs at Nek’Zali the Soulcaller, the first Venomous Abyss boss. The slightly more serious pulls were on the Lair boss, Nymrissa Wavecaller in the Tidebound Grotto. Lair bosses are going to be an interesting addition to the races going forward, as they may be “just” World Bosses, but they drop Mythic loot which makes them very much a part of things. We’re definitely seeing a whole lot of Mythic splits on Nymrissa this time around as well.

The EU guilds are just starting out so it’s going to be a whole lot of Normals, and the Asia guilds are still a day away from their raids opening. It’ll be a couple/few more days until we get some serious Mythic action from the top guilds, but hopefully we get at least some early Mythic kills from the others soon!

As always, you can check the live 24/7 coverage over at Raider.IO as things heat up.

Blizzard Shuts Down Shadow Dance Pre-Pull in Season 2

Anshlun — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 01:57:52 +0000

Blizzard has updated their hotfix notes for August 18th. The biggest highlight is removing the ability for rogues to abuse Shadow Dance on pre-pulls. The official notes are mostly the August 18th tuning pass for classes and dungeons, with only a couple of additions.

Highlights

Shadow Dance now cancels upon swapping talents and can’t be cancelled manually.
Lingering Darkness now resets upon starting a key or raid encounter.
Subtlety is getting damage compensation for it.
Elemental Shaman 4pc was not being consumed sometimes. This was fixed, and Ele received a 5% compensation buff.

( Source URL )

August 18th Hotfixes

Classes

Death Knight
- Blood
  - Deathbringer: Resolved an issue causing Echoing Fury to grnt Exterminate stacks on Reaper’s Mark casts.
  - San’layn: Visceral Strength now grants 6% strength (was 10%).
  - San’layn: Transfusion increases Dancing Rune Weapon damage by 5% (was 10%).
    - Developers’ notes: The tooltip will be updated at a later date to reflect the new value.
- Frost
  - All ability and auto-attack damage increased by 9%.
  - Venomous Abyss 2-piece set bonus updated – Now grants 1% attack speed per stack (was 2%), and now increases Icy Death Torrent damage by 2% per stack (was 4%).
Demon Hunter
- Devourer
  - Developers’ notes: Devourer’s 4-piece set bonus is performing significantly above expectations, so we’re reducing its power. To compensate for this set bonus reduction, we’re increasing all ability damage. Additionally, Devourer has been overperforming, mostly in single target, so we are reducing the damage of Reap/Cull/Eradicate while increasing the AoE damage portion of Eradicate to reduce the impact of the change in AoE combat.
  - All ability damage increased by 14%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  - Reap/Cull/Eradicate damage reduced by 12%.
  - Eradicate’s area-of-effect damage increased to 90% of base damage (was 85%).
  - Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus updated – Now generates 2 soul fragments (was 8 soul fragments) and increases Reap damage by 10% (was 20%).
Druid
- Restoration
  - Developers’ notes: We’re increasing Restoration Druid’s healing and damage as both aspects are underperforming relative to other healers.
  - All healing increased by 4%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  - All damage increased by 20%. Does not affect PvP combat.
Hunter
- Reduced the size of several Hydra creatures after they have been tamed.
- Beast Mastery
  - Developers’ notes: The new Venomous Abyss tier set bonus isn’t quite as strong as we would like it to be, so we’re increasing the effects of the 4-piece set bonus.
  - Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus updated – Now causes Cobra Shot to benefit from Beast Cleave at 30% effectiveness per stack (was 20%) or strike your target for an additional 20% damage per stack (was 15%).
Mage
- Arcane
  - Developers’ notes: The Venomous Abyss set bonus is overperforming our target tuning for set bonuses. However, the amount we need to reduce its value by would be a greater impact than intended to Arcane’s overall damage, so we are also making a small positive adjustment to Arcane’s baseline.
  - All ability damage increased by 3%.
  - Venomous Abyss 2-piece set bonus updated – Arcane Missiles damage bonus reduced to 5% (was 20%).
  - Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus updated – Cumulative Power damage bonus per stack reduced to 3% (was 5%).
Monk
- Mistweaver
  - Developers’ notes: Mistweaver has been underperforming so we are targeting increases to its casted healing and the Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus to improve its performance and maintain build diversity.
  - All healing increased by 8%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  - Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus updated – Activation rate increased by 33%.
Paladin
- Retribution
  - All ability damage increased by 6%. Does not affect PvP combat.
Priest
- Discipline
  - Developers’ notes: We’re reducing Discipline’s damage done and offsetting this in Atonement to not affect their overall healing, as their damage has been overperforming compared to other healers. At the same time, we’re increasing the damage of Entropic Rift to minimize the impact this will have on Voidweaver’s dungeon viability and help maintain high damage as one of its strengths.
  - All damage reduced by 30%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  - Oracle: Entropic Rift damage increased by 20%.
  - Oracle: Atonement now transfers 46% of damage into healing (was 32%). Does not affect PvP combat.
  - Oracle: Void Shield reflects 10% of damage (was 15%).
- Holy
  - Developers’ notes: We’re increasing the healing throughput of Oracle so that it can serve as a competitive option against Archon. Furthermore, we are increasing the mana regeneration of Enlightenment to further help Holy Priest’s mana economy.
  - Enlightenment now regenerates mana 25% faster (was 10%).
  - Words of the Wise now increases the healing of Holy Word: Serenity and Holy Word: Sanctify by 40% (was 10%). Does not affect PvP combat.
  - Prompt Prognosis healing increased by 55%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  - Preventive Measures now increases Prayer of Mending healing by 40% (was 15%). Does not affect PvP combat.
Rogue
- Assassination
  - All damage increased by 4%.
- Subtlety
  - Developers’ notes: Subtlety’s 4-piece set bonus is overperforming expectations, so its effectiveness is being reduced. An overall buff to Subtlety’s damage is being applied to compensate.
  - All damage increased by 6%.
  - The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Effectiveness reduced to 60% (was 100%).
  - Shadow Dance now cancels when swapping talents.
  - Shadow Dance can no longer be cancelled manually.
  - Deathstalker: Lingering Darkness now cancels when swapping talents.
  - Deathstalker: Lingering Darkness now cancels when a raid encounter starts.
  - Deathstalker: Lingering Darkness now cancels when an M+ dungeon starts.
Shaman
- Elemental
  - Corrected an issue where the Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus Overcharge! buff was sometimes not consumed when casting a Maelstrom spending ability.
  - All damage dealt increased by 5%.
    - Developers’ notes: We discovered and fixed a tricky bug that was active on the PTR, that was increasing the amount of free Maelstrom spending abilities Elemental Shaman could get from the Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus. This was inflating their damage dealt, so alongside the bug fix, we’re increasing their damage to compensate.
- Enhancement
  - All damage increased by 5%.
Warlock
- Hellcaller: Fixed an issue where Blackened Soul would not function with mouse-over casting.
- Affliction
  - Fixed an issue where Withering Bolt would not account for Wither.
- Demonology
  - Burning Cleave (granted by Antoran Armaments) now strikes enemies in a circular area, rather than a cone. The tooltip for Burning Cleave will be updated in a future patch.
  - Developers’ notes: We are increasing the throughput of the Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus for Demonology so that its performance is closer to other specialization tier set bonuses.
  - Venomous Abyss 2-piece set bonus updated – Wild Imps now Implode at 350% effectiveness to their main target (was 250%) and 315% effectiveness to other targets (was 225%).
- Destruction
  - Fixed an issue where Conflagration of Chaos would not guarantee a Conflagrate or Shadowburn to critically strike.
  - Fixed an issue where Shadowburn would not apply its debuff after dealing damage to a Havoc target.
Warrior
- Developers’ notes: Fury’s 4-piece set bonus is currently overperforming, but Fury is in a good place overall and we don’t want to disrupt that, so we’re moving some of the value out of the 4-piece bonus and into Fury’s baseline. Additionally, Slayer has been overperforming for both specs due to a bug causing Executioner to provide double value which was recently hotfixed. This fix has brought overall Arms performance down into our intended range, but we’re happy with where Fury has been, so their baseline damage has been increased below to compensate for this fix as well as the set bonus change.
- Fury
  - All damage increased by 6%.
  - Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus updated – Bloodthirst damage increased by 10%, and during Recklessness, Bloodthirst increases the critical strike bonus of Recklessness by 3%, up to 6% (was 5%, up to 10%).
- Protection
  - Mountain Thane: Fixed an issue that would sometimes disable the bonus Thunder Clap damage from Crashing Thunder.

Delves

The initial Ancient Golem in the Game Night variant of the Ring of Glory delve no longer attacks before being activated.
“Delve into the Earth” should no longer be blocked if selecting a combat roll for Brann failed to advance the quest while outside a delve.
Fixed an issue where Dundun’s Favor would prevent Mislaid Curiosities from being looted by more than one party member.

Dungeons

The lockout for Mythic difficulty for Season 2 dungeons now resets daily.
The Blinding Vale
- Thorny Saptor
  - Hunting Leap visibility of ground visual improved.
- Ziekket
  - Lightbloom’s Essence periodic damage reduced by 25%.
- Altar of Fangs
  - Added a way for players to return to the entrance from the chamber of Rav’i.
  - Hunting Leap visibility of ground visual improved.
Den of Nalorakk
- Barrel of Apples are now interactable without requiring opposable thumbs. Nature finds a way.
- Warding Incense
  - Increased Versatility buff to 5% (was 3%).
  - Now benefits all allies in the instance.
  - Now persists through death.
- Sentinel of Winter
  - Rimeshatter soak area visual updated.
- Spirit of Hunger
  - Insatiable Hunger debuff now limited to 5 stacks.
Kings’ Rest
- The Council of Tribes
- Encounter now ends immediately after defeating Zanazal the Wise.
- Dazar, The First King
  - Impaling Spear ground visual updated to improve visibility.
- Shadow of Zul
  - Dark Revelation now prefers non-tank players.
- Ghostly Brute
  - Seismic Upheaval visual updated to improve visual clarity.
- Honored Raptor
  - Hunting Leap visibility of ground visual improved.
Murder Row
- Reduced required enemy forces to 655 (was 690).
- Removed the creature pack of a Corrupted Warlock and two Wrathguard Flayers before Xathuux the Annihilator.
- Cantina event
  - Five Star Review duration increased to 5 minutes (was 4 minutes).
  - Food Missiles now targets specific locations around the room.
- Felmaster Lucsei
  - Blade Dance now has a 2-second cast time, and impact damage reduced by 10%.
Ruby Life Pools
- Melidrussa Chillworn
  - Hailburst cast time increased to 3 seconds (was 2 seconds).
- Kyrakka and Erkhart Stormvein
  - Flaming Embers
    - Reduced radius of each ember to 5 yards (was 7 yards).
    - Reduced amount of randomness in the spawn pattern.
  - Kyrakka no longer immediately begins casting after she lands for the final phase of the encounter, allowing for her to be repositioned
  - Increased the movement speed of Kyrakka after she lands for the final phase of the encounter
  - Addressed an issue where Kyrakka could melee attack unexpected targets after landing for the final phase
- Flashfrost Chillweaver
  - Ice Shield precast visual visibility improved.
- Earthbound Guardian
  - Multiple applications of the Earthbound’s Imprint debuff can no longer overlap.
Temple of Sethraliss
- Avatar of Sethraliss
  - Developers’ notes: With the changes below, we’re reducing the amount of passive healing done to the boss via Cleansed Lifeforce to make player healing more impactful. Additionally, we are adjusting some mechanical tuning surrounding Corrupted Lifeforce to encourage more group participation in this mechanic. To counterbalance this adjustment, we’re providing more time for the group to handle this mechanic and also increasing its visibility within the Avatar’s chamber.
  - Corrupted Guardian
    - Corrupted Lifeforce time to soak increased to 6 seconds (was 4.5 seconds) and visibility improved.
  - Corruption
    - Reduced physical vulnerability to 250% (was 300%).
    - Increased periodic damage by 33%.
  - Tainted Strike
    - Reduced periodic damage by 50%.
    - Capped applications at 2.
    - Increased duration to 25 seconds.
  - Cleansed Lifeforce
    - The passive healing aura can no longer grow beyond 3 applications.
    - Slowed the tick rate of the passive healing to every 3 seconds (was every 2 seconds).
  - Faithless Tormentor
    - Reduced the size of the fixate visual over the head of the healer.
    - Fixed an issue where Faithless Tormentors could melee their fixate target from further than intended.
  - Essence Defiler
    - Defiling Taint is now displayed as a debuff on the Avatar’s unit frame.
  - Lightning Serpent
    - Multiple applications of the Lingering Storm debuff can no longer overlap.
Voidscar Arena
- Proof of Mastery and Proof of Endurance are now buffs.
- Aegyra the Unyielding
  - Champion’s Spear health reduced by 15%.
- Raj’kess the Spellstorm
  - Disruption Orb disruption cast time reduced to 13 seconds (was 15 seconds).

Items

Fixed an issue with Hunter’s Ritual Stone providing more stats than intended.
Shirts collected from Free T-Shirt Day can now be sold to vendors.
Zatha’tek, Breath of Corruption may now be equipped in either weapon slot.
Aman’muso, Warlord’s Vengeance may now be equipped in either weapon slot.
Preternatural Antivenom – fixed an issue preventing the healing effect from consistently triggering after the aura has been applied to an ally depending on the source of incoming damage.
Preyhunter’s Trophy Stand cannot be used in areas where toys are restricted

Player versus Player

Training Grounds: Arenas
- The damage of enemy game-controlled opponents has been reduced in Training Grounds: Arena.
- Resolved an issue that prevented “Week 1 of 3: Gladiator’s Distinction” quest credit from being earned in Training Grounds: Arenas.
Resolved an issue that could prevent quest credit for “Sparks of War: The Coiled Isle”.
The PvP trinket set bonus now increases primary stat by 20% for damage dealers and tanks (was 15%).
- Developers’ notes: We’ve felt the pace of PvP combat has been slower than intended, so we’re increasing the primary stat of non-healer specializations to increase overall outgoing damage.
Demon Hunter
- Devourer
  - Developers’ notes: Devourer Demon Hunters are both very threatening and very defensible during Void Metamorphosis and Surrender to the Void has provided the opportunity to increase the duration of those windows too significantly, so its Fury generation effect is being reduced.
  - Surrender to the Void now increases Fury generated by 60% (was 100%).
Druid
- Restoration
  - Developers’ notes: Restoration Druid received several changes in Curse of Ula’tek that improved its throughput beyond what we would like in PvP.
  - All healing reduced by 5% in PvP combat.
Mage
- Fire
  - Developers’ notes: Fire Mage’s Venomous Abyss tier set bonus is particularly difficult to take advantage of in PvP combat, so we’re making a few tweaks with the objective of increasing its usability. We’re also decreasing Meteor’s damage to reduce Fire Mage’s burst capabilities.
  - Pyroblast damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
  - Meteor damage decreased by 20% in PvP combat.
  - Comet Storm damage decreased by 20% in PvP combat.
  - Venomous Abyss 4-piece set bonus updated – Now decreases the cast time of Pyroblast and Flamestrike by 30% (was 10%) and increases Pyroclasm’s damage bonus by 5% (was 10%) in PvP combat.
Paladin
- Holy
  - Developers’ notes: Holy Paladin’s throughput has been higher than we would like, and Judgment has been too effective as an offensive tool. Avenging Crusader’s effectiveness is being increased to offset the decrease to Judgment’s damage.
  - All healing decreased by 5% in PvP combat.
  - Judgment damage decreased by 30% in PvP combat.
  - Avenging Crusader now transfers 80% of damage done into healing in PvP combat (was 55%).
- Retribution
  - Developers’ notes: Retribution had been contributing to longer PvP matches during Season 1 due to their frequent access to team utility. We’re shifting some of that effectiveness into more consistent offensive power, and additionally giving Templar an increase to Hammer of Light damage so they are a solid offensive alternative to Herald of the Sun.
  - All damage increased by 8% in PvP combat.
  - Final Verdict damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
  - Hammer of Light damage increased by 25% in PvP combat.
  - Sacrifice of the Just now reduces Blessing of Sacrifice’s cooldown by 30 seconds in PvP combat (was 60 seconds).
  - Unbreakable Spirit reduces the cooldown of affected spells by 20% in PvP combat (was 30%).
Shaman
- Restoration
  - Developers’ notes: We’re making some targeted adjustments to primarily improve Farseer’s viability as we begin season 2. We’re also reducing the effectiveness of Storm Conduit which we feel has been too powerful under the right circumstances.
  - All healing increased by 4% in PvP combat.
  - Storm Conduit now reduces the cooldown of affected spells by 2 seconds (was 4 seconds).
  - Storm Conduit now reduces the duration of interrupts on Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning by 40% (was 65%).
  - Farseer: Healing Wave, Healing Surge, and Chain Heal healing from Ancestors increased by 35% in PvP combat.
  - Farseer: Hydrobubble absorption increased by 35% in PvP combat.
Warlock
- Destruction
  - Soul Fire damage reduced by 30% in PvP combat.

Professions

Fixed an issue where players were not receiving Tidal Spark Dust from quests such as “Trailing Xal’atath” and “Midnight: World Tour”.
Raised the base cap of Tidal Spark Dust to 3 (was 1).
Cooking
- Fixed a bug where the tooltips for Hearty Loa’s Gathering, Hearty Amani Cornucopia, and Hearty Feast of Knowledge listed incorrect stat values.

Quests

“Trailing Xal’atath” and “Midnight: World Tour” should now correctly award Tidal Spark Dust.
Fixed bug preventing the “Sparks of War” related quests from displaying Spark of Tides as a potential quest reward.
Fixed an issue that would prevent “Purging the Vaults” or “Vaults of Atal’Utek: A Toxic Tour” quests from being completed if you already had Codex of the Soulcoilers in your inventory.
For “A Grave Concern”, the Budget Friendly gravestone in the Silvermoon Delve hub is now available for anyone to use.

Aqirbane Reliquary Neck Tuning Coming

Staff — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 20:59:23 +0000

Update: Blizzard have changed the timing of the nerf. It will now happen at the next weekly reset, on August 25th/26th.

Original Post

It seems one particular item evaded last week’s tuning pass. The Aqirbane Reliquary was giving out too much crit it seems. Not only has the amount been lowered, but it’s now handing out a random secondary stat instead. The neck drops from the final boss of the Venomous Abyss, Ula’tek himself.

( Source URL )

With a hotfix that will go live soon today, we’re adjusting a trinket:

Items

Aqirbane Reliquary now grants a smaller quantity of all secondary stats (was a large quantity of only Critical Strike). Its first on-equip effect is unchanged, and its second on-equip effect has been updated to increase a random secondary stat (was only Critical Strike) while decreasing the other three.

The Venomous Abyss Race to World First Begins! Where to Watch

Neryssa — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 17:59:59 +0000

With the weekly maintenance now done on NA servers, and EU servers starting in a few hours, the Race to World First for the Venomous Abyss raid is now on! Blizzard released a blue post with all organizations participating, as well as places where you can keep an eye on the race.

Midnight Season 2 Guide Hub Venomous Abyss Raid Hub

( Source URL )

The Race to World First in the Curse of Ula’tek content update is upon us. Azeroth’s mightiest champions and most battle-hardened guilds gather for the ultimate test of skill, strategy, and endurance as they battle for World First in The Venomous Abyss.

Deep in the shadows, an ancient power stirs, threatening to unleash devastation beyond imagination. Amid the horrors lurking within, flawless coordination is law, strategy is survival, and every pull is a desperate gamble against oblivion.

Follow every boss, breakthrough, and world-first kill as competitors battle through a realm steeped in ancient malice and serpentine corruption—here’s where to follow the action:

Organizations

Liquid: https://www.twitch.tv/teamliquid, https://www.youtube.com/@TeamLiquidMMO, and https://tl.gg/Roku
Echo: https://www.twitch.tv/echo_esports and https://www.youtube.com/@EchoEsports
Method: https://www.twitch.tv/method

Additional Coverage

BlizzardWatch: https://blizzardwatch.com/tag/world-first/
Method: https://www.method.gg/raidprogress
RaiderIO: http://raider.io/rwf and https://www.youtube.com/@RaiderIO_WoW
Warcraft Logs: https://www.warcraftlogs.com/rwf
Wowhead: https://www.wowhead.com/news/midnight-season-2-race-to-world-first-livestreams-coverage-and-news-382351

Watch as the battle unfolds to see who will claim victory first as champions descend into The Venomous Abyss, where the battles within will test the limits of strategy, endurance, and resolve.

When Ula’tek falls, only one banner will stand victorious.

Players Can Now Obtain the Silvermoon City Warband Campsite

Neryssa — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 17:50:42 +0000

Blizzard released a blue post regarding the recent bugs in the Silvermoon Weekly Quests, which also partially resulted in players receiving extra Sparks of Tides.

Another bug related to this was that Lady Liadrin was not giving out weekly quests to certain players, which prevented players from making progress toward the new Silvermoon City warband.

With a hotfix applied during today’s weekly maintenance, Liadrin should now offer weekly quests to players as intended. In addition to this, completing Liadrin’s weekly quest now rewards the Silvermoon Citizen’s Emblem, which teaches you the Silvermoon City warband campsite.

The Void Vestige reward from the Trailing Xal’atath weekly quests (which rewards the Silvermoon in Void campsite) remains unchanged.

( Source URL )

We looked into this quest to make sure it’s being offered by Lady Liadrin as intended.

With maintenance (now complete in this region), we’ve made an update to the quest rewards. Specifically, now:

Silvermoon Defender’s Emblem is now a single item that awards the Silvermoon City warband campsite.

Previously, you had to collect four (4) of them. We did not change the Void Vestige item.

Beat Azta’rec Tier ?? This Week or Miss This WoW Title for Good

Neryssa — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 17:23:56 +0000

Midnight Season 2 is live on NA realms (only a few more hours for EU), and the race to defeat Azta’rec on Tier ?? is on! Check our guides for more information on Azta’rec and Season 2 of Delves.

Azta’rec Nemesis Guide Midnight Delves Guide

Azta’rec Tier ?? Rewards

The biggest reason for you to rush to do Azta’rec this week is for the achievement Fabled Let Me Solo Him: Azta’rec. This limited-time achievement unlocks the title Fabled Vanquisher of Azta’rec, and you only have one week to get it.

Other rewards for defeating Azta’rec on Tier ?? include:

Let Me Solo Him: Azta’rec: Defeat Azta’rec in his lair on Tier ?? difficulty without any other players in your party before the release of the next season of delves. Rewards the Apophic Soul Crusher mount.
Purging the Poison Purgin: Defeat Azta’rec in his lair on Tier ?? before the release of the next season of delves. Rewards the Poisonous title.

Azta’rec Changes in Tier ??

Azta’rec does not receive many changes compared to Tier ?. Besides having more health and damage on his abilities, the biggest changes happen during the three Sermon of Ula’tek intermissions that happen at 90%, 60%, and 30% health:

Previously on Tier ?, all you had to do was worry about the memory game segment. On Tier ??, each intermission also summons an Echo of Azta’rec add.
- The add has the same abilities as Azta’rec outside his intermission phase (including the lethal frontal cone from Noxious Bile and the interrupt requirement for Soul Extinction). We recommend saving offensive cooldowns to ensure the add dies before Azta’rec finishes his intermission segment.
- Azta’rec has a 99% damage reduction shield going during the intermission, so all DPS can be focused onto the add.
- We also recommend interrupting the Echo’s Soul Extinction with CC abilities rather than hard interrupts, especially for specializations with longer interrupt cooldowns. This ensures you have your interrupt available for Azta’rec proper at the end of the intermission. Azta’rec is immune to CCs.
In addition to the Echo of Azta’rec, the memory game portion of the Sermon of Ula’tek intermission now has more portions to remember:
- 90%: 5 times
- 60%: 6 times
- 30%: 7 times
- Addons like SnakeSays are very helpful for keeping count for the memory game portion of the intermission, especially with having an extra deadly add to deal with!

No More Long-Haul Flights! WoW Is Making Trips to the Coiled Isle a Whole Lot Less Painful

Emma — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 13:32:40 +0000

With Midnight Season 2 starting today (NA)/tomorrow (EU), players will be able to unlock a new way to travel directly to the Coiled Isle!

Since the Coiled Isle was added with Patch 12.1, players have felt traveling from Silvermoon to the new zone was a pretty long-haul flight. Thankfully for the next month, the Amani Troll Endeavor is active, giving players a portal directly to the zone from Neighbourhoods.

The problem? Endeavors cycle, so the portal won’t always be available. The solution? Prey!

With Season 2 of Prey, players will be able to unlock a portal straight from Astalor’s Sanctum to the Coiled Isle!

With the start of the Season, we’ll unlock a portal between Silvermoon City and the Coiled Isle through Prey.

You don’t need to have an active hunt to use it! pic.twitter.com/QvrtTDjZDg
— MrGM (@MrGMYT) August 17, 2026

You only need to be at level 1 in your Season 2 Prey Journey, and you won’t need an active hunt to be able to use the portal! And considering how much new content is packed into the Coiled Isle, having an easy route there will certainly come in handy.

WoW Players Are Reporting Something Very Strange After Disconnecting in Patch 12.1

Emma — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 12:12:47 +0000

Patch 12.1 may have revealed something rather unexpected.

Since the update went live, players have been reporting some very strange behaviour after disconnecting from the game, leading to speculation that Blizzard could be testing some kind of new disconnect protection system.

According to @Pirat_Nation, multiple players have witnessed characters continuing to move and fight on their own after losing connection. Other X users in the replies are claiming to have seen similar instances, especially in Arenas.

World of Warcraft players are reporting a very strange bug following the game’s 12.1 update.

Normally, when someone disconnects during combat, their character becomes unresponsive and eventually disappears. But some players are now seeing disconnected characters continue moving… pic.twitter.com/Q3wb8JEUPa
— Pirat_Nation (@Pirat_Nation) August 16, 2026

The account, well-known for reporting viral game news, does not provide any direct evidence or sources, so it’s important to take these reports with a hefty pinch of salt. Blizzard themselves also haven’t commented on the situation.

Still, the idea that Blizzard could be testing a disconnect protection system is interesting. Rather than leaving your character stranded mid-encounter, using an AI-controlled system (similar to what we see in follower dungeons) to keep your character up for a few minutes could save a raid wipe or a battleground loss.

Helpful Feature or a Step Too Far?

Naturally, players have already started raising some issues with the idea. Blizzard have spent years battling against bots and automation in WoW, so why is it okay in this instance? And could the system be abused with players deliberately disconnecting to trigger the AI?

Who knows.

On the flip side, this could simply be a bug. Patch launches are notoriously messy and full of issues, so this could be something as simple as server lag.

True or not, Blizzard haven’t confirmed anything. Maybe this is a hidden feature in development, or it could just be a strange bug causing dced Warriors to choose violence.

These Midnight Season 2 Buffs Are Actually Nerfs for Most Specs

Anshlun — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 10:56:35 +0000

Blizzard’s August 18th tuning pass presents itself as nerfs to overperforming tier bonuses from Midnight Season 2, while moving the power to the baseline classes. A trade that should be close to neutral for most specs.

We’ve asked our writers whether that holds up. For some of them, it doesn’t. Baseline compensations presented themselves as falling short of the nerfs from the bonuses, with a few changes not targeting tier sets at all.

Summary

Spec	Writer	Verdict
Blood Death Knight	Mandl and Panthea	Nonsensical Nerf
Frost Death Knight	Bicepspump	Slight Nerf
Devourer Demon Hunter	Voodoo and Wordup	Nerf
Arcane Mage	Dutchmagoz	Nerf
Beast Mastery Hunter	Azortharion	Buff, but barely
Subtlety Rogue	Eleem	Neutral
Demonology Warlock	Motoko	Buff, but not enough

Blood Death Knight

Writers: Mandl and Panthea
Verdict: Nonsensical Nerf

Tuning Change	Writer Commentary
Visceral Strength now grants 6% strength (was 10%).	Very minor nerf, also reducing the opportunity gain from gaming around Crimson Scourge. This feels like knee-jerk Mythic0-related random tuning, as Visceral Strength tends to only really kick in after the first DRW of a fight. The nerf affects both AoE and single target, which is also worrisome, as Blood only excelled in AoE. We’re very much middle-of-the-road in single-target. There are a couple of outliers propping up burst AoE (Blood Beast) that could do with some reining in (both bugs and throughput/profile), but tuning feels like it is done from Mythic 0… Worrisome.
Transfusion increases Dancing Rune Weapon damage by 5% (was 10%).	Nonsensical nerf, honestly. It barely moves the needle on anything, considering that it is a stacking buff on the Dancing Rune Weapon individually. The only place this will be noticeable is on the player’s hard-caster Dancing Rune Weapon, which sends the wrong message completely.

Tuning Change

Writer Commentary

now grants 6% strength (was 10%).

Very minor nerf, also reducing the opportunity gain from gaming around . This feels like knee-jerk Mythic0-related random tuning, as Visceral Strength tends to only really kick in after the first DRW of a fight. The nerf affects both AoE and single target, which is also worrisome, as Blood only excelled in AoE. We’re very much middle-of-the-road in single-target. There are a couple of outliers propping up burst AoE (Blood Beast) that could do with some reining in (both bugs and throughput/profile), but tuning feels like it is done from Mythic 0… Worrisome.

increases damage by 5% (was 10%).

Nonsensical nerf, honestly. It barely moves the needle on anything, considering that it is a stacking buff on the Dancing Rune Weapon individually. The only place this will be noticeable is on the player’s hard-caster Dancing Rune Weapon, which sends the wrong message completely.

Frost Death Knight

Writer: Bicepspump
Verdict: Slight Nerf

Tuning Change	Writer Commentary
– All ability damage increased by 9%. – The Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus has been updated – Now grants 1% attack speed per stack (was 2%). Now increases Icy Death Torrent damage by 2% per stack (was 4%).	The purpose of these changes was to bring the tier set in line due to its significant power. Cutting the attack speed and Icy Death Torrent damage essentially halves the value of the tier set. Ability damage was increased to compensate; however, the net result is still a nerf. Rider of the Apocalypse was most heavily hit due to its strong synergy with the tier set, seeing a 5% DPS loss. Deathbringer only dropped 2% and is now the more viable hero talent choice.

Tuning Change

Writer Commentary

– All ability damage increased by 9%.
– The Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus has been updated – Now grants 1% attack speed per stack (was 2%). Now increases damage by 2% per stack (was 4%).

The purpose of these changes was to bring the tier set in line due to its significant power. Cutting the attack speed and Icy Death Torrent damage essentially halves the value of the tier set. Ability damage was increased to compensate; however, the net result is still a nerf. Rider of the Apocalypse was most heavily hit due to its strong synergy with the tier set, seeing a 5% DPS loss. Deathbringer only dropped 2% and is now the more viable hero talent choice.

Devourer Demon Hunter

Writers: Voodoo and Wordup
Verdict: Nerf

Tuning Change	Writer Commentary
Developers’ notes: Devourer’s 4-piece set bonus is performing significantly above expectations, so we are reducing its power. To compensate for this set bonus reduction, we are increasing all ability damage. Additionally, Devourer has been overperforming, mostly in single-target, so we are reducing the damage of Reap/Cull/Eradicate while increasing the AoE damage portion of Eradicate to reduce the impact of the change in AoE combat.	Overall, these changes hit Annihilator harder than they hit Void-Scarred, as Annihilator relied much more on the Cull damage and souls provided by the tier set. This is roughly a 4% nerf for Void-Scarred single target, a 9% nerf for Annihilator Single Target, and roughly a 1.5% AoE nerf for both. We’ll likely see some talent swaps in AoE as well, as both builds look to drop Second Helping.

Tuning Change

Writer Commentary

Developers’ notes: Devourer’s 4-piece set bonus is performing significantly above expectations, so we are reducing its power. To compensate for this set bonus reduction, we are increasing all ability damage. Additionally, Devourer has been overperforming, mostly in single-target, so we are reducing the damage of // while increasing the AoE damage portion of Eradicate to reduce the impact of the change in AoE combat.

Overall, these changes hit Annihilator harder than they hit Void-Scarred, as Annihilator relied much more on the Cull damage and souls provided by the tier set. This is roughly a 4% nerf for Void-Scarred single target, a 9% nerf for Annihilator Single Target, and roughly a 1.5% AoE nerf for both. We’ll likely see some talent swaps in AoE as well, as both builds look to drop .

Beast Mastery Hunter

Writer: Azortharion
Verdict: Buff, but barely moves the needle

Tuning Change	Writer Commentary
The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Now causes Cobra Shot to benefit from Beast Cleave at 30% effectiveness per stack (was 20%), or strike your target for an additional 20% damage per stack (was 15%).	This change increases Beast Mastery’s damage output by around 1% on single-target and 4% on AoE. It does not meaningfully alter its standing in any content.

Arcane Mage

Writer: Dutchmagoz
Verdict: Nerf

Tuning Change

Developers’ notes: The Venomous Abyss set bonus is overperforming our target tuning for set bonuses. However, the amount we need to reduce its value by would have a greater impact than intended on Arcane’s overall damage, so we are also making a small positive adjustment to Arcane’s baseline.

Writer Commentary

Arcane’s set bonus was definitely a bit overtuned compared to where tier sets generally land, so a small nerf to it was expected. However, the actual nerf is quite significant, and the compensation damage buff does not make up for the tier nerf. In total, these changes roughly translate to the following:

~5% nerf on single-target
~3% nerf on AoE

Arcane getting a small AoE nerf is nothing to worry about, as the AoE damage is still quite strong after the nerf. The single-target nerf is a bit more unexpected, and 5% is quite meaningful. This might impact its place in the raiding meta, where it was looking to be somewhere in the top half, but after these nerfs, it is more likely to be in the middle of the pack. Nothing to panic about; definitely still viable, just not as strong as originally expected going into the tier.

Subtlety Rogue

Writer: Eleem
Verdict: Neutral

Tuning Change	Writer Commentary
The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Effectiveness reduced to 60% (was 100%).	This nerfs the power of the Lingering Shadow buff quite substantially; however, thanks to the 6% increase, these changes are net neutral for overall damage.

Demonology Warlock

Writer: Motoko
Verdict: Buff, but not enough

Tuning Change	Writer Commentary
Developers’ notes: We are increasing the throughput of the Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus for Demonology so that its performance is closer to other specialization tier set bonuses.	The buff is meant to address how Demonology tier set bonuses were single-digit, unlike the rest of the specs. It does, however, not address Warlock spec tuning as a whole, which is currently at the lower end of the pack.

Big Trinket Tuning, Class Fixes, Delve Changes, Many Quest Fixes: Midnight Season 2 Weekly Hotfix Summary, August 10 – 18

Starym — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 07:40:27 +0000

Season 2 starts today and Blizzard packed a whole lot of fixing of a warm variety into the pre-season week. There’s plenty to see, from the large trinket tuning pass to plenty of class fixes, as well many Delve tweaks. Quests take the biggest chunk of real estate, as they usually do on a new patch launch. There’s also plenty of Lair, profession, dungeon fixes, and more.

( Source URL )

Achievements

Reaching Renown 20 with Zul’jaara’s Forces now correctly grants Zul’jarra’s Forces Champion.
Family Battler of Outland and all associated type- Battler of Outland achievements now require Bloodknight Antairi (was incorrectly Gorma Asaan).

Classes

Spirit Walk in the Vaults of Atal’utek should now apply to pets.
Evoker
- Devastation
  - Shattering Star now correctly benefits from Mastery: Giantkiller.
Hunter
- Beast Mastery
  - Corrected an issue where Dire Beast Kill Commands from the Wildspeaker Talent did not properly benefit from Killer Instinct, Alpha Predator, Specialized Arsenal, or Savagery.
Priest
- Holy
  - Corrected an issue where swapping from Shadow to Holy specializations could improperly cause Shadow Word: Pain to not turn into Holy Fire.
Shaman
- Corrected an issue where swapping between specs may incorrectly cause Lava Burst to show up as Primal Strike in your spellbook.
Warrior
- Arms, Fury
  - Slayer: Fixed a bug that was causing Executioner to have double the intended effect.
Warlock
- Fixed an issue where Warlock pets would continually learn Soul Leech.
- Affliction
  - Fixed an issue where Seed of Corruption would not consume Shard Instability on cast.
- Demonology
  - Soul Harvester: fixed an issue where Shadow Bolt and Hand of Gul’dan would be disabled in the cooldown manager.
- Destruction
  - Fixed an issue where the tooltip of Shadowburn would not display the correct duration.

Delves

In Delves, Ula’tek’s Amphisbaena Writhing Strike poison can only get one aura at a time. Damage reduced 25%, and the cooldown on Writhing Strike increased.
Fixed an issue causing Corrosive Bilespear to not proc at higher ranks.
Fixed an issue where Gorgoneion Gaze would not trigger.
Fixed an issue where Ula’tek’s Gift would not deal damage.
Fixed an issue where Ula’tek’s Gift would not apply more stacks while poisoned.
Fixed an issue where the Delve Shadowguard Point: Shadowguard Survivor would not grant Great Vault credit upon completion.
Fixed a bug causing Ritual Sites to appear to grant Great Vault rewards that were inconsistent with the available Tiers. Next week, the Great Vault will reward the intended tiers 1-6 for week 1 activities.
Fixed an issue with the Corrosive Codex that caused Corrosive Powers unlocked on one character to not show up as available options in the Corrosive Codex for other characters.

Dungeons and Raids

Archmage Timear again permits players to queue for the Raid Finder wings of Tomb of Sargeras.
Players who have not yet completed precursor campaign quests should now be able to be summoned to the Vaults of Atal’Utek by Altar of Fangs dungeon groups.
Altar of Fangs
- Addressed an issue where Uncoiled Writhe constantly switches target with Spiteful Hunt.
- Addressed an issue where interacting with Infusion Totem may fail to trigger the event.
Ruby Life Pools
- Thunderhead
  - Fixed an issue where Electrical Discharge would sometimes fail to hit players.
Voidscar Arena
- Addressed an issue where Brutok’s Smashing Charge can charge through doors.
- Addressed an issue where defeating Aegyra the Unyielding while she’s channeling Earthsplitter can fail to open the door to the arena.

Items

Void-Twisted Sporbits no longer grant Nebulous Voidcores. Nebulous Voidcores obtained in this way after the end of Season 1 have been removed for Season 2.
Tanks may now roll Need on Zul’jin’s Guillotine Technique.
Survival Hunters may now roll Need on two-handed axes and swords with Agility.
Fixed an issue that caused Venomjade Necklace to sometimes be invisible.
Trinkets
- Coiled Fangstone: damage increased by 15%.
- Crucible of Erratic Energies: critical strike reduced by 15%.
- Fang of Umbral Malignance: damage increased by 15%.
- First Mate’s Shellward: damage increased by 25%.
- Font of Venomous Rage: damage increased by 20%.
- Gaze of the Alnseer: primary stat reduced by 20%.
- Gebbo’s Bottomless Bag: secondary stat effects reduced by 29%.
- Hex Lord’s Dooming Idol: intellect lost per stack reduced by 33% and intellect granted on use per stack increased by 15%.
- Idol of the Howling Nexus: agility and strength on proc increased by 5%.
- Knot of Writhing Serpents: damage increased by 15%.
- Knot of Writhing Serpents no longer drops for healing specializations.
- Kyrakka’s Searing Embers: healing increased by 80% and damage increased by 50%.
- Mindpiercer’s Sigil: damage increased by 15%.
- Mycolic Medicine: all healing increased by 30%.
- Preternatural Antivenom: healing increased by 30% and fixed an issue preventing the healing effect from consistently triggering after the aura has been applied to an ally depending on the source of incoming damage.
- Sapling of the Dawnroot: damage increased by 15%.
- Soulcoiler Ritual Vessel: absorb reduced by 15%.
- Sszorak’s Ferocity: damage increased by 15%.
- Tiny Electromental in a Jar: damage increased by 15%.
- Tumor of the Swarm: damage increased by 15% and healing increased by 40%.
- Unstable Felheart Crystal: absorb increased by 30%.
- Vaelgor’s Final Stare: mastery reduced by 10%.
- Vashnik’s Sanguine Rancor: damage increased by 15%.
- Vexhul’s Everflowing Gland: damage increased by 15%.

Lairs

Resolved an issue causing the sharks to not bite in The Tidebound Grotto.
Resolved an issue causing some Bubblefin Shorerunners to not despawn when reaching the Alluring Bubble.
Players cannot receive loot from Nymrissa Wavecaller more than once per week in World difficulty.

Naigtal and Val

Players in Heroic World Tier can again talk with a sprit healer to exit Heroic World Tier and resurrect.

Player versus Player

Fixed an issue where Ula’tek’s Gift was dealing more damage to players than expected.
Gorgoneion Gaze no longer petrifies players indefinitely.
Fixed a bug preventing Otherworldly Sparks of War from dropping in Naigtal and Val activities. The Naigtal and Val Sparks of War quests will no longer be offered when Season 2 begins.

Professions

Fixed an issue that prevented Flat Snakeskin Canopy from being crafted.
Fixed an issue that prevented Flat Snakeskin Canopy from being added to the decor collection when used.
[With realm restarts] Jewelcrafting and Tailoring Profession Knowledge books from the forces of Zul’jarra should now correctly award profession Knowledge. Players who got the books prior to this fix should be given the Knowledge retroactively.
Fixed an issue that caused Contract: Zul’jarra’s Forces to sometimes incorrectly apply Amani Tribe Contract when used.

Quests

Ofi the Sly should now properly accept that the concoction is complete for “Acceptable Apprentice”.
Fixed an issue preventing characters under level 90 from completing activities related to Saltheril’s Soiree and Abundance.
Fixed a bug causing Amani Endeavor daily quests to only be offered weekly.
Players on the quest “Void Walk With Me” are now correctly advanced in the “Traitor’s Due” story when entering The Shadow Enclave.
“Story of a Memorable Victory” no longer drops outside of the Dragon Isles.
Fixed an issue preventing progress on the quest “Cut Her Strings” in Voidstorm.
“Awe of She” is no longer stalled by weather effects on the player.
Fixed a bug preventing players who are seated before entering the Worldsoul Terror as Nek’zali from properly interacting with Injured Hunters on “Fuel the Calling”.
Fixed an issue where players could begin Curse of Ula’tek campaign quests without first completing the main Midnight campaign.
- Developers’ notes: The Curse of Ula’tek campaign was intended to require account completion of the main Midnight campaign before it could be started, as completing these features out of order could result in players being in a misleading or confusing state. Players who have not yet started the Curse of Ula’tek campaign must now complete the main Midnight campaign on one character per account. Any player-characters who have already started the Curse of Ula’tek campaign should be unaffected and can continue it and complete it.
Players who completed “Legends of the Haranir” quests split among multiple characters will now be able to resume “The Empty Cradle” questline.
“Cold As Ice” no longer sends players on a cold canoe ride into the abyss.
Removed an incorrect map marker for “A Suspicious Stew”.
Bob has been found and returned to his bartending.

Trading Post

The Trading Post activity “Complete ‘A Call for Aid’ Storyline” should now require only quests within that storyline.

World

Fixed a bug that could cause players to disconnect when entering the Lunarfall Garrison Excavation area.

Murder Row Shortened, Sethraliss Reworked for Season 2

Anshlun — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 02:01:35 +0000

Blizzard has posted a lengthy list of adjustments for Mythic+ dungeons ahead of the launch of Season 2.

Highlights

Mythic0s back to daily lockout
Avatar of Sethraliss reworked to make active healing more impactful.
Reduced count for Murder Row
Den of Nalorakk’s Versatility Buff increased from 3% to 5%
Council of Tribes in Kings’ Rest combat now ends faster
Improvements to visual clarity for many spells
“Barrel of Apples are now interactable without requiring opposable thumbs. Nature finds a way.”

( Source URL )

Season 2 Dungeon Adjustments Incoming – August 18

During scheduled weekly maintenance in each region, we’ll make the following adjustments to dungeons:

Dungeons

The lockout for Mythic difficulty for Season 2 dungeons now resets daily.
Murder Row
- Reduced required enemy forces to 655 (was 690).
- Removed the creature pack of a Corrupted Warlock and two Wrathguard Flayers before Xathuux the Annihilator.
- Cantina event
  - Five Star Review duration increased to 5 minutes (was 4 minutes).
  - Food Missiles now targets specific locations around the room.
- Felmaster Lucsei
  - Blade Dance now has a 2 second cast time, and impact damage reduced by 10%.
Kings’ Rest
- The Council of Tribes
  - Encounter now ends immediately after defeating Zanazal the Wise.
- Dazar, The First King
  - Impaling Spear ground visual updated to improve visibility.
- Shadow of Zul
  - Dark Revelation now prefers non-tank players.
- Ghostly Brute
  - Seismic Upheaval visual updated to improve visual clarity.
- Honored Raptor
  - Hunting Leap visibility of ground visual improved.
Voidscar Arena
- Proof of Mastery and Proof of Endurance are now buffs.
- Aegyra the Unyielding
  - Champion’s Spear health reduced by 15%.
- Raj’kess the Spellstorm
  - Disruption Orb disruption cast time reduced to 13 seconds (was 15 seconds).
Den of Nalorakk
- Barrel of Apples are now interactable without requiring opposable thumbs. Nature finds a way.
- Warding Incense
  - Increased Versatility buff to 5% (was 3%).
  - Now benefits all allies in the instance.
  - Now persists through death.
- Sentinel of Winter
  - Rimeshatter soak area visual updated.
- Spirit of Hunger
  - Insatiable Hunger debuff now limited to 5 stacks.
The Blinding Vale
- Thorny Saptor
  - Hunting Leap visibility of ground visual improved.
- Ziekket
  - Lightbloom’s Essence periodic damage reduced by 25%.
Altar of Fangs
- Added a way for players to return to the entrance from the chamber of Rav’i.
- Hunting Leap visibility of ground visual improved.
Ruby Life Pools
- Melidrussa Chillworn
  - Hailburst cast time increased to 3 seconds (was 2 seconds).
- Kyrakka and Erkhart Stormvein
  - Flaming Embers
    - Reduced radius of each ember to 5 yards (was 7 yards).
    - Reduced amount of randomness in the spawn pattern.
  - Kyrakka no longer immediately begins casting after she lands for the final phase of the encounter, allowing for her to be repositioned
  - Increased the movement speed of Kyrakka after she lands for the final phase of the encounter
  - Addressed an issue where Kyrakka could melee attack unexpected targets after landing for the final phase
- Flashfrost Chillweaver
  - Ice Shield precast visual visibility improved.
- Earthbound Guardian
  - Multiple applications of the Earthbound’s Imprint debuff can no longer overlap.
Temple of Sethraliss
- Avatar of Sethraliss
- Developers’ notes: With the changes below, we’re reducing the amount of passive healing done to the boss via Cleansed Lifeforce to make player healing more impactful. Additionally, we are adjusting some mechanical tuning surrounding Corrupted Lifeforce to encourage more group participation in this mechanic. To counterbalance this adjustment, we’re providing more time for the group to handle this mechanic and also increasing its visibility within the Avatar’s chamber.
  - Corrupted Guardian
    - Corrupted Lifeforce time to soak increased to 6 seconds (was 4.5 seconds) and visibility improved.
  - Corruption
    - Reduced physical vulnerability to 250% (was 300%).
    - Increased periodic damage by 33%.
  - Tainted Strike
    - Reduced periodic damage by 50%.
    - Capped applications at 2.
    - Increased duration to 25 seconds.
  - Cleansed Lifeforce
    - The passive healing aura can no longer grow beyond 3 applications.
    - Slowed the tick rate of the passive healing to every 3 seconds (was every 2 seconds).
  - Faithless Tormentor
    - Reduced the size of the fixate visual over the head of the healer.
  - Essence Defiler
    - Defiling Taint is now displayed as a debuff on the Avatar’s unit frame.
  - Lightning Serpent
    - Multiple applications of the Lingering Storm debuff can no longer overlap.

Spells Properly Updating with Spec Changes – Midnight Hotfixes

Anshlun — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 01:03:12 +0000

Blizzard has updated their hotfix notes for August 17th. These notes include many fixes to spells not behaving properly after swapping specs.

( Source URL )

August 17, 2026 Hotifxes

Classes

Hunter
- Beast Mastery
  - Corrected an issue where Dire Beast Kill Commands from the Wildspeaker Talent did not properly benefit from Killer Instinct, Alpha Predator, Specialized Arsenal, or Savagery.
Priest
- Holy
  - Corrected an issue where swapping from Shadow to Holy specializations could improperly cause Shadow Word: Pain to not turn into Holy Fire.
Shaman
- Corrected an issue where swapping between specs may incorrectly cause Lava Burst to show up as Primal Strike in your spellbook.
Warlock
- Destruction
  - Fixed an issue where the tooltip of Shadowburn would not display the correct duration.

Delves

In Delves, Ula’tek’s Amphisbaena Writhing Strike poison can only get one aura at a time. Damage reduced 25%, and the cooldown on Writhing Strike increased.
Fixed an issue causing Corrosive Bilespear to not proc at higher ranks.

Lairs

Resolved an issue causing the sharks to not bite in The Tidebound Grotto.

Naigtal and Val

Players in Heroic World Tier can again talk with a sprit healer to exit Heroic World Tier and resurrect.

Quests

Ofi the Sly should now properly accept that the concoction is complete for “Acceptable Apprentice”.
Fixed an issue preventing characters under level 90 from completing activities related to Saltheril’s Soiree and Abundance.

Additional Discipline Priest and Retribution Paladin Tuning for August 18th

Anshlun — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 23:30:03 +0000

Blizzard today posted additional tuning for Discipline Priests and Retribution Paladins.

These changes will go live in addition to the previously-announced tuning wave on August 18.

( Source URL )

Added an additional change to this week’s class tuning for Discipline Priest and Retribution Paladin:

PRIEST

Discipline
- Void Shield reflects 10% of damage (was 15%).

PALADIN

Retribution
- All ability damage increased by 6%.

You can find the full list of class changes hitting live servers today linked below:

August 18th Tuning Pass

WoW Midnight Season 2 Mythic+ Tier List – Best Specs for Week 1

Anshlun — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 22:49:15 +0000

Season 2 is here! With the fun starting this week, we have our first Mythic+ Tier list for the season, reflecting the first tuning pass that’s going live with the reset.

Midnight Season 2 Mythic+ Tier List

Below is the tier list updated for this week. This list reflects the current state of the meta and recent tuning changes. You can read more about how these lists are built in the Criteria section at the bottom of the post.

Highlights for the Week

Below, we will recap the biggest highlights for the week. As always, if you’re looking to see the complete analysis, check out our individual guides. The guides cover in detail the reasoning behind every spec’s placement.

DPS Tier List Healer Tier List Tank Tier List

You can also see the tier list explained below in video format:

Tank State – Blood Down, Guardian Up

With the last round of tuning, Blood DKs got hit once more with nerfs. The spec is still the best for Mythic+, both for damage and survivability, however, the gap is closing. It will be interesting to see what Blood is able to pull once realms go live this Tuesday, as it wasn’t properly tested in title range (+20 or higher)

Guardian is slowly creeping up in charts. It is possibly one of the sleeper picks for Season 2. The damage is slightly lacking, but the toolkit and survivability are on point.

If Blood ends up getting nerfed again, Prot Paladin or Guardian will likely take its place. Vengeance has a strong stance, but it is too squishy for pushing right now.

Healing – Lifting the Bottom

The biggest movement for healers happened at the bottom, where Holy Priest and Resto Druid received substantial buffs. The buffs, combined with the nerfs to Disc, have pushed both specs ahead of Disc. Priests will likely be playing holy, unless the externals Disc provide are a make-or-break for the key.

Mistweaver received a solid HPS buff. The buff doesn’t move it ahead of Resto Shaman, but it solidifies its position in A-Tier. Mistweaver is likely on par with Preservation right now, with Pres having a slight edge, but being way harder to pilot.

On The Fall Side – DPS Nerfs

The tuning pass has nudged many DPS specs down. Arcane, despite the community doom, wasn’t really affected hard by it, retaining its S-tier position.

Havoc has seen more nerfs for the third week in a row. It still seems like a strong pick, but might have its tier revised next week.

Despite not being nerfed, Destruction was moved from A+ to A. This was done due to everyone else around it being buffed. The lack of a proper group buff for Warlocks means they need to be ahead damage-wise to justify bringing it.

On the other hand, Balance received some nerfs but still holds its A+ placement. Balance’s kit, Mark of the Wild, poison and curse removal, soothe, keeps it in A+.

Meta Prediction – Hybrid Comps

Throughout the last few weeks, it looked like we’d have a season with a caster meta comp. However, as the Season is about to start, the picture has changed slightly. The smaller gap between the S-tier specs likely means we’ll see some variety, at least at the start of the Season.

You can expect groups running Arms + Ele + Arcane, or Rogue + Ele + Arms, or other variants. We could see the meta shifting into Phys or Caster comps depending on upcoming tuning passes.

Criteria of the Tier List

This tier list is based on the strength of each DPS specialization during Midnight Season 2. The placement takes both the raw throughput and the utility kit into consideration. Damage profile for Season 2 dungeons also plays a role in deciding positioning.

You can read the full disclosure about the criteria on the Tier List hub. Ultimately, Tier Lists are an opinion, which you may disagree with. However, this is our current opinion as tuning stands. The list will change week over week, and we will cover future changes as the meta progresses. Stay tuned for updates.

Haven’t Decided on a Main Yet? Here’s What Everyone Else Is Playing In Season 2

Miril — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 18:58:01 +0000

Season 2 of Midnight is about to launch, so we are taking a look at the most popular classes right now at max level.

Data for Azeroth keeps track of various statistics, including max-level characters, giving us a good look at what classes people are maining just before the season launches.

Most Popular Classes to Main in Season 2 of Midnight

Here is a list of the most popular classes on live servers right now at max level.

Paladin

12.9%

Druid

11.6%

Hunter

9.5%

Shaman

8.1%

Demon Hunter

8.0%

Warrior

7.6%

Death Knight

7.5%

Mage

7.4%

Priest

7.1%

Warlock

6.9%

Monk

6.4%

Rogue

3.7%

Evoker

3.4%

Source: Data for Azeroth

WoW Just Confirmed Its Secret Raccoon Pet Isn’t Live Yet

Neryssa — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 16:05:43 +0000

Jimothy the Raccoon was previously announced for release with Patch 12.1. However, we have unfortunately received confirmation that the special little critter is currently nowhere to be found in-game.

Here’s what we know about him so far!

Jimothy Confirmed to Currently Not Be Available

Blizzard has contacted the staff at the WoW Secret Finding Discord to let them know that the secret battle pet is currently not available in-game. The note below can be found as a pin in the Discord’s #Jimothy channel.

This comes after close to a week of hunting for him in-game, following a few clues that have since been discovered. It is currently unknown when Jimothy will become available, although theories suggest it will be live after this week’s weekly maintenance.

What Is Currently Known About Jimothy

Although Jimothy is not obtainable at the time of posting, the Secret Finding Discord has discovered a few leads that should help once the hunt is back on.

Jimothy (stylized as J’imothy in-game) has a visible Pet Journal entry since late last week. This clues us in that he’s hidden somewhere in Silvermoon, or Silvermoon is otherwise part of the hunt.

Next, it is known that J’imothy is learned via the Stubby Whistle item, obtained by Petting something, presumably J’imothy. In addition, there are two barrier spells related to J’imothy: Barrier Integrity and Drain Barrier. With these clues, we know J’imothy has likely gotten into trouble by eating some magical garbage and is now stuck in a barrier that we need to free him from.

It is unknown how long this secret will last. Considering how Jimothy was announced as a Battle Pet a little under a month ago, it is unlikely that this will be a grand secret like previous ones such as the Felcycle. Expect a shorter secret like Gortham or Slitherfang in recent patches.

Keep an eye on Icy Veins, as we will let you know once Jimothy is obtainable!

Farmed WoW’s New Free T-Shirt Day Shirts for Hours? Now You Can Buy Them for 1 Copper

Emma — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 13:33:10 +0000

If you participated in yesterday’s Free T-Shirt Day event, and spent a fair few hours farming those elusive new shirt designs, then we have some potentially frustrating news for you. However, if you forgot about yesterday’s event, this news may come as some relief!

Skin-Me-Own-Coat Dibblefur

All 8 new shirt designs can be purchased from Skin-Me-Own-Coat Dibblefur in Booty Bay (/way 42, 74), for the extortionate price of 1 Copper each. To find this NPC, find the Leatherworking shop, go down the ramp in front of that, and then head left.

Skin-Me-Own-Coat Dibblefur sells the following new shirt designs:

Plainsrunner’s Sun Tunic

Runecloth Clergy Coat

Priestess’ Moon Tunic

Tinker’s Padded Vest

Junior Artificer’s Work Vest

Spore-Pocked Lab Coat

Painted Raptor-Tooth Shirt

Mag’har Laborer’s Tunic

If you spent any amount of time farming those shirts yesterday (which never seemed to drop), then at least you have saved yourself 8 Copper…

Everything Unlocking This Week in WoW: Midnight Season 2 (And the Rewards You Can Earn)

Emma — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:55:49 +0000

Patch 12.1’s pre-season week is coming to an end, and after this week’s reset, Midnight Season 2 finally begins. Here’s everything unlocking this week, along with some insane rewards you’ll want to keep track of!

The Venomous Abyss Raid Opens

Season 2’s new raid, The Venomous Abyss, finally opens on Normal, Heroic, and Mythic difficulty, with the first wing available on Raid Finder difficulty.

Alongside gear upgrades, the Venomous Abyss also features two new mounts: the Primeval Skyfriend (Mythic Ula’tek mount) and Crimson Venomfang (from Glory of the Venomous Raider).

Mythic+ Season 2 Begins

Mythic+ will return for Midnight Season 2, with Mythic 0 dungeons returning to a daily reset (dropping ilvl 292 gear). From Tuesday (NA)/Wednesday (EU) this week, start earning your way towards this season’s Keysone Master/Legend mounts, Breath of Blight and Breath of Ruin.

Altar of Fangs, 12.1’s new dungeon, also drops a mount from Mythic Zul’jan: The Writhing Brood.

For more information on this season’s dungeon rotation, item levels, and more, check out our Mythic+ Season 2 Guide.

PvP Season 2 Starts

Midnight PvP Season 2 starts this week. You’ll be able to start increasing your rating to earn Elite transmog appearances, seasonal titles and achievements, and Season 2’s new PvP mounts.

The Vicious Lightbloom Boar (Horde)/Vicious Lightbloom Boar (Alliance) are the seasonal reward mounts, while the Venomous Gladiator’s Goredrake is this season’s Gladiator mount.

More Midnight Season 2 Unlocks

Various other activities will also unlock this week:

Nightmare Prey unlocks
Bountiful Delves unlock
Season 2’s Delve Nemesis available on ?? tier
Tidebound Grotto unlocks on Normal, Heroic, and Mythic Flex difficulties
First Season 2 Great Vault rewards ready to claim

Whether you’re progressing through the new raid, pushing Mythic+, starting the PvP grind, or collecting every new reward on the Coiled Isle, this week’s reset marks the real beginning of Midnight Season 2!

These 4 Vaults of Atal’Utek Traits Stay Locked Until You Find Hidden Items

Neryssa — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 19:52:14 +0000

The Altar of Corrosion is an important portion of the Vaults of Atal’Utek area, but four of its trait choices require more than spending Corrosive Coins. Learn how to obtain the four choice node traits for the Altar of Corrosion!

Patch 12.1 Overview Vaults of Atal’Utek Guide

What is the Altar of Corrosion?

The Altar of Corrosion is a power system tied to the Vaults of Atal’Utek area. The talents from the Altar of Corrosion are mostly unlocked by exchanging Corrosive Coins for talent points.

Obtaining all traits from the Altar of Corrosion is required for the Fully Corroded achievement. This achievement is part of the Assault the Vault meta-achievement, which awards the Venomous Coiler mount.

How to Obtain The Choice Nodes in the Altar of Corrosion

Amidst all the traits for the Altar of Corrosion, four choice node traits are initially locked. Unlocking these traits requires completing certain quests, which are hidden in a small treasure hunt involving activities in the Vaults.

Choice Node	Starter Quest Item	Unlock Item
Spirit Walk or Spectral Shipping	Feather of Tok’jara	Spirit Loupe
Glideways or Swift Steps	Mummified Lynx’s Paw	Corroded Key
Egg Specialist or Egg Evasion	Eye of Szarith	Excising Knife
Surge Seniority or Spiritual Succession	Lost Med’jai Amulet	Dispelling Charm

Feather of Tok’jara Unlock

To obtain the choice nodes locked by the Feather of Tok’jara, you must unlock it via the Spirit Loupe, obtained by defeating any Ancient Foe that spawns at the end of a Temple Incursion.

Once you have the Spirit Loupe, you can use it to unlock the Feather of Tok’jara, located on a ledge to the right of the Venomous Abyss raid entrance. This unlocks the following choice node options:

Spirit Walk: The Spirit Walk provided by Amani Windcallers now lasts 3 minutes.
Spectral Shipping: Amani Windcallers can now fly you to more locations in the Vaults of Atal’Utek.

/way #2509 48.46 25.80 Feather of Tok’jara

Mummified Lynx’s Paw Unlock

To obtain the choice nodes locked by the Mummified Lynx’s Paw, you must unlock it via the Corroded Key, obtained by completing Temple Strikes in the Vaults of Atal’Utek.

Once you have the Corroded Key, you can use it to unlock the Mummified Lynx’s Paw. These can be found in chests under poison waterfalls around the Vaults in multiple locations. This unlocks the following choice node options:

Glideways: You can now find additional Spiritwing Feathers in the Vaults of Atal’Utek. These will raise you to great heights within the Vaults.
Swift Steps: You can now find additional Spiritwing Gusts in the Vaults of Atal’Utek. These allow you to leap across great gaps within the Vaults.

/way #2509 41.80 10.80 Lynx Paw Location
/way #2509 40.10 18.30 Lynx Paw Location
/way #2509 52.57 10.73 Lynx Paw Location
/way #2509 53.67 18.13 Lynx Paw Location
/way #2509 52.21 54.59 Lynx Paw Location
/way #2509 53.02 53.35 Lynx Paw Location
/way #2509 41.47 53.44 Lynx Paw Location
/way #2509 42.46 54.62 Lynx Paw Location
/way #2509 47.52 38.37 Lynx Paw Location

Eye of Szarith Unlock

To obtain the choice nodes locked by the Eye of Szarith, you must unlock it via the Excising Knife, obtained by completing Temple Incursions in the Vaults of Atal’Utek.

Once you have the Excising Knife, you can use it to unlock the Eye of Szarith. The Eye is located in the Underbelly at the northern end of the Vaults, inside a circular pool of poison. It unlocks the following choice nodes:

Egg Specialist: Damage dealt to eggs in Atal’Utek increased by 100%.
Egg Evasion: Damage taken from egg bursts reduced by 75%.

/way #2613 68.60 15.66 Eye of Szarith location

Lost Med’jai Amulet Unlock

To obtain the choice nodes locked by the Lost Med’jai Amulet, you must unlock it via the Dispelling Charm. The charm is obtained by defeating High Priest Jin’tal. He is located in the Vault of Restless Brothers area on the Western portion of the Vaults, and you will find this mob naturally during the side questline starting with The Med’jai Medallion.

Once you have the Dispelling Charm, you can use it to unlock the Lost Med’jai amulet. The amulet itself is located in the Profaned Mausoleum area, on the Eastern side of the Vaults. Once you enter the area, take a left turn, and you will find it by a chest on top of a shelf. It unlocks the following choice nodes:

Surge Seniority: Ghostly allies now rally alongside you in Curse Surges on the surface of the Coiled Isle.
Spiritual Succession: Spirits will now instantly resurrect you on death in Atal’Utek.

/way #2636 48.08 72.69 High Priest Jin’tal location

/way #2638 36.26 23.70 Lost Med’jai Amulet location

Players Boosted Their Way Into Midnight’s Top 1% Mythic+ Mount

Nighstalker314 — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 18:04:31 +0000

The twentieth and final week of Mythic+ in this season is over, and Nightstalker314 is taking a look at the weekly data provided by Raider.IO. Unlike in many other seasons, the final-week drop-off was just 9.67%. In the final stretch, efforts to earn the top 1% mount seemingly exploded. Both the absolute number of runs and the relative share at the required key level reached season highs on Western servers. So let’s look at the details.

Weekly Total Run Performance Compared to Other Seasons

Once more, week-over-week activity showed a night-and-day difference between the Western and Asian servers. While activity on the EU (-1.39%) and US (-0.63%) servers barely changed, KR (-17.20%), TW (-15.23%), and CN (-22.01%) seemed to have locked in their goals long before the final week. Especially at higher key levels, the difference couldn’t have been more drastic.

Compared with previous seasons across the four regular regions, MN S1 had a decent finish. While the other seasons ran for a few more weeks, MN S1 kept up quite well in terms of completed runs. And the larger relative drop-off can be mostly attributed to the massive difference in week 2. On a global scale, week 20 ended up at 12.33% of the week-1 numbers. KR (16.97%) and TW (15.66%) reflected the more sustained efforts on Asian servers. But CN (11.45%) completely cratered in the second half of the season, with multiple weekly drop-offs above 15%. US players, as usual, represented an average pattern, with 13.77% of the week-1 numbers. And the EU dropped to 11.82%. Raw efficiency meant a faster shift toward lower weekly efforts after the seasonal start.

Total Runs Across All Dungeons

The spread across all dungeons widened slightly in the final week. The order saw two swaps: ranks 2 and 3, as well as 5 and 6. This could be tied to efforts to secure ratings in less popular dungeons for cosmetic rewards. And Maisara Caverns managed to be the least popular dungeon in 19 of the season’s 20 weeks. Seat was the only dungeon to be less popular, in week 1, and that might have been due to the negative bias carried over from the final seasons of Legion in 2018. But Caverns never fell as far behind as City of Threads did in TWW S1.

The success rate climbed by 0.32 percentage points to 93.86%. This was the highest weekly value of the entire season. Ascendant weeks were the worst-performing of the entire season, but seemingly not bad enough for the devs to intervene once more.

Split Across All Key Levels

83.92% of all keys were completed at level 10 or higher. Globally, the lower levels saw no major shift in their relative share. But there was a stark contrast between China and the other regions. Activity compared with the previous week cratered to below 75% for most high-level keys in China. Here, +16 saw 23.81% fewer runs, while runs at key levels +21 to +23, required for the top 1% and top 0.1%, dropped by almost 40%. On the other hand, every key level required for cosmetic rewards saw major boosts in the other regions. The increases were 2.26% at +10 (portals), 5.8% at +12 (KSL), 3.53% at +16 (3,400 rating), and 22.75% at +21 (top 1%). At +23, required to secure a top 0.1% finish, runs only dropped by 10.73%.

The success rates also reflected these efforts. At the lower key levels, there was no major fluctuation. But every level required for KSM, KSH, or KSL showed slightly higher rates than the previous week. The +16 success rate was up by 0.49 percentage points and marked a local peak at 89.94%. And the success rates at +20 (86.03%, +1.88) and +21 (90.03%, +1.84) clearly reflected the massive efforts to earn the desired top 1% mount.

Conclusion and Week 1 Expectations

Multiple content creators have alluded to massive boosting efforts on Western servers in the final week. This is blatantly obvious when looking at these numbers. +21 keys saw the highest number of runs in any week of the season. Outside of China, we saw 3,378 additional +21 runs. Split across all 8 dungeons, this could represent 422 single-character boosts. Estimates of sold titles reach into the 1,000s for the final weeks of this season. If activity is lower in MN S2, the number of title slots will also decrease, and this pattern might become even more intense. Since the cutoff is not set at a specific rating, it might turn into an arms race between boosting premades.

Looking at the drop-offs from Season 1 to Season 2 in older expansions, we could expect a drop of around 20% in the first week of Midnight S2. So instead of around 5.2 million runs, the number might be closer to 4.1-4.2 million. Given the approach of providing easier content for most players, the success rates should again be quite high this time. But that will be part of our reviews after the first 24 hours and during the next weekend. The full week 1 breakdown will go up the weekend after that.

These 8 New WoW Shirts Won’t Be Available Again for a Year

Anshlun — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 05:11:21 +0000

After a whole year, Free T-Shirt Day is back. For only today, players can follow NPCs in Stormwind and Orgrimmar to obtain unique shirt transmogs.

New for 2026

For this year’s event, Blizzard has added eight new shirts. Unlike other shirts from the event, these are Bind-on-Pickup, so you cannot purchase them at the Auction House or trade with your friends, you must loot them yourself.

Tinker’s Padded Vest (1)
Plainsrunner’s Sun Tunic (2)
Mag’har Laborer’s Tunic (3)
Painted Raptor-Tooth Shirt (4)
Spore-Pocked Lab Coat (5)
Junior Artificer’s Work Vest (6)
Priestess’ Moon Tunic (7)
Runecloth Clergy Coat (8)

When Does Free T-Shirt Day Happen?

Free T-Shirt Day runs every year on August 16th, at Midnight server time.

Free T-Shirt Day Schedule, courtesy of Today in WoW

How to Obtain These Shirts

To obtain these new shirts or others from the holiday, you must find Stormwind Entertainer in the Dwarven District or Orgrimmar Entertainer in the Valley of Honor and loot the shirts they throw on the ground for a random one.

Blizzard Buffed Mage Defensives, but Frost Mages Lost Ice Barrier

Anshlun — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 14:15:15 +0000

With Patch 12.1 now live, we asked our Frost Mage writer Kuni to comment on some of the changes Blizzard is making to the spec for Midnight Season 2.

Full Patch 12.1 Patch Notes

Frost Mage Guide

Balance Change	Writer Commentary
Developers’ notes: We’ve made some adjustments to Mage defensives with the goal of improving Mage survivability as a whole. To accomplish this, we are unifying the functionality of Improved Ice Barrier to give all specs an additional charge of their Barrier spell, plus one “rider” effect that is spec-specific.	While Fire and Arcane gaining a second charge of Barrier is unquestionably good, nerfing Frost’s Barrier from 35% health to 30% is extremely questionable. The spec already sees the lowest survival rates in Season 1, and I am unsure a 2-minute Ice Cold is going to make up for that. Nerfing Temporal Realignment hurts the more casual players who do not know damage patterns and when to defensive. Adding an AoE damage reduction talent is very odd given the state of Blizzard’s inconsistent AoE damage classifications.
New Talent: Improved Warding – Damage taken from area of effect attacks reduced by 4%.	Any help is positive, but Blizzard’s classification of what counts as “area of effect attacks” is inconsistent at best. This could, and probably should, have been a flat 4% damage reduction to be both more consistent and provide us with some parity in a game where every other class has some form of base health buff.
Improved Ice Barrier has been redesigned – Ice Barrier gains an additional charge and reduces your physical damage taken by 10%.	Frost just lost 5% max health scaling on Ice Barrier in a patch they’ve admitted we have defensive issues. This is honestly baffling.
Temporal Realignment has been updated – Now immediately heals 20% of your health and heals an additional 30% over 6 seconds.	Another baffling defensive change. If a Mage is low enough to activate this, it is going to need the healing right now, not over time. Other classes with an effect like this both activate at higher percentages, making them safer from just getting tapped and dying, and do not pop a defensive cooldown for doing so.
Glacial Bulwark has been updated – No longer grants an additional charge of Ice Barrier.	They’ve moved the second charge to the Improved Barrier class talent. An unnoted change is that Glacial Bulwark now also reduces the cooldown of Ice Block/Ice Cold by 30 seconds.
Splitting Ice has been updated – Flurry and Frostbolt effectiveness against the second target reduced to 50% (was 80%).	Not as bad a nerf as it seems on its face, as the Frostbolt damage reduction has literally never worked. This only applies to Flurry and Glacial Spike.
Fractured Frost has been updated – Ice Lance effectiveness against the second target reduced to 50% (was 100%).	This only applies to Ice Lance’s damage itself, not the resulting Shatter from the second target. Functionally an irrelevant change as Ice Lance itself is almost nothing in terms of damage.
All ability and pet damage increased by 7%.	Compensation for the Hand of Frost nerf.
Apex Talent: Hand of Frost (Rank 2) now grants 0.5%/1% increased spell damage (was 1%/2%).	This is now weak enough that Frostfire is dropping the Apex talent entirely. I’m not sure what the point of nerfing this was, it’s not like Frost had a bursty profile.

Frost Mage Writer’s Verdict

Patch 12.1 does not bring much of anything in terms of gameplay changes for Frost. The only real impactful changes were to our defensives and a minor nerf to our cleave:

Temporal Realignment has been adjusted to heal over time, rather than at once.
Ice Barrier has lost ~16% of its strength.
Glacial Bulwark now provides a 30-second cooldown reduction to Ice Cold.
Improved Warding is a new class talent that provides us with 4% AoE damage reduction.
Splitting Ice and Fractured Frost have been nerfed.
Hand of Frost’s damage buff has been nerfed, in exchange, we have been buffed with global damage.

Players Are Farming This Coiled Isle Event for Gear and Reagents

Neryssa — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 13:44:59 +0000

Curse Surges are one of the activities you can do in the new zone of Patch 12.1, the Coiled Isle. Although they seem like simple boss events at first glance, they are the only source of certain rare reagents! Let’s take a look at everything that Curse Surges offer.

To learn more about the Coiled Isle, check our guides!

Patch 12.1 Overview The Coiled Isle Zone Guide Zul’jarra’s Forces Renown

What Are Curse Surges?

Curse Surges are world events that happen in the Coiled Isle. There are five different Curse Surges, and they happen every 45 minutes. You can track these on the Events portion of your in-game map.

/way #2512 26.62 64.90 The Looming Mutagenitor
/way #2512 45.35 28.62 The Broodmother’s Nest
/way #2512 47.20 62.05 The Malformed Leviathan
/way #2512 70.98 31.91 Mlurkkr Massacre
/way #2512 67.47 77.89 Siege at the Whispering Marsh

All Curse Surges follow the same structure: Complete a progression bar that usually involves killing mobs around the Curse Surge area, and then kill the final boss that becomes vulnerable once the progression bar is filled.

Curse Surge bosses are a good source of starter gear for alts, as they drop Adventurer-level gear. In addition to that, here are things you can get from them:

Completing a Curse Surge rewards a bag that gives Gold, Voidlight Marl, and Adventurer Mistcrest.
At Renown 4 with Zul’jarra’s Forces, your first Curse Surge for the day has a chance to drop a Corrosive Soul.
At Renown 8 with Zul’jarra’s Forces, your first Curse Surge for the day has a chance to drop a piece of Warbound Veteran equipment.
The achievement Turn the Surge requires you to defeat all five Curse Surges.
The achievement Cursebreaker requires you to defeat 300 Curse Surges and rewards the Cursebreaker title.

In addition to these, defeating a Curse Surge enables Cursed Fishing and Envenomated Gathering in the nearby area via the Cursed Land and Waters buff.

Envenomated Gathering

After a Curse Surge is cleared in an area, special gathering nodes show up around the area. These are used specifically to collect Neutralized Venom Clot, a crafting reagent used in many new Patch 12.1 recipes.

For Mining and Herbalism, Envenomated nodes show up around the Curse Surge area. These have a progress bar that you need to channel. Once the channel is done, the node disappears, and green orbs appear around where the node was. Gathering these grants around 12-15 Neutralized Venom Clots per orb. These nodes are only for Neutralized Venom Clots – You will not get the main resource from those nodes.
For Skinning, skinning mobs while in an area with the Cursed Land and Waters buff has a chance to drop Neutralized Venom Clots.

Cursed Fishing

After a Curse Surge is cleared in an area, if you have access to Cursed Fishing, you can fish for Blightswarmer in the waters nearby. To gain access to Cursed Fishing, you need to complete the quest Venom Fishing: Proof is in the Ooze. You unlock the quest as you progress through the Captain Tokka reputation.

Blightswarmer does not have any use at the moment, but fishing it is required for the achievements Angler of The Coiled Isle and Toxic Trophies.

Captain Tokka Reputation

Captain Tokka is a fishing-based reputation in the Coiled Isle, leading to rewards like the epic Fishing Rod The Coiled Huntress and more. Check our guide to learn how to unlock the reputation and obtain all its rewards!

Captain Tokka Reputation Guide

WoW Hotfixes: Big Trinket Tuning Pass Before Season 2

Anshlun — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 01:04:33 +0000

Blizzard has unveiled the big trinket tuning pass ahead of Midnight Season 2.

Highlights

Over 20 trinkets have had tuning passes ahead of Season 2.
While most trinkets had buffs, a couple of overperforming ones like Gebbo’s Bottomless Bag and Crucible of Erratic Energies had steep nerfs.
Voidcores awarded by quests this week have been removed.
Slayer’s Executioner was doing twice the intended amount of damage for Arms and Fury, now fixed.
Archmage Timear can once again port you to do LFR Tomb of Sargeras!

Full Blue Post

( Source URL )

August 14 Hotifxes

August 14, 2026

Achievements

Reaching Renown 20 with Zul’jaara’s Forces now correctly grants Zul’jarra’s Forces Champion.
Family Battler of Outland and all associated type- Battler of Outland achievements now require Bloodknight Antairi (was incorrectly Gorma Asaan).

Classes

Evoker
- Devastation
  - Shattering Star now correctly benefits from Mastery: Giantkiller.
Warrior
- Arms, Fury
  - Slayer: Fixed a bug that was causing Executioner to have double the intended effect.
Warlock
- Fixed an issue where Warlock pets would continually learn Soul Leech.
- Demonology
  - Soul Harvester: fixed an issue where Shadow Bolt and Hand of Gul’dan would be disabled in the cooldown manager.

Delves

Fixed an issue where Gorgoneion Gaze would not trigger.
Fixed an issue where Ula’tek’s Gift would not deal damage.
Fixed an issue where Ula’tek’s Gift would not apply more stacks while poisoned.

Dungeons and Raids

Archmage Timear again permits players to queue for the Raid Finder wings of Tomb of Sargeras.
Ruby Life Pools
- Thunderhead
  - Fixed an issue where Electrical Discharge would sometimes fail to hit players.
Voidscar Arena
- Addressed an issue where Brutok’s Smashing Charge can charge through doors.

Items

Void-Twisted Sporbits no longer grant Nebulous Voidcores. Nebulous Voidcores obtained in this way after the end of Season 1 have been removed for Season 2.
Tanks may now roll Need on Zul’jin’s Guillotine Technique.
Survival Hunters may now roll Need on two-handed axes and swords with Agility.
Trinkets
- Coiled Fangstone: damage increased by 15%.
- Crucible of Erratic Energies: critical strike reduced by 15%.
- Fang of Umbral Malignance: damage increased by 15%.
- First Mate’s Shellward: damage increased by 25%.
- Font of Venomous Rage: damage increased by 20%.
- Gaze of the Alnseer: primary stat reduced by 20%.
- Gebbo’s Bottomless Bag: secondary stat effects reduced by 29%.
- Hex Lord’s Dooming Idol: intellect lost per stack reduced by 33% and intellect granted on use per stack increased by 15%.
- Idol of the Howling Nexus: agility and strength on proc increased by 5%.
- Knot of Writhing Serpents: damage increased by 15%.
- Knot of Writhing Serpents no longer drops for healing specializations.
- Kyrakka’s Searing Embers: healing increased by 80% and damage increased by 50%.
- Mindpiercer’s Sigil: damage increased by 15%.
- Mycolic Medicine: all healing increased by 30%.
- Preternatural Antivenom: healing increased by 30% and fixed an issue preventing the healing effect from consistently triggering after the aura has been applied to an ally depending on the source of incoming damage.
- Sapling of the Dawnroot: damage increased by 15%.
- Soulcoiler Ritual Vessel: absorb reduced by 15%.
- Sszorak’s Ferocity: damage increased by 15%.
- Tiny Electromental in a Jar: damage increased by 15%.
- Tumor of the Swarm: damage increased by 15% and healing increased by 40%.
- Unstable Felheart Crystal: absorb increased by 30%.
- Vaelgor’s Final Stare: mastery reduced by 10%.
- Vashnik’s Sanguine Rancor: damage increased by 15%.
- Vexhul’s Everflowing Gland: damage increased by 15%.

Lairs

Resolved an issue causing some Bubblefin Shorerunners to not despawn when reaching the Alluring Bubble.

Player versus Player

Fixed an issue where Ula’tek’s Gift was dealing more damage to players than expected.

Professions

Fixed an issue that prevented Flat Snakeskin Canopy from being crafted.
Fixed an issue that prevented Flat Snakeskin Canopy from being added to the decor collection when used.

Quests

Fixed a bug causing Amani Endeavor daily quests to only be offered weekly.
Players on the quest “Void Walk With Me” are now correctly advanced in the “Traitor’s Due” story when entering The Shadow Enclave.
“Story of a Memorable Victory” no longer drops outside of the Dragon Isles.
Fixed an issue preventing progress on the quest “Cut Her Strings” in Voidstorm.
“Awe of She” is no longer stalled by weather effects on the player.
Fixed a bug preventing players who are seated before entering the Worldsoul Terror as Nek’zali from properly interacting with Injured Hunters on “Fuel the Calling”.

Trading Post

The Trading Post activity “Complete ‘A Call for Aid’ Storyline” should now require only quests within that storyline.

First Wave of Midnight Season 2 Class Tuning

Anshlun — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 00:14:04 +0000

Blizzard has announced the first wave of Class Tuning for Midnight Season 2. This tuning will take effect on August 18th after the realms come back up from maintenance.

This tuning pass focuses mostly on new tier sets. Blizzard decided to reduce the power of many tier sets, while doing compensation buffs. This way, the impact of having or not having the tier bonus won’t be as stark.

Tuning Highlights

Discipline Priest is receiving hefty nerfs, having its damage nerfed by 30%, but receiving atonement buffs to compensate, with the goal of keeping the healing neutral.
Arcane Mage 2-set nerfed from 20% to 5% on Arcane Missiles.
Oracle Holy Priest receiving lots of love in many parts of its kit.
Resto Druid is getting buffs to both their damage and healing.
Blizzard is looking to speed up PvP, starting with targeted buffs and increasing the trinket bonus from 15% to 20% primary stat.

Full Blue Post

( Source URL )

Class Tuning Incoming – August 18

With the first week of the Curse of Ula’tek content update, we’re making some adjustments to low and high performers to start Season 2 next week. We’ve identified several tier sets that would greatly overperform our expected targets if we didn’t make targeted adjustments to bring their throughput to more expected power levels. At the same time, we’re increasing affected specs baseline abilities to limit the impact of the changes to their tier set bonuses.

CLASS CHANGES

DEATH KNIGHT
- Blood
  - San’layn
    - Visceral Strength now grants 6% strength (was 10%).
    - Transfusion increases Dancing Rune Weapon damage by 5% (was 10%).
    - Developers’ notes: The tooltip will be updated at a later date to reflect the new value.
- Frost
  - All ability damage increased by 9%.
  - The Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus has been updated – Now grants 1% attack speed per stack (was 2%). Now increases Icy Death Torrent damage by 2% per stack (was 4%).
DEMON HUNTER
- Devourer
  - Developers’ notes: Devourer’s 4-piece set bonus is performing significantly above expectations, so we are reducing its power. To compensate for this set bonus reduction, we are increasing all ability damage. Additionally, Devourer has been overperforming, mostly in single target, so we are reducing the damage of Reap/Cull/Eradicate while increasing the AoE damage portion of Eradicate to reduce the impact of the change in AoE combat.
  - All ability damage increased by 14%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  - Reap/Cull/Eradicate damage reduced by 12%.
  - Eradicate’s area-of-effect damage increased to 90% of base damage (was 85%).
  - The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Now generates 2 soul fragments (was 8 soul fragments) and increases Reap damage by 10% (was 20%).
DRUID
- Restoration
  - Developers’ notes: We’re increasing Restoration Druid’s healing and damage as both aspects are underperforming relative to other healers.
  - All healing increased by 4%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  - All damage increased by 20%. Does not affect PvP combat.
HUNTER
- Beast Mastery
  - Developers’ notes: The new Venomous Abyss tier set bonus isn’t quite as strong as we would like it to be, so we are increasing the effects of the 4-set bonus.
  - The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Now causes Cobra Shot to benefit from Beast Cleave at 30% effectiveness per stack (was 20%), or strike your target for an additional 20% damage per stack (was 15%).
MAGE
- Arcane
  - Developers’ notes: The Venomous Abyss set bonus is overperforming our target tuning for set bonuses. However, the amount we need to reduce its value by would be a greater impact than intended to Arcane’s overall damage, so we are also making a small positive adjustment to Arcane’s baseline.
  - All ability damage increased by 3%.
  - Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus has been updated – Arcane Missiles damage bonus reduced to 5% (was 20%).
  - Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Cumulative Power damage bonus per stack reduced to 3% (was 5%).
MONK
- Mistweaver
  - Developers’ notes: Mistweaver has been underperforming so we are targeting increases to its casted healing and the Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus to improve its performance and maintain build diversity.
  - All healing increased by 8%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  - Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Activation rate increased by 33%.
PRIEST
- Discipline
  - Developers’ notes: We are reducing Discipline Priest’s damage done and offsetting this in Atonement to not affect their overall healing as their damage has been overperforming compared to other healers. At the same time, we are increasing the damage of Entropic Rift to minimize the impact this will have on Voidweaver’s dungeon viability and help maintain high damage as one of its strengths.
  - All damage reduced by 30%. Does not affect PvP combat.
  - Entropic Rift damage increased by 20%.
  - Atonement now transfers 46% of damage into healing (was 32%). Does not affect PvP combat.
- Holy
  - Developers’ notes: We are increasing the healing throughput of Oracle so that it can serve as a competitive option against Archon. Furthermore, we are increasing the mana regeneration of Enlightenment to further help Holy Priest’s mana economy.
  - Enlightenment now regenerates mana 25% faster (was 10%).
  - Oracle
    - Words of the Wise now increases the healing of Holy Word: Serenity and Holy Word: Sanctify by 40% (was 10%). Does not affect PvP combat.
    - Prompt Prognosis healing increased by 55%. Does not affect PvP combat.
    - Preventive Measures now increases Prayer of Mending healing by 40% (was 15%). Does not affect PvP combat.
ROGUE
- Assassination
  - All damage increased by 4%.
- Subtlety
  - Developers’ notes: Subtlety’s 4-piece set bonus is overperforming expectation, so its effectiveness is being reduced. An overall buff to Subtlety’s damage is being applied to compensate.
  - All damage increased by 6%.
  - The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Effectiveness reduced to 60% (was 100%).
SHAMAN
- Enhancement
  - All damage increased by 5%.
WARLOCK
- Demonology
  - Developers’ notes: We are increasing the throughput of the Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus for Demonology so that its performance is closer to other specialization tier set bonuses.
  - The Venomous Abyss 2-set bonus has been updated – Wild Imps now Implode at 350% effectiveness to their main target (was 250%) and 315% effectiveness to other targets (was 225%).
WARRIOR
- Developers’ notes: Fury’s 4pc set bonus is currently overperforming, but Fury is in a good place overall and we don’t want to disrupt that, so we’re moving some of the value out of the 4pc bonus and into Fury’s baseline.
  Additionally, Slayer has been overperforming for both specs due to a bug causing Executioner to provide double value which was recently hotfixed. This fix has brought overall Arms performance down into our intended range, but we’re happy with where Fury has been, so their baseline damage has been increased below to compensate for this fix as well as the set bonus change.
- Fury
  - All damage increased by 6%.
  - The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Bloodthirst damage increased by 10%. During Recklessness Bloodthirst increases the critical strike bonus of Recklessness by 3%, up to 6%. (was 5%, up to 10%).

PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER

The PvP trinket set bonus now increases primary stat by 20% for damage dealers and tanks (was 15%).
- Developers’ notes: We’ve felt the pace of PvP combat has been slower than intended, so we’re increasing the primary stat of non-healer specializations to increase overall outgoing damage.
DEMON HUNTER
- Devourer
  - Developers’ notes: Devourer Demon Hunters are both very threatening and very defensible during Void Metamorphosis and Surrender to the Void has provided the opportunity to increase the duration of those windows too significantly, so its Fury generation effect is being reduced.
  - Surrender to the Void now increases Fury generated by 60% (was 100%).
DRUID
- Restoration
  - Developers’ notes: Restoration Druid received several changes in Curse of Ula’tek that improved its throughput beyond what we would like in PvP.
  - All healing reduced by 5% in PvP combat.
MAGE
- Fire
  - Developers’ notes: Fire Mage’s Venomous Abyss tier set bonus is particularly difficult to take advantage of in PvP combat, so we’re making a few tweaks with the objective of increasing its usability. We’re also decreasing Meteor’s damage to reduce Fire Mage’s burst capabilities.
  - Pyroblast damage increased by 10% in PvP combat.
  - Meteor damage decreased by 20% in PvP combat.
  - Comet Storm damage decreased by 20% in PvP combat.
  - The Venomous Abyss 4-set bonus has been updated – Now decreases the cast time of Pyroblast and Flamestrike by 30% (was 10%) and increases Pyroclasm’s damage bonus by 5% (was 10%) in PvP combat.
PALADIN
- Holy
  - Developers’ notes: Holy Paladin’s throughput has been higher than we would like, and Judgment has been too effective as an offensive tool. Avenging Crusader’s effectiveness is being increased to offset the decrease to Judgment’s damage.
  - All healing decreased by 5% in PvP combat.
  - Judgment damage decreased by 30% in PvP combat.
  - Avenging Crusader now transfers 80% of damage done into healing in PvP combat (was 55%).
- Retribution
  - Developers’ notes: Retribution had been contributing to longer PvP matches during Season 1 due to their frequent access to team utility. We’re shifting some of that effectiveness into more consistent offensive power, and additionally giving Templar an increase to Hammer of Light damage so they are a solid offensive alternative to Herald of the Sun.
  - All damage increased by 8% in PvP combat.
  - Final Verdict damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
  - Hammer of Light damage increased by 25% in PvP combat.
  - Sacrifice of the Just now reduces Blessing of Sacrifice’s cooldown by 30 seconds in PvP combat (was 60 seconds).
  - Unbreakable Spirit reduces the cooldown of affected spells by 20% in PvP combat (was 30%).
SHAMAN
- Restoration
  - Developers’ notes: We’re making some targeted adjustments to primarily improve Farseer’s viability as we begin season 2. We’re also reducing the effectiveness of Storm Conduit which we feel has been too powerful under the right circumstances.
  - All healing increased by 4% in PvP combat.
  - Storm Conduit now reduces the cooldown of affected spells by 2 seconds (was 4 seconds).
  - Storm Conduit now reduces the duration of interrupts on Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning by 40% (was 65%).
  - Farseer
    - Healing Wave, Healing Surge, and Chain Heal healing from Ancestors increased by 35% in PvP combat.
    - Hydrobubble absorption increased by 35% in PvP combat.
WARLOCK
- Destruction
  - Soul Fire damage reduced by 30% in PvP combat.

Spark of Tides Cap Increasing to Four Next Week

Neryssa — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 18:43:23 +0000

With the release of Patch 12.1, some players have been noticing inconsistencies in the acquisition for the Spark of Tides crafting reagent. Some very lucky players ended up obtaining up to three of them this week!

Spark crafting is incredibly strong in the first weeks of a new season. To alleviate concerns about players getting ahead of everyone else in the early-season gearing process, Blizzard has announced a quick solution: The Spark of Tides cap is increased from two to four with the next weekly reset.

( Source URL )

To address this, we’re planning to bring the maximum number of Sparks to 4 next week.

That change will go in with the weekly reset on August 18.

Looking for recommendations on where to spend your first sparks this season? Then check our class guides!

Icy Veins Midnight Class Guides

Patch 12.1 Is Here, Midnight Season 2 Details, Housing Updates, Shop Promos: WoW Weekly

Neryssa — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 17:27:29 +0000

The first week of Patch 12.1 is here, and Blizzard is offering a big weekly WoW summary to go with it! We’ve journeyed to the Coiled Isle to continue with the Midnight campaign, with a cool video to go with it. We’re also checking details for the start of Midnight Season 2, with the full unlock schedule!

In addition to these, a new Twitch Drop for the Sorcerer’s Grassy Garb is currently ongoing until September 8. We’re also looking into some of the new Housing updates, which includes Blueprints, Pets roaming your house, and four new Endeavors coming with the patch!

Lastly, Battle.net Game Deals are back! Midnight is up to 40% off through September 13, and through August 24, in-game services are 33% off, and Warcraft RTS games are 50% off!

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WoW Weekly: Curse of Ula’tek, Blueprints, Endeavors, and More!

Each week brings you adventurous discovery and fresh rewards—be sure to check in to learn more about what awaits you in Azeroth.

Curse of Ula’tek Now Live! Journey to the Coiled Isle

A new threat coils in the shadows as the Curse of Ula’tek content update draws champions to the Coiled Isle.

Uncover the secrets buried within its cursed depths as the Midnight Campaign continues, face venomous new dangers in a new raid and dungeon, prepare for fresh challenges when Midnight Season 2 begins, and much more!

Mind the venom, and we’ll see you on the Coiled Isle!

Click to Learn More

Midnight: Curse of Ula’tek Pre-Season Details

The Curse of Ula’tek content update is now live, and you still have time during this pre-season week to hunt Rares, seek rewards, gear up, and more!

While Midnight Season 2 is in a pre-season state, certain content and rewards are not yet available.

For more details on what’s coming with the Curse of Ula’tek content update, read our Curse of Ula’tek overview, and find the full Season 2 unlock schedule, including pre-season details, in our previously published article.

Click to Learn More

Twitch Drop Now Live! Get the Ensemble: Sorcerer’s Grassy Garb Transmog

Watch 4 hours of eligible World of Warcraft content on any channel on Twitch.tv from now until September 8 at 10:00 am PDT while these Twitch Drops are active to claim the Ensemble: Sorcerer’s Grassy Garb transmog set.

Start Time: August 11 at 10:00 am PDT
End Time: September 8 at 10:00 am PDT

Frequently asked questions and details on linking your Twitch account can be found in our previously published article.

Click to Learn More

Curse of Ula’tek Housing Updates: New Blueprints, Pets, and More Arrive for Your Home

The Curse of Ula’tek update brings new ways to shape, share, and settle into your Housing space. With Blueprints to save and swap your favorite builds, Pet Beds to welcome your trusted companions indoors, and a variety of new updates to expand your decorating options, your home is ready for a little more personality.

Blueprints let you capture a favorite Housing layout and keep it ready for whenever inspiration strikes. Save a single room, your interior, your exterior, or your entire home, then swap between builds any time you want to refresh a space, test a new idea, or return to an old favorite without rebuilding it from scratch.

Visit your neighborhood vendors, gather your favorite companions, and stop by the official forums to find and share Blueprints with other players—then let your creativity run wild as you make your home into a space worth saving, sharing, and showing off with the Housing updates in Curse of Ula’tek.

Click to Learn More

Undertake Four New Endeavors in Your Neighborhood!

Your neighborhood is about to receive new visitors, each bringing a variety of tasks, stories, and items to purchase. Meet back up with Griftah for “fine Amani items”, lend a helping hand to the Ohn’ahran centaurs, attend a candle-making workshop with the kobolds of the Ringing Deeps, and relax with the worldly tortollans.

With the launch of Curse of Ula’tek, the Knock-off Amani Endeavor is available immediately and ties into activities on the Coiled Isle. After that, you’ll be able to choose from an array of Endeavors as new visitors make their way to your neighborhood.

Players may also notice new additions around their Neighborhood based on the Endeavors they have completed, both old and new, so keep an eye out during your visits. We look forward to seeing you in the neighborhood!

Click to Learn More

Epic Savings Await on Midnight and More!

Battle.net Game Deals are back, bringing limited-time savings on World of Warcraft®: Midnight, select game services, and more!

Through September 13

Jump Into the Midnight Fight for 40% Off

With up to 40% off World of Warcraft: Midnight, it’s time to return to the legendary kingdom of Quel’Thalas, explore new and reimagined zones, join the fight against Xal’atath in the battle between Light and Void, and put down roots in your own cozy corner of Azeroth with Housing.

Adventure is Calling

Through August 24

Save Up to 33% on Midnight Game Services

Control your destiny with up to 33% off on World of Warcraft: Midnight Game Services, including the Enhanced Level 80 Character Boost, Name Changes, Race Changes, Faction Change Packs, and Paid Character Transfers.

Shop Game Services

Through August 24

Save 50% on Warcraft® RTS Games

Celebrate 30 years of Warcraft history and travel back to the beginning with remastered versions of the adventures that laid the foundation for Azeroth’s most epic stories!

Relive the Legend

Let us journey alongside you, regale you with tales of adventure in faraway places, map out roads less traveled, and direct your gaze toward the legendary challenges that await. Return each week to the World of Warcraft news site, where together, we’ll uncover your destiny.

Venomous Abyss’s Final Two Bosses Drop Gear 10 Item Levels Past Max

Maursean — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 13:26:29 +0000

Patch 12.1 brings the second season of the Midnight expansion, and like previous tiers, it features a brand new raid. Let’s take a look at item levels for each boss and the vaults, as well as which boss drops tier sets, ahead of its release on August 18 (NA) / August 19 (EU).

Looking For Raid

Across LFR, Normal, and Heroic difficulties, the bosses award the same rank progression, but each difficulty rewards gear on a different track.

Midnight Season 2 made some big changes to the Great Vault and bonus rolls, rewarding players with one gear track higher. You can read the whole recap from our initial post. (Note: Bonus rolls will not be available from the vault until week 2.)

Boss(es) + Great Vault	Track Level
Nek’zali the Soulcoiler	Veteran 1/6 (279)
Entombed Sentinels, The Lost Explorers	Veteran 2/6 (282)
Vashnik, Sszorak, The Twin Fangs	Veteran 3/6 (285)
The Coiled Altar, Ula’tek	Veteran 4/6 (289)

Great Vault	Champion 1/6 (292)
Bonus Rolls	Champion 1/6 (292)

Normal

Boss(es) + Great Vault	Track Level
Nek’zali the Soulcoiler	Champion 1/6 (292)
Entombed Sentinels, The Lost Explorers	Champion 2/6 (295)
Vashnik, Sszorak, The Twin Fangs	Champion 3/6 (298)
The Coiled Altar, Ula’tek	Champion 4/6 (302)

Great Vault	Hero 1/6 (305)
Bonus Rolls	Hero 1/6 (305)

Heroic

Boss(es) + Great Vault	Track Level
Nek’zali the Soulcoiler	Hero 1/6 (305)
Entombed Sentinels, The Lost Explorers	Hero 2/6 (308)
Vashnik, Sszorak, The Twin Fangs	Hero 3/6 (311)
The Coiled Altar, Ula’tek	Hero 4/6 (315)

Great Vault	Myth 1/6 (318)
Bonus Rolls	Myth 1/6 (318)

Mythic

Players will see a slight change for Mythic difficulty. The Great Vault and bonus rolls will offer players fully upgraded Myth track gear (Myth 6/6, item level 334).

New this season, Blizzard increased the rewards for the last two Mythic bosses heading into the season to compensate for their difficulty level. Loot, and any bonus rolls from those final two bosses, will drop as item level 344, or Myth 9/6 gear.

Boss(es) + Great Vault	Track Level
Nek’zali the Soulcoiler	Myth 1/6 (318)
Entombed Sentinels, The Lost Explorers	Myth 2/6 (321)
Vashnik, Sszorak, The Twin Fangs	Myth 3/6 (324)
The Coiled Altar, Ula’tek	Myth 9/6 (344)*

Great Vault (Bosses 1-6)	Myth 6/6 (334)
Great Vault (Bosses 7-8)	Myth 9/6 (344)
Bonus Rolls (Bosses 1-6)	Myth 6/6 (334)
Bonus Rolls (Bosses 7-8)	Myth 9/6 (344)

*The from Ula’tek can only be traded for Myth track gear matching that tier piece original boss’s item level, NOT at Myth 9/6.

Tier Sets

Five bosses throughout the raid drop tier pieces for certain slots. Ula’tek drops the Curio, allowing players to purchase a tier piece for a certain slot.

Boss	Tier Piece
The Twin Fangs	Head
Vashnik the Malignant	Chest
Entombed Sentinels	Hands
Sszorak	Legs
The Lost Explorers	Shoulders
Ula’tek	Curio

You can check out all the information on the Venomous Abyss Raid below.

The Venomous Abyss Raid Guide

Player Housing Pets Are Here in WoW Patch 12.1 — Here’s How They Work

Emma — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 08:56:57 +0000

Pets have finally landed in Player Housing with Patch 12.1—and here are the details!

Pets can be placed in your house through various pet bed decor items, sold by Agratha (/way 53.62, 54.46) in Razorwind Shores, and Perry Winkles (/way 53.82, 41.69) in Founder’s Point. These items cost 5 decor budget each.

To assign a pet to a pet bed, interact with the decor item through the customize option while in Edit House mode. Here you will be able to choose which pet to assign, and whether you want the pet to be roaming or stationary. Currently, only non-combat pets can be assigned to pet beds.

When stationary, the pet will appear on top of the bed pet item, as seen with Mr. Bigglesworth below.

Roaming pets will walk around within a radius of the decor item, as seen with the other pets in the image.

And yes—pets can also be placed outside too! However, these pets are limited to stationary only.

But what happens if you want a house full of Boneshards, but you only have three? No worries! You can assign the same pet multiple times to different ped beds!

However, the system does come with some limits. You can currently place up to 100 pet beds inside, and 25 pet beds outside of your home. These limits can also be viewed when importing housing Blueprints.

Overall, the addition of pets makes Player Housing feel much more alive. It’s a perfect opportunity to display some of your collection, and perhaps even 12.1’s new secret pet!

The Easiest Mount in Patch 12.1? Here’s How to Get the Delver’s Arcane Golem

Emma — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 08:56:40 +0000

Patch 12.1 brings a whole list of new mounts to collect, but one of them is particularly fast. Here’s how to get the Coiled Isle’s easiest mount!

Delver’s Arcane Golem Mount

The Delver’s Arcane Golem comes from one of Patch 12.1’s new Delves: Gnarldor Isle.

You can find the entrance in the south of the Coiled Isle. This Delve is outdoor, so mount up and head to /way 60, 68.

Once there, loot the Sturdy Chest hidden behind one of the buildings, and there you have it!

Patch 12.1 Hotfixes – Campaign Gating, Delve Vault Fixes

Anshlun — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:49:55 +0000

Blizzard has posted the hotfixes for Patch 12.1. These include fixing issues with campaign gating, Great Vault item levels, and Corrosive Codex.

Campaign of Curse of Ula’tek now requires account-wide completion of the main Midnight Campaign
Great Vault had issues with item levels from Ritual Sites, now fixed.
Delves now all properly award Vault credit
Naigtal and Val sparks of war quests are being removed with Season 2 start.

( Source URL )

August 13th Hotfixes

August 13, 2026

Classes

Spirit Walk in the Vaults of Atal’utek should now apply to pets.
Warlock
- Affliction
  - Fixed an issue where Seed of Corruption would not consume Shard Instability on cast.

Delves

Fixed an issue where the Delve Shadowguard Point: Shadowguard Survivor would not grant Great Vault credit upon completion.
Fixed a bug causing Ritual Sites to appear to grant Great Vault rewards that were inconsistent with the available Tiers. Next week, the Great Vault will reward the intended tiers 1-6 for week 1 activities.
Fixed an issue with the Corrosive Codex that caused Corrosive Powers unlocked on one character to not show up as available options in the Corrosive Codex for other characters.

Dungeons

Players who have not yet completed precursor campaign quests should now be able to be summoned to the Vaults of Atal’Utek by Altar of Fangs dungeon groups.
Altar of Fangs
- Addressed an issue where Uncoiled Writhe constantly switches target with Spiteful Hunt.
- Addressed an issue where interacting with Infusion Totem may fail to trigger the event.
Voidscar Arena
- Addressed an issue where defeating Aegyra the Unyielding while she’s channeling Earthsplitter can fail to open the door to the arena.

Items

Fixed an issue that caused Venomjade Necklace to sometimes be invisible.

Lairs

Players cannot receive loot from Nymrissa Wavecaller more than once per week in World difficulty.

Player versus Player

Gorgoneion Gaze no longer petrifies players indefinitely.
Fixed a bug preventing Otherworldly Sparks of War from dropping in Naigtal and Val activities. The Naigtal and Val Sparks of War quests will no longer be offered when Season 2 begins.

Professions

[With realm restarts] Jewelcrafting and Tailoring Profession Knowledge books from the forces of Zul’jarra should now correctly award profession Knowledge. Players who got the books prior to this fix should be given the Knowledge retroactively.
Fixed an issue that caused Contract: Zul’jarra’s Forces to sometimes incorrectly apply Amani Tribe Contract when used.

Quests

Fixed an issue where players could begin Curse of Ula’tek campaign quests without first completing the main Midnight campaign.
- Developers’ notes: The Curse of Ula’tek campaign was intended to require account completion of the main Midnight campaign before it could be started, as completing these features out of order could result in players being in a misleading or confusing state. Players who have not yet started the Curse of Ula’tek campaign must now complete the main Midnight campaign on one character per account. Any player-characters who have already started the Curse of Ula’tek campaign should be unaffected and can continue it and complete it.
Players who completed “Legends of the Haranir” quests split among multiple characters will now be able to resume “The Empty Cradle” questline.
“Cold As Ice” no longer sends players on a cold canoe ride into the abyss.
Removed an incorrect map marker for “A Suspicious Stew”.
Bob has been found and returned to his bartending.

World

Fixed a bug that could cause players to disconnect when entering the Lunarfall Garrison Excavation area.

Void-Scarred Just Pulled Ahead of Annihilator for Devourer Demon Hunter

Anshlun — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 20:45:38 +0000

With Patch 12.1 now live, we asked our Devourer Demon Hunter Guide writers Wordup and Voodoo to comment on some of the changes Blizzard is doing with the spec for Midnight Season 2.

Full Patch 12.1 Patch Notes

Devourer Demon Hunter Guide

Balance Change	Writer Commentary
Developers’ notes: We’re reducing the scaling of Devourer’s Mastery: Monster Within to help other stats to compete and compensating with an overall ability damage buff. Between that and a few more targeted changes, we expect damage during Void Metamorphosis to be slightly reduced while damage outside of Metamorphosis is significantly increased.	Overall change is Neutral, but shifts damage profiles around for Devourer. This is a much larger impact for Annihilator, as it nerfs Collapsing Star much heavier than the damage sources of Void-Scarred.
Mastery: Monster Within has been updated – Bonus damage during Void Metamorphosis reduced by 66%.	Large impact to the damage of Void Metamorphosis, and the damage of Collapsing Star. Big overall nerf to Annihilator.
Collapsing Star damage increased by 12%.	Small buff to offset Mastery and Impending Apocalypse nerfs.
Eradicate damage reduced by 6% and secondary target damage reduced by 15%.	Actually a Reap nerf, reducing Single Target and AoE damage (through Eradicate) for both Annihilator and Void-Scarred.
All ability damage increased by 32%.	Mixed result to offset the Mastery nerf. Larger buff for Void-Scarred than for Annihilator.

Devourer Demon Hunter Writer’s Verdict

Our writers’ verdict: “With all of these changes combined, this does successfully move a large amount of power outside of Void Metamorphosis and moves it to abilities cast outside of it. With these changes combined with the new Season 2 Tier Set, Annihilator has fallen slightly behind (largely due to the heavy impact on Collapsing Star), with Void-Scarred seeing significant improvements.”

Players Are Picking Up Four Easy Gear Upgrades in Midnight Season 2

Maursean — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 17:37:14 +0000

Midnight Season 2 lets players acquire four pieces of Veteran gear from Renown vendors.

The new quests are offered by the Renown vendors of each major faction.

Similar to the first season, the renown vendors are making you do a world event located in each of the four main zones.

As a refresher, here’s what is offered. The original post from back at expansion launch can be found here with similar details.

Players will need Renown 7 with The Singularity. You’ll need to win a Stormarion Assault world event to get the Crucible of Erratic Energies trinket.
Players need Renown 8 with The Hara’ti. You’ll need to discover one of the relics from the Legends of the Haranir world event, rewarding you with a waist.
Renown 9 with the Silvermoon Court requires you to complete Saltheril’s Soiree, rewarding players with a helm piece.
Renown 9 with the Amani Tribe requires you to participate in the Abundance event, and rewards players with one of two neck choices: Crit/Haste or Vers Mastery.

Crest Upgrades and a Trinket That Still Punches Above Its Track

While the track is slightly lower than in Season 1, where all gear was on the Champion track, this gear does represent a fast catch up for alts and even slight item level boosts, since the gear can be upgraded to item level 295 for crests.

In addition, the Crucible of Erratic Energies trinket, the one acquired from completing a Stormarion Assault, gave some classes and specialization a lot of power early on in the expansion. This trinket can be upgraded to item level 295 once you get it, so this makes it competitive with a lot of early season gear, especially on alts.

WoW Secret Hunters Crack Patch 12.1’s First Hidden Reward — Here’s How to Get Slitherfang

Emma — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:47:44 +0000

The WoW Secret Finding & Collections Discord have uncovered the first secret of Patch 12.1!

Players can get their hands on an adorable little snake pet, Slitherfang, from the new Altar of Fangs dungeon—just in time to add him to your house!

To obtain this pet, you’ll need a full group to complete a ritual inside the Mythic version of Altar of Fangs. Here’s the message from Bellzzar, who figured out the secret with their guild mates.

The Ritual

After killing the first boss, players will find interactable objects around the first boss arena. One player must interact with the Ritual Reagent, while the other four take the Reversal Charms.

Next, defeat the second boss, after which an Ascendant Serpent will appear with four totems. Clear the trash but DO NOT touch the totems. The four players who took the Reversal Charms then stand next to the four totems, whilst the Ritual Reagent player goes to the serpent mob.

Once in position, an extra action button will appear. While targeting the mob, the Ritual Reagent player uses theirs first, followed by the four Reversal Charm players. The mob will then transform into Slitherfang, and you can click to claim your pet.

Thanks to Bellzzar and their guild mates for figuring this one out!

These WoW Toys Are Too Fun Not to Collect in Patch 12.1

Neryssa — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:46:51 +0000

Toys are some of the most sought after collectibles players can hunt in World of Warcraft, always giving players fun things to do. Here is a complete list of toys you can find in Patch 12.1!

Patch 12.1 – Curse of Ula’tek Overview

Available Toys in Patch 12.1

Below, we have a list of all toys you can obtain in your journey through Patch 12.1. Standout toys include a lot of transformation toys with low cooldowns and long durations, and a Gold Star toy you can toss onto your friends!

Toy	Source	What Does it Do?
Ancient Amani Mask	The Coiled Isle Sunken Diver’s Chest treasure	Adds an Amani mask to your character. Buff cannot be removed. Lasts 10 minutes, 15 minute cooldown.
Book of Storytime	The Coiled Isle Living Legend side questline	Adds a sepia filter to your screen. Lasts 1 hour, 1 hour cooldown.
Companion Command Crystal	Preyhunter’s Journey Season 2 – Rank 4 Reward	Commands an active companion pet to kill a nearby critter. 1 minute cooldown.
Corrosive Victory	Azta’rec Delve Nemesis Fangs for the Memories Quest	Your character emanates a snake illusion. Lasts 30 minutes, 1 hour cooldown.
Cursed Badge of the Soulcoilers	The Coiled Isle Student of Hissstory achievement	Transforms your character into a Ula’tek Brute. Lasts 1 hour, 10 minute cooldown.
Effigy of Dundun	Delver’s Journey Season 2 – Rank 3 Reward	Transforms your character into Dundun. Lasts 30 minutes, 1 hour cooldown.
Forgotten Memento	The Coiled Isle Grave of Someone Forgotten treasure	Transforms your character into a ghostly male Amani troll, and changes your name to “Unknown”. Lasts 1 hour, 10 minute cooldown.
G-00	Midnight Engineering Pattern	Collects loot from mobs 40 yards around you. Requires Engineering to use.
Gold Starfish	The Coiled Isle Navigator Otoola vendor in Tokka’s Landing Costs 10 Pristine Polygon	Your character displays a starfish. 10 second cooldown.
Idol of Blue Water and Blue Sky	The Coiled Isle Abandoned Amani Privateer’s Cache treasure	Transforms your character into a dolphin, increasing underwater swim speed by 300% for 20 seconds. Only usable in the Coiled Isle. 1 minute cooldown.
Idol of Ula’tek	Zul’jarra’s Forces Renown Rank 13 Reward	Transforms your character into a Child of Ula’tek. 1 hour duration, 10 minute cooldown.
Jaktu’s Cursed Blade	The Coiled Isle Jaktu’s Cursed Blade treasure	Haunts you for 10 minutes. Jak’tu will occasionally show up and laugh at you. 10 minute cooldown.
Malfunctioning Staff	The Coiled Isle Malfunctioning Staff treasure	Summons the image of a mage that does a dance referencing Club Penguin. 1 minute cooldown.
Otoola’s Recognition	The Coiled Isle Navigator Otoola vendor in Tokka’s Landing Costs 10 Pristine Polygon	Tosses a gold star to a friend or foe. They’re a gold star! 30 second cooldown.
Pearl of Jubilation	The Coiled Isle Brine-Crusted Chest treasure	Transforms your character into a dancing crab for 5 minutes. 1 hour cooldown.
Preyhunter’s Masquerade	Prey System Drops from Ral’kala	Transforms your character into a floating mask. Lasts 1 hour, 10 minute cooldown.
Preyhunter’s Trophy Stand	Preyhunter’s Journey Season 2 – Rank 4 Reward	Summons a trophy stand where you can display the trophies from your earned Prey achievements. 5 minute cooldown.
Ula’tek’s Sssacrificial Rain	The Coiled Isle Tour of Duty: The Coiled Isle	Enemy players killed while the toy is active melt into a pile of goo. Lasts 30 minutes, 30 minute cooldown.

Say Goodbye to 72 Different Dyes — Patch 12.1 Makes Player Housing Much Simpler

Emma — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 11:37:02 +0000

With Patch 12.1, Player Housing dyes have been reworked—and thank goodness they have!

If you logged in on patch day to find Hesta Forlath spamming your mail, you weren’t on your own! In her messages, she explains that the dye system has been simplified. While the colour range stays the same, you will not need 72 different dyes in your inventory anymore, but only 9.

Instead of having separate items for “Alliance (ick) Blue Dye” and “Midnight Blue Dye”, players will now only need a new Blue Housing Dye, which can be used to apply any of the blue shades to your decor items.

Dye pigments have also been removed, with dyes now being crafted directly from any of the previously used herbs. And to streamline the process even further, players with the Alchemy and Inscription professions can craft directly at the dye station in Neighbourhoods!

The change is a good one for convenience, but add in the 63 saved bag slots, and it seems pretty great!

Midnight Season 2 Class Tuning Plans and Schedule

Starym — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 23:38:24 +0000

Blizzard have shared when they plan to implement class tuning passes for the first few weeks of Season 2! It’s the standard cadence of a tuning pass once per week for the first three weeks, with a larger gap after that.

The big thing to note here is that these are just the planned passes, with changes certainly possible, as well as additional smaller hotfixes throughout the weeks. Data will be gathered on a week-by-week basis and the passes will arrive with the reset. The changes themselves will be conservative until the final boss goes down on Mythic. There will be exceptions if there are really huge outliers in performance, however. So, here’s the planned tuning schedule:

August 18 – Season 2 start
August 25 – Post-first Season 2 week
September 1 – Post-second Season 2 week
September 22 – Post-fifth Season 2 week
Additional tuning passes as needed

( Source URL )

With the launch of Curse of Ula’tek, the first major content update for Midnight, we’re sharing an updated look at our class tuning roadmap for Season 2.

The Curse of Ula’tek content update brings a broad set of class updates along with the opening of the Coiled Isle and its new challenges. As we monitor class performance across the Venomous Abyss, Mythic Keystone dungeons, PvP, Delves, and other endgame activities, we will use a combination of internal data and player feedback to identify opportunities for targeted adjustments, while preserving the strengths and gameplay identity of each specialization.

Our next planned tuning pass will arrive with the start of Midnight Season 2 on August 18, when Normal, Heroic, and Mythic difficulties of the Venomous Abyss open and the new Mythic+ and PvP season begins. We expect to follow with additional adjustments after reviewing the first full week of live Season 2 data.

Thereafter, we will continue to evaluate balance as players progress through PvP, Mythic difficulty, push higher Mythic Keystone levels, and acquire Season 2 class sets and optimized gear. Early progression tuning will generally be conservative, especially before Ula’tek has been defeated on Mythic difficulty, to avoid unnecessary disruption to competitive progression. That said, if we notice unhealthy trends begin to emerge, we’ll quickly develop tuning changes to ensure a more equitable start to the season. Once more representative data is available, we’ll make broader adjustments where appropriate and schedule additional check-in passes throughout the season.

Our currently-planned tuning dates are listed below. Planned changes will be applied with scheduled weekly maintenance in each region.

August 18 – Midnight Season 2 begins
August 25 – First week of Season 2 tuning
September 1 – Second week of Season 2 tuning
September 22 – Fifth week of Season 2 tuning
(Additional tuning passes as needed)

Again, these dates are subject to change. We may also adjust classes via hotfix, especially disruptive bugs, or tuning issues, at any time. We expect to have roughly four additional tuning passes between September 22 and the start of Season 3. The exact dates of those tuning passes are still to be determined.

Thank you for your continued feedback. We look forward to seeing you on the Coiled Isle and in Midnight Season 2!

This Housing Endeavor Portal Skips the Flight to the Coiled Isle

Neryssa — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:38:37 +0000

The Coiled Isle is the new zone in Patch 12.1. Located East of Zul’Aman, flying back and forth there can be kind of a pain. If you don’t want to leave your Hearthstone there, here are two portal options you can use to quickly get to the new area!

Patch 12.1 Overview Coiled Isle Zone Guide

Amani Endeavor Neighborhood Portal

The first portal available to players on the Coiled Isle is a temporary one, available from Player Housing. The Amani Neighborhood Endeavor offers a portal to the Coiled Isle! The portal is located right in the middle of the Town Hall in both Founder’s Point and Razorwind Shores.

As the Amani Endeavor is the only available choice for this cycle, any neighborhoods with an active Endeavor should have access to the portal.

This is a one-way portal to the Coiled Isle.

Prey Sanctum Portal

Note: This portal is not available this week. It will be available starting the week of August 18, with the start of Midnight Season 2.

The second Coiled Isle portal option comes from the Prey system! As you progress through the seasonal questline starting with Prey: A Slithering Threat, you will gain access to a portal to the Coiled Isle from Astalor’s Sanctum in Silvermoon.

This is a two-way portal that remains active even after the seasonal questline is complete!

One Delve Map a Week Is Your Only Hero Track Gear in Midnight Pre-Season

Anshlun — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:19:54 +0000

While most sources of loot during the Pre-Season week of Midnight Season 2 are limited to Veteran or Champion track loot, there is one source that still gives you Hero track.

Delve Maps

The source is Trovehunter’s Bounty, also known as Delve Map. Upon using this and completing a Tier 8 or higher Delve, you’re guaranteed a Hero Track 1/6 piece.

How to Obtain Trovehunter’s Bounty in Midnight Season 2

There are multiple ways to obtain a Delve Map in Midnight, however, Season 2 added a very simple one. Completing Purging the Vaults, the weekly quest on Coiled Isle, awards a Trovehunter’s Bounty.

Note that you may only receive one map per week per character, so if the map isn’t a reward from the quest, it means you have already looted one this week.

Completing the weekly will also award you with one Venom-Cursed Fragment, which can be turned into a random Champion Track item when you combine two of them.

How to Unlock World Quests on The Coiled Isle in Patch 12.1

Anshlun — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:43:15 +0000

Upon arriving at the isle, you’ll notice the lack of a staple of modern WoW: World Quests. This is just a temporary situation.

World Quests in the Coiled Isle are unlocked by progressing in the Patch 12.1 campaign. Namely, you need to finish Chapter 4 of the campaign, Original Sin, and complete the follow-up quest that takes you into the new dungeon, Altar of Fangs.

The path is short: follow your Campaign quests until you reach The Vaults of Atal’Utek: Altar of Fangs, the quest after Chapter 4. You will need to talk to Lady Liadrin at the entrance of the dungeon and then complete the dungeon.

No Group Required

Note that you can complete the quest in a Follower Dungeon; it doesn’t need to be Heroic or Mythic.

Final Step to Unlock World Quests

After completing the dungeon quest, you’ll head back to Tokka’s Landing and take part in a short RP scene to complete Nature of Her Wounds. Completing this quest grants you the Coiled Isle World Quests aura, unlocking them permanently.

Unlocking World Quests for Other Characters

Similarly to unlocking The Coiled Isle itself, you only need to worry about this process once. The World Quest unlock is account-wide, meaning all your other characters will have access to them immediately once you complete Nature of Her Wounds.

How Long Until You Unlock Coiled Isle World Quests?

After unlocking the island, you should be able to unlock world quests in about an hour or less of gameplay, which entails completing Chapters 3 and 4 of the Campaign, the Altar of Fangs dungeon, and the quick final quest.

Zul’jarra’s Forces Renown Rewards: Every Unlock in WoW Patch 12.1

Emma — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:32:18 +0000

Patch 12.1 is finally live! We’ve landed on the Coiled Isle, and there’s a new 20-level Renown faction to start earning rewards with: Zul’jarra’s Forces. Here’s everything you can get your hands on, including mounts, cosmetics, and a crazy new title as you rise through the ranks.

Zul’jarra’s Forces Renown

Zul’jarra’s Forces is a new 20 level Renown faction, offering a whole host of new rewards. Here’s everything you can get your hands on from Jan’sari the Watchful on the Coiled Isle.

Renown 1

You have begun to earn Renown with Zul’jarra’s Forces

Renown 2

Cloak of the Hash’ura unlocks for purchase. The quest Counter-Curse Bounty can be picked up, which rewards a pair of Veteran bracers.

Renown 3

You may now purchase Amani Supply Sack, Amani Storage Crate and Amani Wayfarer’s Torch. You may now find treasures on the Coile Isle.

Renown 4

Your first Curse Surge boss now has a daily chance to drop a Corrosive Soul.

Renown 5

You may now purchase profession recipes from Jan’sari the Watchful. You may purchase a Fishing recipe to create an Ula’tek Snakehead Lure.

Renown 6

You may now purchase profession knowledge. Speak with Jan’sari the Watchful to receive a handful of Voidlight Marl.

Renown 7

You may purchase Stitched Blisterfang Bag, Fanged Scaleskin Pouch, and Vilescar Weapon Rack.

Renown 8

Gain 1 Spirit Corrosion for use at the Altar of Corrosion. Curse Surge bosses now have a daily chance to drop a piece of Warbound Veteran equipment.

Renown 9

You may now find Unfortunate Scout’s Satchels on the Coiled Isle. You may start the quest Spoils of the Vaults, rewarding a pair of Champion bracers.

Renown 10

Tabard of the Hash’ura unlocks for purchase. Speak with Du’gal at the Vaults of Atal’Utek to start a questline leading to the Spirit of Tok’jara mount.

Renown 11

Wrapped Scaleskin Urn, Cracked Vilescar Urn, and Charmed Blisterfang Urn unlock for purchase.

Renown 12

Snek’zali unlocks for purchase. Speak with Jan’sari the Watchful to receive a handful of Voidlight Marl.

Renown 13

Idol of Ula’tek unlocks for purchase.

Renown 14

Gain 1 Spirit Corrosion for use at the Altar of Corrosion.

Renown 15

Amani Worship Candle, Amani Ritual Candles, and Amani Ritual Totem unlock for purchase. Arsenal: Armaments of the Loa unlocks for purchase.

Renown 16

Shoulderguards of the Hash’ura unlock for purchase.

Renown 17

Indigo Coiled Horror unlocks for purchase.

Renown 18

Sealed Serpentine Reliquary, Opened Serpentine Reliquary, and Ula’tek Ritual Monolith unlock for purchase. Speak with Jan’sair the Watchful to receive a handful of Voidlight Marl

Ensemble: Warplate of Nalorakk’s Chosen, Ensemble: Chainmail of Akil’zon’s Chosen, Ensemble: Battlegear of Halazzi’s Chosen, and Ensemble: Vestments of Jan’alai’s Chosen unlock for purchase.

Renown 19

Violet-Backed Skyfang unlocks for purchase.

Renown 20

You may bear the title “Hash’ura of Zul’jarra” to honor your contributions to Zul’jarra’s Forces. Mantle of Nalorakk unlocks for purchase.

Axe of the Amani unlocks for purchase.

Lucky WoW Players Can Get 3 Sparks of Tides This Week — Here’s How

Emma — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:17:24 +0000

Some of your lucky characters might be able to get their hands on three Spark of Tides this week!

Midnight Season 2 – Spark of Tides

Spark of Tides is Midnight Season 2’s new Spark, used to make crafted gear and weapons, providing large gear upgrades, especially at the start of a season.

All characters will be able to get their hands on 2 Spark of Tides this week: one from the quest Trailing Xal’atath, and the other from the PvP weekly quest.

Midnight: World Tour

Lucky characters (but most likely alts), who haven’t completed the Midnight: World Tour quest from the start of the expansion will be able to access a third Spark of Tides this week!

Unfortunately, if your character already completed this quest in Season 1, you will not be able to repeat the quest.

It’s uncertain whether Blizzard intends to fix this. But at least for now, your alts could be getting ahead of the gearing game!

Players Getting Stuck in Not Closing Lairs Issue Fixed

Starym — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:03:37 +0000

Lairs had a bit of a problem yesterday, as they, well, refused to end. Players would defeat the Lair boss and the instance wouldn’t close, continuing to look for more players. This meant that players couldn’t leave without getting the deserter debuff. The issue has been hotfixed a short while ago and should work as intended.

( Source URL )

With a hotfix that is now live on all realms, we have addressed this issue.

Now, once players are in combat with the boss, the queue should no longer look for additional players.

Players Are Missing Season 1 Raid Trophies, Fix Is on the Way

Starym — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 23:22:42 +0000

It seems that late bloomers had some bad luck in the Season 1 to Season 2 rollover! A few players who got their raid trophies in the final hours of S1 have not received them. This includes many trophies from all three initial Midnight raids. Blizzard are working on a fix and are looking to return the trophies to affected player within a week or so.

( Source URL )

Due to an unexpected bug, a few players who participated in raid kills during the last few hours of Season 1 did not receive their intended Trophies. Specifically, affected players did not receive:

March on Quel’Danas Vanquisher’s Aureate Trophy
March on Quel’Danas Vanquisher’s Argent Trophy
March on Quel’Danas Vanquisher’s Gleaming Trophy
Dreamrift Vanquisher’s Aureate Trophy
Dreamrift Vanquisher’s Argent Trophy
Dreamrift Vanquisher’s Gleaming Trophy
Voidspire Vanquisher’s Aureate Trophy
Voidspire Vanquisher’s Argent Trophy
Voidspire Vanquisher’s Gleaming Trophy

We’re working on a fixup that will grant the missing Trophies to players who earned them during the impacted timeframe, and we expect to do that grant in the next week or so.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Patch 12.1 Known Issues: Housing Bugs Dominate the List

Anshlun — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 22:44:26 +0000

With Patch 12.1 being live, Blizzard has posted their typical known issues list. Most issues are affecting Housing right now, including one making locals appear midair.

Two important bugs from Housing:

Entry rooms can’t be relocated
Ren’dorei Anvil plans can’t be refunded

Other bugs seem to be only minor grievances.

( Source URL )

Midnight: Curse of Ula’tek Content Update – Known Issues and Information

The Midnight: Curse of Ula’tek content update is now live. Please read on for a list of known issues that we’re working on and further information about this update.

12.1 KNOWN ISSUES

Updated August 11

Housing

Blueprints
- Importing Exteriors from different plots can result in an undesireable Orientation.
Decor
- Dye cannot be applied to Spiral Wooden Stairs.
- Dye does not affect Razorwind Roofer’s Shingle.
- Textures from connected rooms may clip through an adjoining wall with Stormwind Kitchen.
- Plans: Ren’dorei Anvil cannot be refunded.
Features
- The entry room for a house cannot be moved to another location in the house.
- Locals who visit in Razorwind Shores may spawn in midair.

User Interface

The Helptip that appears next to a quest (indicating that it can be tracked) may reappear even after it has been closed.
Training Grounds
- The Join Battle button can be clicked again after you’ve entered the queue.
- The losing team may receive a message incorrectly stating that the winning team surrendered.
- The Scoreboard displays an unnecessary ‘Rounds Won’ column.

For those just returning or who otherwise need to be caught up we have guides for both new and returning players.

New Player’s Guide

New Player Help and Guides forum

Returning Player’s Guide

Returning Player Help and Discussion forum

As with any update, it is important to make sure that if you use addons that they have been updated.

Helpful links for various tech issues:

Patch 12.1: Curse of Ula’tek Is Now Live – Patch Notes, Survival Guide

Anshlun — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 22:01:18 +0000

After a lengthy maintenance, Patch 12.1 is finally live! Patch 12.1 removes the shroud from the mysterious Coiled Isle and brings with it Midnight Season 2.

New Zone: The Coiled Isle

The new landmass coming with Patch 12.1 is The Coiled Isle. Located east of Zul’Aman, this island hosts ancient secrets inside its mists.

The Coiled Isle Guide Vaults of Atal’Utek Guide

World Bosses Level Up: Lairs

World Bosses are now found inside new instances called Lairs. Patch 12.1 adds the new Tidebound Grotto lair, which hosts Nymrissa Wavecaller

Midnight World Bosses Guide

A New Prey

The hunt is on with Patch 12.1. New preys have been found across Quel’Thalas, including a new Prey boss called Ral’kala.

Prey Guide

Cursed Surges and Cursed Fishing

Meet up with Captain Tokka and his crew at Tokka’s landing. The Captain will share with you his techniques, allowing you to fish even in venomous waters.

Captain Tokka Reputation Guide

Zul’jarra Calls Her Banners

Enter the story of Patch 12.1 and join Zul’jarra as she confronts her brother Zul’jan.

Zul’jarra’s Force Renown Guide

Midnight Season 2

A week after the release of Patch 12.1, Midnight Season 2 starts, bringing with it a new raid: The Venomous Abyss, a new set of Mythic+ dungeons, and a new PvP season.

The Venomous Abyss Guide

Mythic+ Guide

PvP Guide

Azta’rec, Your New Nemesis

There’s a new nemesis on the block and his name is Azta’rec. Throughout Midnight Season 2, you’ll find Azta’rec while completing delves. If you ever get fed up, make sure to visit him at his delve, located at Coiled Isle.

Azta’rec Guide Delves in Midnight Season 2

Housing Blueprints are Finally Here

After a long wait, you’re finally able to import housing creations from other players and export your best works of art.

Player Housing Blueprints Guide

Who Let The Dogs Out?

Starting with Patch 12.1, you can let out up to 100 pets to roam free inside your house, plus another 25 outside!

Player Housing Pet Decor Guide

Full Patch Notes

( Source URL )

Curse of Ula’tek Content Update Notes

Continue the Midnight campaign as the Curse of Ula’tek content update opens the way to the Coiled Isle, where venomous foes, cursed waters, and long-buried secrets await. Take on new adventures, including the Venomous Abyss raid, Altar of Fangs dungeon, new Delves, Season 2 challenges, housing updates, and more.

EXPLORE A NEW OUTDOOR ZONE—THE COILED ISLE

Continue the story of Zul’jan as the fog lifts from the island off the east coast of Zul’Aman. We’ll join Zul’jarra as she pursues him to bring her brother and others home to Zul’Aman. We’ll delve into a long-buried history of the Coiled Isle, learn more about what is locked away, and who was left behind.

ENTER THE MOUNTAIN FOR NEW ADVENTURES

Undertake a variety of new activities within the mountain on the Coiled Isle as you explore this corrupted eco-system filled with poisonous waters and venomous foes.

Plunge into the Vaults of Atal’Utek primed for challenging group content and rotating public events. Taking part in these public events will ultimately build up to a boss fight.

While in the zone players will have access to a custom talent tree that will provide different perks of player power along with quality-of-life perks. These perks can include things such as something to reduce the potency of the venom found around the isle as you explore. [LEARN MORE]

ENCOUNTER CURSE SURGES AND FACE RARE ELITES

As you adventure through the zone, you’ll come across Curse Surges which will regularly spawn rare elites at five rotating locations throughout the isle.

Killing a rare elite unlocks Venom Fishing in that location. You’ll also discover a Local story with a tortollan sea captain named Tokka, gain reputation with his crew, and learn to fish in more cursed waters around the isle.

STEP INTO LAIRS AND FACE THE WORLD BOSS INSIDE

Introducing Lairs an evolution on world bosses located in instanced encounters with scaling difficulty up to flexible Mythic with 15-25 players. These will be found in specific locations similar to Delves and will come complete with a summoning stone outside the lair. [LEARN MORE]

FACE THREE NEW BOSSES IN A NEW DUNGEON—ALTAR OF FANGS

This new three boss dungeon will be available up to Mythic 0 difficulty at the launch of the content update and will join the Mythic+ rotation once Midnight Season 2 begins a week after the launch. [LEARN MORE]

DESCEND INTO THE VENOMOUS ABYSS RAID AND CONFRONT ULA’TEK

Arriving with the start of Midnight Season 2, players face Ula’tek herself in the Venomous Abyss. An ancient powerful creature of hatred, corruption, and venom, Ula’tek has been unleashed by Zul’jan’s actions. This new raid dungeon will feature eight new boss encounters and you’ll ultimately face off against Ula’tek as the final boss. [LEARN MORE]

VENTURE INTO THREE NEW DELVES INCLUDING A NEW NEMESIS DELVE

Take on three new Delves with one of these as a new Nemesis Delve. You’ll step into The Ring of Glory, Gnarldor Isle, and the Venomfall Deeps Nemesis Delve for new rewards (and a little glory). With the start of Midnight Season 2 on August 18, Bountiful Delves become available and players will be able to push into the upper tiers to challenge themselves beyond Tier 7 and face the new Nemesis boss.

Encounter new snake and venom variants in existing Midnight Delves.

GET READY FOR MIDNIGHT SEASON 2

One week after the content update goes live the new season will begin, bringing with it a new dungeon rotation for Mythic+, a new raid, new PvP Season, more Prey, and Bountiful Delves, and keys become available. [LEARN MORE]

Mythic+ Dungeon Rotation

New Dungeon: Altar of Fangs
Murder Row
Den of Nalorakk
The Blinding Vale
Voidscar Arena

Returning dungeons with design and quality of life updates

Kings’ Rest
Ruby Life Pools
Temple of Sethraliss

STALK NEW PREY IN SEASON 2

When Season 2 begins on August 18, players can begin the “A Slithering Threat” questline as Nightmare Mode returns with four new serpent-themed targets and hunts across the Coiled Isle.

In Nightmare Mode on the Coiled Isle, you’ll collect Ossified Relics to activate a Haunted Braziers around the zone to summon Ral’kala and defeat him for unique rewards. This is meant to be something you work with other players on.

The Season 2 Prey Journey track offers new decor, cosmetics, and mounts. You’ll also unlock the ability to collect Afflicted and Tormented Souls from delves, which can accelerate active Nightmare Hunts and grant additional rewards.

Lastly, “The Curse of the Isle” introduces a permanent Nightmare Mode that can be toggled on to increase the danger across the Coiled Isle for players looking for an even greater challenge!

TRAINING GROUNDS EXPANDS TO THE ARENA

Training Grounds have introduced more players to the PvP ecosystem. After the introduction to Battlegrounds versus bots, we’re introducing 3v3 Arenas versus bots to players who want to dip their toes into the Arena and start learning the ropes. To give this new feature a try, select Training Grounds from the Player vs. Player tab in the Group Finder.

HOUSING UPDATES

MAKE THE MOST OF HOUSING WITH BLUEPRINTS

For players who want to share their cool builds with others, you’ll be able to export the entirety of your exterior and your interior, or your interior, your exterior, or a single room alone as you like. [LEARN MORE]

Blueprints let players save their housing creations to swap between or share them with other players!
Blueprint codes can be shared cross-region (excluding China) with other players for them to import as well.
Blueprints operate on the entire house (both inside and out), the interior only, the exterior only, or a single room.
When importing, a list of all required rooms and decor will be shown, including the budget needed, what’s missing, and so on so players know what’s about to happen or what they need.
Importing will also try to do the “right” thing for dyed items (using correctly dyed items, potentially dyeing items, but NOT replacing already dyed items, etc).
Players can have up to 50 “save slots” for their different layouts, as well as 10 additional ones for “auto-saves”.
Auto-saves are automatically created when importing a Blueprint so players can easily revert.
Players now have an additional house permission called “Export” that defaults to no one. Other players visiting a house where they pass this permission can choose to import into their own save slots.
A Reset button has also been added that will reset the whole house or just the interior or exterior if someone wants to start over from scratch.
Blueprint codes can be linked in chat and inspected there as well.
Blueprints can be reported.

WELCOME YOUR PETS HOME

Let your pets roam free in your home by adding a Pet Bed decor item which will let you place your noncombat companion pet inside the house. Your pet will also be able to wander through your home through some new navigation technology allowing them to make their way around your decor.

Pet Beds allow players to show off their pets both in and outside their house.
Players can place up to 100 beds inside and up to 25 beds outside. Once a bed is placed, players can select a pet to make its home there.
Indoor pets can be set to either Stationary or Roaming while pets placed outdoors are only Stationary for the time being.
A small number of pets are unavailable to be placed for a variety of reasons.

NEW ENDEAVORS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

Four new Endeavors arrive to your neightborhood for the Amani trolls, kobolds, Ohn’ahran centaur, and tortollan. [LEARN MORE]

Players may also notice new things in their Neighborhood based on the Endeavors that have been completed, both old and new.

ADDITIONAL HOUSING UPDATES

HOUSES
- Houses can now reach level 12, unlocking increased limits, large exteriors, and more.
- New Artisanal Rooms can now be purchased from the General Contractor NPCs in each neighborhood. Four new rooms each for the orc, human, night elf, and blood elf styles are available for Community Coupons. Cross-faction room styles will need to be purchased from the neighborhood smugglers.
- Additional new housing items available in neighborhoods for Community Coupons.
- Players can now move the entry room anywhere in the house, including other floors! Finally, basement dreams can be realized!
DYES
- Dye crafting has been streamlined, considerably freeing up bag space taken up by dyes.
- New dye colors have been added, including those that replicate the darker appearances from before the 12.0.5 content update.
UI
- Two new decor categories have been added:
  - Vines and Hanging Plants
  - Pet Beds
- Removed an extra pop-up when deleting a room with no Decor in it.

COOLDOWN MANAGER AND USER INTERFACE UPDATES AHEAD

With the new updates, the Cooldown Manager will now be able to track trinkets and potions, helping with consumable management. It can also track racial ability cooldowns and durations. [LEARN MORE]

For managing other resources, more updates arrive to the ping system. Players can ping their action bar or the Cooldown Manager directly providing your team with the status of your spells.

Your own unit frames can also get pinged to convey the status of your health to the group and players who are acting in a healing role will also share the status of their mana saving them from needing to say, “OOM” before the next pull.

Healers can now configure or hide the buffs shown on Raid Frames, so the healing effects that matter most to you stay visible.

LINK YOUR BATTLE.NET ACCOUNT TO DISCORD

Speak with your guildmates both in and out of the game by connecting your Battle.net and Discord accounts to chat with your guild no matter where they are. Whether you’re coordinating your next raid run, looking for more to join you in game for PvP, or just hanging out in your neighborhoods together, you’ll be able to send messages between the two quickly and easily. [LEARN MORE]

CONTINUE THE HUNT FOR XAL’ATATH WITH ARATOR

After the start of Season 2, join Arator once more as he deals with the fallout from the Voidspire and also investigate the resurgence of the Twilight’s Blade with him as we continue the hunt for Xal’atath.

CHARACTERS

EARTHEN
- Developers’ note: In Curse of Ula’tek, we are revisiting the amount of experience points gained when exploring zones. This will particularly impact the leveling speed for Earthen characters, who receive significantly more exploration experience via their Wide-Eyed Wonder racial ability. To compensate for the decrease in experience gains from exploring zones, we are increasing the benefits of Ingest Minerals for Earthen.
- Baseline experience gained from exploring zones reduced by 60%.
- Experience gained from exploring low-level zones is no longer reduced from baseline.
- Effectiveness of Well Fed gained from Ingest Minerals increased by 30%.

CLASSES

Player health and creature damage has been increased by 25% at max level. Health consumable values have been adjusted to match new health values.
- Developers’ notes: In Curse of Ula’tek, we’ve decided to increase player health and enemy damage by 25% for max level players. We’ve made similar adjustments at the start of Midnight and also in early Dragonflight. Our intent is for damage to be less spiky and for healing gameplay to be more satisfying. When healing is too bursty, enemies have to be tuned to deal spiky damage which requires quick reactions to survive, and we feel that leads to unsatisfying and more stressful gameplay. While we are increasing overall creature damage with this change, we are hand tuning encounter abilities to deal appropriate damage alongside these changes to meet our goals. We’re also making adjustments to several healing and absorb spells for DPS and Tank specializations so that they retain their relative impact.
All class interrupts (such as Kick, Pummel, Counterspell, etc) will now display a “missed” visual over the target’s head if used while the target was not casting a spell. It will also play a separate sound to represent a missed interrupt. This is intended to help players recognize when enemies or allies have used their interrupt ability even if a spell was not interrupted.
Diminishing return categories will reset after 20 seconds (was 16 seconds).
- Developers’ notes: We’ve been monitoring the changes made to the diminishing returns system for crowd control effects in PvP during Season 1 and are pleased with the reduction in the number of repeat CC effects a player can be affected by before they become immune to those effects, lowering it from 3 to 2. At this time we also decreased the amount of time it takes before this immunity or reduction resets, and we wanted to make updates to that portion of the system to continue to reduce the total amount of time that players are not in control of their characters. As a result, we’re increasing the reset timer from 16 seconds to 20 seconds for Season 2.
In Curse of Ula’tek, we’re going to be lowering throughput for major DPS cooldown’s for several specializations and increasing their steady state damage. When damage done during cooldowns is significantly higher than damage outside of cooldowns, the pacing of combat outside of cooldowns can feel sluggish. Our priority is ensuring that cooldowns continue to be high-impact and fun moments, that damage dealt without cooldowns is effective, and that we maintain texture between specs.
DEATH KNIGHT

Save Up to 40% on Midnight and 50% on Warcraft RTS Games

Anshlun — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 17:30:08 +0000

Blizzard has announced epic savings with the launch of Patch 12.1. Through September 13th, you can purchase Midnight up to 40% off.

Looking for a change of scenery instead? Game Services are also on sale. Get that Race Change or Character Transfer for up to 33% off through August 24th.

If you’re looking to go back to your roots, the Warcraft RTS games are also on sale through August 24th. You can purchase these classic games for 50% off.

( Source URL )

Epic Savings Await: Get 40% off on Midnight and More Through September 13

Jump Into the Midnight Fight for 40% Off Through September 13*

With up to 40% off World of Warcraft: Midnight, it’s time to return to the legendary kingdom of Quel’Thalas, explore new and reimagined zones, join the fight against Xal’atath in the battle between Light and Void, and put down roots in your own cozy corner of Azeroth with Housing.

Choose from three editions: Base, Heroic, or Epic Edition to begin your new adventure.

Get the Deal

Save Up to 33% on Midnight Game Services Through August 24**

Packs are also available from the Battle.net shop or by launching World of Warcraft and clicking the Shop button on the character select screen.

Shop the Sale

Save 50% on Warcraft® RTS Games Through August 24**

Save big on iconic Warcraft titles, and the Warcraft® Remastered Battle Chest®.

Celebrate 30 years of Warcraft history and travel back to the beginning with remastered versions of the adventures that laid the foundation for Azeroth’s most epic stories!

Relive the Legend

*Sale ends on September 14, 2026 at 10:00 am PDT
**Sale Ends on August 25, 2026, at 10:00 am PDT
***Only available for modern World of Warcraft. Characters cannot be transferred between World of Warcraft® and World of Warcraft® Classic games.

Every Spec Guide Is Already Updated for WoW Midnight Patch 12.1

Anshlun — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:09:14 +0000

Our Class Guides are now ready for Patch 12.1: Curse of Ula’tek, the first major patch of Midnight.

Patch 12.1 Class Guides

Most specs are receiving substantial changes ahead of Midnight Season 2. Our writers have now fully updated all class guides to reflect these changes. You can find their links below.

Death Knight

Demon Hunter

Druid

Evoker

Hunter

Mage

Monk

Paladin

Priest

Rogue

Shaman

Warlock

Warrior

Tier Lists for Midnight Season 2

Looking for more information about how your favorite spec stacks against the rest? Check out our updated Tier Lists for Patch 12.1:

What’s New in Patch 12.1?

Patch 12.1 is filled with updates to many systems and packed with new features. However, not every feature is available on patch day.

Check out our Patch 12.1 overview to learn more about what’s coming with this update.

Patch 12.1: Curse of Ula’tek

These Five Mistcrests Decide How Fast Your Gear Climbs in Midnight Season 2

Anshlun — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:05:41 +0000

Goodbye Dawncrests, Hello Mistcrests

Mistcrests will be your new upgrade currency for Midnight Season 2. Similar to Dawncrests, Mistcrests come in five varieties:

Adventurer Mistcrest
Veteran Mistcrest
Champion Mistcrest
Hero Mistcrest
Myth Mistcrest

Mistcrest Sources in Midnight Season 2

Mistcrests can be found in most in-game activities, from open world events to raids. The main difference is the type of Mistcrest obtained.

Crest Type	Source
Adventurer Mistcrest	– Repeatable Outdoor Events – Delves Tier 1 through 4
Veteran Mistcrest	– Repeatable Outdoor Events – Venomous Abyss (LFR) – Heroic Dungeons – Delves Tier 5 and 6 – Delve Maps Tier 4 and 5
Champion Mistcrest	– Weekly Outdoor Events – Venomous Abyss (Normal) – Mythic 0 Dungeons – Mythic+ +2 and +3 – Delves Tier 7 through 10 – Delve Maps Tier 6 and 7
Hero Mistcrest	– Venomous Abyss (Heroic) – Mythic+ +4 to +8 – Delves Tier 11 – Delve Maps Tier 8 or higher
Myth Mistcrest	– Venomous Abyss (Mythic) – Mythic+ +9 or higher

Item Level Cheat Sheet for Midnight Season 2

Check out the full version here

Upgrading Gear with Mistcrests in Midnight Season 2

Every upgrade using Mistcrests has a fixed cost: 20 crests.

The type of crest required to upgrade depends on the item’s Item Track. You can identify the Item Track by looking at the item’s tooltip:

Each different track uses a different Mistcrest:

Adventurer Track uses 20x Adventurer Mistcrest per upgrade
Veteran Track uses 20x Veteran Mistcrest per upgrade
Champion Track uses 20x Champion Mistcrest per upgrade
Hero Track uses 20x Hero Mistcrest per upgrade
Myth Track uses 20x Myth Mistcrest per upgrade

This means that to upgrade an item from 1/6 Adventurer to 6/6 it will cost you 100x Adventurer Mistcrest, while upgrade an item from 2/6 Hero to 4/6 Hero will cost you 40x Hero Mistcrest.

Increasing Cost Per Rank to Upgrade?

Early in the Patch 12.1 testing, gear had a scaling cost per rank to upgrade. However, soon after being discovered, Blizzard announced that this was a bug and not intentional.

Mistcrest Caps Per Week

You cannot earn an unlimited amount of Mistcrests per week. You’re gated to a global cap per week. This cap rises by 100 per week for each different type. If you fail to cap on crests one week, don’t worry, you can earn the missed crests the next week.

You can see the current cap for a given Mistcrest by mouseovering it.

Get Ready for Patch 12.1 With Our Guides – Coiled Isle, Midnight Season 2

Neryssa — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:27:08 +0000

Patch 12.1, Curse of Ula’tek, is live this week. Our guides covering all patch content are now live! Prepare yourself to engage in the new content, such as the dangers of the Coiled Isle, season 2 of Midnight, and more!

Patch 12.1 – Curse of Ula’tek Overview

New Zone in Patch 12.1: The Coiled Isle

The Coiled Isle is the new zone players will navigate through in Patch 12.1. With lots of new activities, treasures, rares, two reputations, and the new Vaults of Atal’Utek area, you will have plenty to do over there!

The Coiled Isle Zone Guide

Vaults of Atal’Utek Zone Guide Zul’jarra’s Forces Renown Guide Captain Tokka Reputation Guide

Midnight Season 2 Starts August 18

Season 2 of Midnight is starting next week, with plenty of new things to do! A new journey for Delves and Prey, a new Mythic+ season with 8 dungeons in the rotation (including an entirely new dungeon with the Altar of Fangs), the Venomous Abyss raid, a new PvP season, and more!

Midnight Season 2 Hub Venomous Abyss Raid Guide Midnight Season 2 Mythic+ Hub Midnight Season 2 PvP Hub Midnight Season 2 Delves Hub Azta’rec Nemesis Guide Season 2 Delver’s Journey Midnight Season 2 Prey Hub Midnight Season 2 PvE Gearing Midnight Season 2 PvP Gearing Midnight Season 2 Tier Sets

Patch 12.1 Housing Updates

Player Housing is receiving a lot of updates with the Patch! New levels, four new Neighborhood Endeavors, and the long-awaited Blueprints system that allows players to save and share Housing builds!

Player Housing Guide

Player Housing Endeavors Player Housing Blueprints

Discord Integration is Here!

With Patch 12.1, Blizzard and Discord worked together to bring chat integration to your guild, allowing your guild members to communicate using both in-game chat and Discord. Never miss a group call from your guildies again!

Discord Integration Guide

Assorted Updates

Patch 12.1 also has some minor updates to other features.

The Arcantina is updated with three new questlines.
The World Bosses Guide is updated with the Tidebound Grotto Lair.
A new set of Skyriding Glyphs can be found in the Coiled Isle.t
Our Ultimate Mount Guide is also updated for Patch 12.1. This patch adds 23 new mounts with a variety of sources.

Arcantina Questing Hub Guide Midnight World Bosses Guide Midnight Mounts Guide Midnight Skyriding Glyphs Guide

The Ultimate Week One Checklist for Patch 12.1 Pre-Season 2

Emma — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:46:31 +0000

Patch 12.1 hits servers later today, but Season 2 doesn’t start until next week, giving you some downtime to explore the new content and prepare your characters!

Grab the available gear, experience the new content, and fill up your Great Vault for Season 2’s first week. That being said, there’s no need to burn yourself out trying to do everything. But, if you want some pointers on what to prioritise this week, here’s our 12.1 week one checklist!

Patch 12.1 Week One Checklist

Complete the Campaign — This one goes without saying. Follow the new story and unlock the new content on the Coiled Isle.

Explore the Coiled Isle — Discover the new zone, and complete Curse Surges, Patch 12.1’s new world activity.

The Tidebound Grotto — Lairs are coming with Patch 12.1, Blizzard’s new evolution of World Bosses. Nymrissa Wavecaller will be available to face on World difficulty this week, with Normal, Heroic, and Mythic Flex unlocking next week.

Run Mythic 0s — M0 dungeons drop ilvl 292 gear, and have a weekly lockout during this first week.

Run Altar of Fangs — Get familiar with 12.1’s new Dungeon before it joins the Mythic+ rotation next week.

New Delves, New Nemesis — Try out 12.1’s three new Delves, The Ring of Glory, Gnarldor Isle, and Venomfall Deeps in which you’ll take on Season 2’s Nemesis. The new Nemesis will be available on ? tier this week, with ?? tier unlocking next week.

Complete Normal and Hard Prey — Normal and Hard Prey difficulties will be available this week, with Nightmare unlocking with Season 2 next week.

Player Housing — Check out the new features coming to Player Housing, including new Endeavors, Pets, Blueprints, and tonnes of new decor!

Have fun — There is no need to rush everything on this list. Take it at your own pace and remember to enjoy the Curse of Ula’tek!

Spend These Currencies Before Midnight Season 1 Ends

Anshlun — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 22:35:33 +0000

As Midnight Season 1 comes to a close on August 11th (12th for EU), there are a couple of currencies you should, and a couple you could, spend before the maintenance starts.

Timelost Saddle

Earned by achieving Midnight Keystone Myth: Season One, Timelost Saddle allows you to purchase a past Mythic+ exclusive mount or a brand new mount from Lindormi.

However, you only have a couple of days or even hours left to both earn this achievement and spend the Timelost Saddle. The exact time is unclear, but Lindormi will no longer offer her mounts and the saddle will vanish from your inventory. This will happen either this week with the end of Season 1 or next week with the start of Season 2.

Undercoins – Maybe?

Obtained from delves, Blizzard has a complicated relationship with Undercoins. They have been inconsistent across seasons, with Blizzard resetting them between some seasons, while carrying over during other seasons. With that in mind, we recommend spending them before the patch arrives, just to be safe.

This applies especially if you have completed the Delver’s Journey, as some of the rewards must be purchased from vendors instead of being earned right away. Head to the Delve Headquarters in Silvermoon to spend your Undercoins asap!

Transforming Dawncrests for Gold

If you’re sitting on a pile of Dawncrests, there is a way to transform all of them into gold if you’re an enchanter.

The video below goes over the technique, but it is very straightforward. The idea is to turn all your crests into Veteran Dawncrest and then use them all into low-item-level crafts. By using Veteran crests with recipes like Courtly Wrists, the returning items become epics, meaning you get Dawn Crystal by disenchanting them.

It is not the most profitable trade, as it turns 80 Veteran Dawncrests into 500-700 gold, but it is better than having your crests wiped out or whatever low conversion Blizzard might offer.

Safe Currencies to Keep

While seemingly seasonal, there doesn’t seem to be plans to reset either Remnant of Anguish, Unalloyed Abundance, or Field Accolade. This means that there’s no reason to spend them before the new Season.

Patch 12.1 Pre-Season: What’s Available and What Isn’t

Anshlun — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:17:54 +0000

Blizzard published a blue post highlighting what is available during the first week of Patch 12.1, which they are calling the ‘Pre-Season’ week.

As in previous Seasons, the competitive window for Season 1 ends at 10 pm on the day before the patch release.

Patch 12.1 Content Overview

What Is Available During the Pre-Season Week of Patch 12.1

The activities below will be available in the week of August 11th to August 18th (August 12th to 19th for EU)

Delves 1-11 (no bountiful, max Adventurer 3/6, Vet Crests)
? Azta’rec
Curse Surges
Vaults of Atal’Utek
Pinnacle Caches (Season 2 Veteran cap)
Hard Mode Prey, Veteran cap
Heroic S2 Dungeons
Mythic 0 Weekly lockout (Champion 1/6)
World Difficulty Tidebound Grotto (Lair) (BoP Veteran Gear)
PvP Arena Training Grounds
PvP Unrated Activities
Sparks
Season 1 Great Vault – No Season 2 Rewards

What Isn’t Available – Only Starting with Season 2 Launch

Other features from Patch 12.1 and Season 2 available only starting August 18th (19th for EU).

Bountiful Delves
Coffer Keys
?? Azta’rec + Fabled Slayer of Azta’rec Achievement and Title
Nightmare Mode Prey
Mythic Keystones
Daily Mythic 0s
Venomous Abyss, All Difficulties
Tidebound Grotto Normal, Heroic, Mythic
Rated PvP Activities

( Source URL )

Midnight: Curse of Ula’tek Pre-Season Details

The Curse of Ula’tek content update launches the week of August 11, but you’ll have a whole pre-season week to get gear, hunt treasure, claim rewards, and more!

After weekly maintenance concludes and realms return with the Curse of Ula’tek update, Midnight Season 2 will begin in a pre-season state, with certain content and rewards not yet available.

As with previous seasons, Midnight Season 1 competitive PvP will end at 10:00 pm PDT the night before patch maintenance begins in each region. When realms go into maintenance the week of August 11, Mythic+ and PvP percentile cutoffs will be calculated.

Great Vault and Other Rewards

During the pre-season week, the Great Vault will offer rewards based on your activities during the final week of Season 1. Credit for Season 2 Great Vault starts accruing during the pre-season week, with the rewards from those efforts available to claim on August 18.

Crafting Sparks will also begin dropping during the pre-season.

Voidcore bonus rolls will not be available in the first Great Vault of Season 2. They will become available during the second week of Season 2 (the week of 25 August) and can be selected by anyone who has unlocked at least three panes.

For the first Great Vault of Season 2, the maximum gear level attainable from the World row will be Champion 3/6. Subsequent Vaults can reward gear from the World row at a maximum quality of Hero 1/6.

Outdoor Content, Dungeons, Delves, and Lairs

During the pre-season week hunt Rares, seek rewards, gear up, and more!

New outdoor features such as Curse Surges and Vaults of Atal’Utek are available during the pre-season. Pinnacle Caches drop Season 2 Veteran gear and appear during the pre-season week.
The new Season 2 dungeon pool will be active and available on Heroic and Mythic 0 difficulty, including the new Altar of Fangs dungeon. Mythic 0 dungeons will reward Champion 1/6 gear on a weekly lockout for that week only.
Delve difficulties 1-11 will be available, along with the “?” Nemesis difficulty.
World difficulty of The Tidebound Grotto—a new Lair—will also be available during pre-season, dropping Season 2 Veteran gear items that are bind-on-pickup, like gear earned in raids. Lairs have a weekly lockout, and a Voidcore (when available) can only be used once per week on a lair. Check out our Lair preview, including The Tidebound Grotto.
Hard Mode Prey is available during the pre-season and drops Season 2 Veteran gear.

We’ll see you in The Coiled Isle!

This Venomous Abyss Curio Makes Picking Tier Pieces Way Easier

Neryssa — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:09:53 +0000

Ever since Dragonflight, Omnitokens have been part of planning for raid loot. We’re taking a look at the Slumbering Coil Curio, the omnitoken for the Venomous Abyss raid, in this post!

Midnight Patch 12.1 Overview The Venomous Abyss Raid Overview Midnight Season 2 Tier Sets

What is the Slumbering Coil Curio?

Slumbering Coil Curio is the omnitoken from the Venomous Abyss raid. Like all previous omnitokens, you can loot it from Ula’tek, the final boss of the raid. A number of Omnitokens roll on every difficulty, and all classes can roll for it.

What Can You Buy with the Slumbering Coil Curio?

Omnitokens are used to buy a tier piece of your choice. Once looted, don’t let it sit in your bags, as these are unique and you will not be able to loot a second one while you have an unspent omnitoken in your bags.

To spend your Slumbering Coil Curios, head to Kirana. With Patch 12.1, she has been relocated to Silvermoon, next to the Catalyst. She sells all tier pieces of your choice for both Venomous Abyss and the past Midnight Season 1 raids.

Each tier piece from curios costs 1 curio, and it has the original tier stats.

Slumbering Coil Curio Item Level Table

The gear’s item level scales depending on what raid difficulty you were in when defeating Ula’tek and obtaining it.

Reminder that although Ula’tek drops higher item level pieces than normal on Mythic difficulty, the tier tokens obtained from a Mythic-difficulty Curio will match the tier’s original item level.

Raid Difficulty	Item Level Range
Raid Finder	Gloves, Shoulder: ilvl282 (Veteran 2/6) Chest, Legs, Helm: ilvl285 (Veteran 3/6)
Normal	Gloves, Shoulder: ilvl295 (Champion 2/6) Chest, Legs, Helm: ilvl298 (Champion 3/6)
Heroic	Gloves, Shoulder: ilvl308 (Hero 2/6) Chest, Legs, Helm: ilvl311 (Hero 3/6)
Mythic	Gloves, Shoulder: ilvl321 (Myth 2/6) Chest, Legs, Helm: ilvl324 (Myth 3/6)

Pets, Blueprints, and More: Everything New For Player Housing in Patch 12.1

Anshlun — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 18:08:53 +0000

Blizzard has released a new blog post talking about all the Housing changes coming to WoW Midnight in Patch 12.1. These changes include the long-awaited blueprint system, the ability to add pets to roam your house, new artisanal rooms, and the revamp of the dye system.

( Source URL )

Curse of Ula’tek Housing Updates: New Blueprints, Pets, and More Arrive for Your Home

Blueprints Let You Save, Share, and Swap Your Home Designs

You’ll find Blueprint options at the top of your screen, where you can import a shared code or save one of your own layouts. When importing, you’ll see the required rooms and decor, the budget needed, what you already have, what you’re missing, and other helpful details before anything changes; dyed items are also handled thoughtfully, prioritizing the right colors where possible without replacing items you’ve already dyed.

How to Save and Share a Blueprint

Open the House Editor, then select the Blueprint options at the top of your screen.
Choose whether you want to save your full layout, interior, exterior, or current room.
Save the Blueprint to your collection, then find it later through Saved Blueprints in your House Chest whenever you want to swap back to that layout. You can go back to your House Dashboard (H) anytime to view your Blueprints in their own tab.
To share your design, use Share in Chat or Copy to Clipboard to send the Blueprint code to other players.
To use a shared design, paste the Blueprint code into the Import window and review the required rooms, decor, budget, missing items, and other details before importing.

When you’re ready to show off your handiwork, you can export a Blueprint and share it with other players, including across regions (outside of China.) Blueprint codes can be linked and inspected directly in chat, shared with friends, guildmates, neighbors, and fellow decorators, or swapped through the official forums when you’re looking for a little inspiration for your next great renovation.

You can save up to 50 Blueprint layouts, with 10 additional auto-save slots available to help protect those “wait, I might want that back” moments. Auto-saves are created when you import a Blueprint, and a new Export permission—set to ‘no one’ by default—lets you decide who can import a copy of your layout into their own save slots.

And if you’re ready for a full redecorating day, a new Reset option will place items back into storage for your whole house, interior, or exterior so you can start fresh and build your next great idea from the ground up.

Pet Beds Give Your Companions a Place to Paws

Purchased from new neighborhood vendors Perry Winkles in Founder’s Point and Agratha in Razorwind Shores, Pet Beds let you show off your favorite noncombat companion pets both inside your house and throughout your outdoor space. Place a bed using the House Editor, then assign a pet to a Pet Bed using the Customize mode and let your loyal companions add a little extra life to your decor—whether they’re keeping watch by the hearth or claiming the perfect patch of sunlight outside.

Once you exit the editor, you’ll be able to see your pet interacting with your home or outdoor space.

Perry Winkles and Agratha can be found in houses near the quest hub in your neighborhood where they will sell you a variety of pet beds. These items all cost 50 Gold each so you can stock up on your favorites.

Cherished Pet Rug
Cozy Bird Nest
Cozy Lightbloom Lilypad
Crossroads Pet Cage
Crude Pet Cage
Loyal Companion’s Plinth
Silvermoon Dragonhawk Incubator
Westfall Pet Cage

You can place up to 100 Pet Beds indoors and up to 50 Pet Beds outdoors. Indoor pets can be set to Stationary or Roaming, while outdoor pets are Stationary— for now— giving you control over where your companions linger, stroll, or quietly supervise your latest decorating choices.

A small number of pets won’t be available to place, but there are still plenty of companions ready to settle in, curl up in a favorite spot, and make your home feel a little more lived-in.

More Room to Make Your House a Home

The Curse of Ula’tek update also gives your home more room to grow, with house levels now reaching 12. As you continue building up your space, you’ll unlock increased limits, large exteriors, and more opportunities to shape a home that fits your vision—whether that means a carefully curated retreat, a grand estate, or something that started as “just one more room” and somehow became a full renovation.

New Artisanal Room plans can also be purchased from the General Contractor in each neighborhood, with four new rooms each for orc, human, night elf, and blood elf styles available for Community Coupons. If you’re looking to bring a cross-faction style into your home, neighborhood smugglers will have those room styles ready for decorators with an eye for something a little more unexpected.

Artisanal Room Type	Cost
Bel’ameth Meeting Room Plans	50 Community Coupons
Bel’ameth Nestled Bedroom Plans	50 Community Coupons
Bel’ameth Temple Room Plans	50 Community Coupons
Bel’ameth Theater Plans	50 Community Coupons
Orgrimmar Council Room Plans	50 Community Coupons
Orgrimmar Display Room Plans	50 Community Coupons
Orgrimmar Stone Pit Room Plans	50 Community Coupons
Silvermoon Armory Plans	50 Community Coupons
Silvermoon Display Room Plans	50 Community Coupons
Silvermoon Lofty Study Plans	50 Community Coupons
Silvermoon Silvermoon Small Study Plans	50 Community Coupons
Stormwind Grand Hall Plans	50 Community Coupons
Stormwind Display Room Plans	50 Community Coupons
Stormwind Grand Hall Plans	50 Community Coupons
Stormwind Kitchen Plans	50 Community Coupons
Autumnal Westfall Barn Plans	75 Community Coupons
Springtime Westfall Barn Plans	75 Community Coupons
Autumnal Westfall Barn Facade Plans	200 Community Coupons
Springtime Westfall Barn Facade Plans	200 Community Coupons

Once purchased, you’ll need to use the item to learn the room plan to add it to your room options.

A Fresh Coat of Dye and a Better Way to Find Your Decor

Dye crafting has been streamlined to help free up bag space, giving you more room for the important things—like emergency snacks, sentimental quest items, and whatever else you swear you’ll need later. When you log in to Curse of Ula’tek, old dye pigments and housing dye items in your inventory or bank will convert through in-game mail, and dyeable decor will show all available colors—including new options and darker appearances from before the 12.0.5 content update—without requiring a separate item for every shade. Housing dye pigments are also being retired, so alchemists and scribes can turn herbs directly into housing dyes at the dye station through a simpler set of dye categories.

You’ll also find a few new ways to browse and build, with new decor categories for Vines and Hanging Plants as well as Pet Beds. Whether you’re adding a touch of overgrowth to a quiet corner or making sure your companions have a proper place to flop, these additions make it easier to find the right finishing touches.

Looking for a bigger change? You can now move the entry room anywhere in the house, including to other floors, opening up new layout possibilities—and yes, finally making those basement dreams a little easier to realize.

WoW Mythic Dungeons Drop 292 Gear Before Season 2 Even Starts

Miril — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 17:38:59 +0000

Blizzard has clarified some important information about Mythic dungeons for the launch of patch 12.1.

When the patch launches on the week of August 11, Mythic dungeons will be on a weekly lockout and will drop Champion track loot at 292 item level.

When Season 2 launches on the week of August 18, Mythic dungeons will be on a daily lockout instead.

This makes Mythic dungeons a great opportunity to gear characters before the season starts, as the 292 item level gear will be higher than most Season 1 Myth track gear, which is capped at 289 (with the exception of Sporefall loot and Ascendant Voidforged weapons and trinkets, which are 298 item level).

Additionally, completing Mythic dungeons during the first week of the patch will also grant credit towards the first Great Vault for Season 2.

( Source URL )

Season 2 Dungeon Unlock Schedule

Week of August 11:

Midnight Dungeons – Heroic and Mythic 0 difficulties (Mythic 0 is on a weekly reset and drops 292 item level gear).
Credit toward Great Vault Season 2 rewards begins.

Week of August 18:

Mythic 0 is on a daily reset (drops 292 item level gear)

WoW 12.1 Trailer Sets the Stage for Zul’jan & the Curse of Ula’tek

Emma — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 17:28:41 +0000

Patch 12.1 hits servers this week, and Blizzard has dropped the official trailer! The Curse of Ula’Tek will take us to the mysterious Coiled Isle, continuing our journey with the Amani Trolls as new venomous threats emerge. Check our whats to come below:

( Source URL )

Curse of Ula’tek Launch Trailer | Midnight | World of Warcraft

Uncover the secrets buried deep within the Coiled Isle, face venomous new dangers, and prepare for fresh challenges coming in Midnight Content Update: Curse of Ula’tek!

For a deeper look into everything coming with Patch 12.1: The Curse of Ula’Tek, you can check out the official deepdive on the World of Warcraft channel.

4 New WoW Housing Endeavors Revealed: Amani Trolls, Centaurs, Kobolds & Tortollans

Emma — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 17:14:33 +0000

Patch 12.1 is almost within our reach, and Blizzard has announced four new Player Housing Endeavors coming with the Curse of Ula’Tek! These Endeavors are bringing familiar faces from across Azeroth to Housing, with the Amani Trolls, Ohn’ahran Centaurs, Kobolds, and Tortollans set to make their appearances.

These new Endeavors introduce a whole host of new decor rewards, which you can check out in Blizzard’s post below.

( Source URL )

Undertake Four New Endeavors in Your Neighborhood!

Your neighborhood is about to receive new visitors, each bringing a variety of tasks, stories, and items to purchase. Meet back up with Griftah for “fine Amani items”, lend a helping hand to the Ohn’ahran centaurs, attend a candle making workshop with the kobolds of the Ringing Deeps, and relax with the worldly tortollans.

Amani Trolls: Knock-off Amani

Griftah and his travelling troupe of traders would like to visit the neighborhood to trade their “traditional Amani goods”. It’s fairly obvious that these are not original Amani items, however the neighborhood residents are interested, nonetheless.

While this endeavor is active, players will be able to access a portal directly to The Coiled Isle.

Vendor: Griftah
New Currency: Griftah’s Token of Appreciation- “Griftah may generously give one of these as a reward for completing an endeavor task, depending on its difficulty. Trade it with Griftah in your Neighborhood for exciting (or not) prizes.”

Item Name	Item Type	Item Cost
Bag of Totally Legitimate Amani Goods	A variety of Amani items, supposedly. These may be of interest to your neighbors.	1 Griftah’s Token of Appreciation
Steamy Romance Tablet	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Amani Building Peg	Housing Decor	2 Community Coupons
Forest Troll Fence	Housing Decor	15 Community Coupons
Forest Troll Fencepost	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
First endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Amani Road Marker	Housing Decor	15 Community Coupons
Woven Forest Troll Rug	Housing Decor	15 Community Coupons
Amani Wicker Crate	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Second Endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Amani Anvil	Housing Decor	15 Community Coupons
Amani Decorative Plinth	Housing Decor	20 Community Coupons
Third Endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Amani Water Well	Housing Decor	15 Community Coupons
Witch Doctor’s Punch Bowl	Housing Decor	15 Community Coupons
Shrine of Halazzi, Loa of the Hunt	Housing Decor	30 Community Coupons
Shrine of Akil’zon, Loa of Victory	Housing Decor	30 Community Coupons
Shrine of Nalorakk, Loa of War	Housing Decor	30 Community Coupons
Shrine of Jan’alai, Loa of Fire	Housing Decor	30 Community Coupons

Ohn’ahran Centaurs: Every Bakar Has Its Day

Residents of the neighborhood love their pets, but they could use some help training them. The centaurs of the Ohn’ahran Plains have very strong bonds with their bakar and they may be willing to pass on some training tips.

Vendor: Roshai Lightstep

Item Name	Item Type	Item Cost
Wide Maruukai Barricade	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Maruukai Wooden Table	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Bakar’s Napping Rug	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Maruukai Storage Basket	Housing Decor	5 Community Coupons
First endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Maruukai Barricade	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Maruukai Feast Table	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Ornate Khanam’s Rug	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Second Endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Tapered Maruukai Barricade	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Large Ornate Khanam’s Rug	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Bakar’s Snack	Housing Decor	5 Community Coupons
Third Endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Bakar’s Dinner	Housing Decor	5 Community Coupons
Open Maruukai Storage Basket	Housing Decor	5 Community Coupons
Bakar’s Favorite Ball	Housing Decor	5 Community Coupons
Fourth Endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Pet Food and Water Tray	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Maruukai Chef’s Stove	Housing Decor	15 Community Coupons

Kobolds: Candle Culture

Strange wax deposits have started to appear in the neighborhood. Who better to find a use than the Kobolds of the Ringing Deeps? Seek their counsel on illumination.

While this Endeavor is active, players will be able to take a portal directly to The Ringing Deeps.

Vendor: Timicky

Item Name	Item Type	Item Cost
Kobold Sit-Thing	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Kobold Dig-Thing	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Cozy Kobold Crate	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
First endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Small Warrens Candle	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Droopy Longwick Rope	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Longwick Rope	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Second Endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Hanging Longwick Rope	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Medium Warrens Candle	Housing Decor	15 Community Coupons
Candle Cage	Housing Decor	20 Community Coupons
Third Endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Bold Kobold Kabin	Housing Decor	30 Community Coupons
Hot Kobold Treasure	Housing Decor	25 Community Coupons
Large Warrens Candle	Housing Decor	20 Community Coupons
Fourth Endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Large Threedium Warrens Candle	Housing Decor	25 Community Coupons
Highlighting High Light	Housing Decor	20 Community Coupons
Warrens Candlecooker	Housing Decor	30 Community Coupons
Neighborhood candle mastery proven required to purchase the following:
Color-Curious Candle	Housing Decor	20 Community Coupons

Tortollans: Vacation Season

The Tortollans are a worldly folk. So worldly, in fact, that they need no introduction to your neighborhood–they’ve been vacationing here long before you put down your roots! Share in their recreational wisdom.

Vendor: Taifa

Item Name	Item Type	Item Cost
Tortollan Traveler’s Tincture	Housing Decor	5 Community Coupons
Half-Shell Hot Pot	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Protected Tortollan Scroll Case	Housing Decor	5 Community Coupons
First endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Tortollan Traveler’s Chest	Housing Decor	15 Community Coupons
Sealeather Sack	Housing Decor	10 Community Coupons
Second Endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Tortollan Tarp Tent	Housing Decor	20 Community Coupons
Empty Tortollan Display Rack	Housing Decor	20 Community Coupons
Third Endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Mason’s Tortollan Display Rack	Housing Decor	25 Community Coupons
Apothecary’s Tortollan Display Rack	Housing Decor	25 Community Coupons
Collector’s Tortollan Display Rack	Housing Decor	25 Community Coupons
Compact Cookfire	Housing Decor	20 Community Coupons
Fourth Endeavor milestone required to purchase the following:
Sea Glass Lamp Post	Housing Decor	15 Community Coupons
Sea Glass Bauble	Housing Decor	15 Community Coupons
Ancient Memories of the Sea	Housing Decor	30 Community Coupons

WoW Patch 12.1 Is Almost Here: Get Your Game Ready With These Tips

Emma — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 15:01:29 +0000

WoW Patch 12.1 hits servers later this week, bringing players a whole host of new content, features, and changes to dig into. But whilst we’re all still waiting, here are a few useful things you can do in preparation!

Update Your Addons

This should probably be the first thing on your to-do list. Major patches are notorious for breaking addons, and Patch 12.1 will be no exception!

In fact, this patch comes with changes to the addon API that will allow certain addons to do more than they could under Midnight’s initial restrictions. This means addon creators will have plenty of reason to be making updates around patch launch, so check for updates before logging in!

Clear Out Your Quest Log

If your quest log has become a graveyard of quests you picked up entire expansions ago, Patch 12.1 is a pretty good excuse to clean that up.

There are a number of ways in which you can make abandoning quests considerably quicker, such as the Mass Quest Abandon addon on CurseForge, or by using this helpful macro from SethAndBeans on Reddit:

/run for i = 1, C_QuestLog.GetNumQuestLogEntries() do local qid = C_QuestLog.GetQuestIDForLogIndex(i); C_QuestLog.SetSelectedQuest(qid); C_QuestLog.SetAbandonQuest(); C_QuestLog.AbandonQuest(); end

Just remember to check what you’re actually abandoning before you do it!

Free Up Some Space on Your PC

While you’re waiting for Patch 12.1 to hit, you may as well make some room on your drive. World of Warcraft can accumulate a surprising amount of unnecessary data over time, and the Battle.net launcher doesn’t always do a great job of cleaning that up.

Here’s a full guide on how you could save up to 50GB of space on your PC!

Clean Up Your Bags and Bank

Patch day is also a great excuse to deal with the inventory nightmare you’ve been avoiding. Go through your bags. Clear out old consumables, unnecessary crafting materials, duplicate items and whatever else you’ve been carrying around “just in case.”

With a new patch comes new things you’ll inevitably want to collect, so making some space beforehand is never a bad idea!

Update your addons, clean out your quest log, reclaim some storage space and tidy up your bags. When Patch 12.1 finally goes live, you’ll be able to skip the boring stuff and jump straight into the action!

This Delve Boss Ignores the Weekly Crest Cap in Midnight Season 2

Miril — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:56:33 +0000

A new season means new Delves and a new Nemesis boss to conquer. Azta’rec is the new Nemesis and is located within the Venomfall Deeps delve in The Coiled Isle, the new zone in patch 12.1.

While the cap for the Fabled achievement and title was changed, the Nemesis boss will still offer uncapped crests as a reward, similar to previous seasons. These one-time reward crests will ignore and go over the weekly cap. You can also earn the crests even if the boss is killed in a group.

Week 1 – Patch Launch

The Nemesis boss will be available on ? difficulty the week the patch goes live, and defeating him will reward 30 uncapped Hero Mistcrest.

Week 2 – Season Launch

When the season launches, the Nemesis boss will be available on ?? difficulty, and defeating him will reward 30 uncapped Hero Mistcrest(60 if you did not defeat him on ? difficulty) as well as 30 uncapped Myth Mistcrest.

WoW’s World Bosses Just Got Replaced by Full Raid Encounters

Neryssa — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:48:31 +0000

World Bosses are changing into Lairs in Patch 12.1. With the first-ever raid Lair releasing tomorrow, we’re taking a look at Tidebound Grotto, including its location and what you can get from it!

What is the Tidebound Grotto?

Tidebound Grotto is a world boss lair releasing with Patch 12.1. Lairs are a new instance composed of a single-boss encounter, serving as a replacement for what would be the world boss this time around. Lairs can be engaged with in four difficulties: World, Normal, Heroic, and Mythic.

Lairs are flex-difficulty raids, scaling from 15-30 players in World through Normal difficulty, and 15-25 players in Mythic.

Where is the Tidebound Grotto?

The Tidebound Grotto is located in the Coiled Isle, by the Wreck of Gral’s Belly area. It is underwater at the center of the lagoon South of Tokka’s Landing.

When Will Tidebound Grotto Open?

Tidebound Grotto, with its four difficulties, will not all be available right on release for Patch 12.1, experiencing a staggered release:

Week of August 11: World difficulty
Week of August 18: Normal, Heroic, and Mythic difficulty

Players are able to head to the Tidebound Grotto location and queue for a group for the World difficulty, while taking on Normal+ difficulties will require a premade group.

Nymrissa Wavecaller Loot Table

Nymrissa Wavecaller is the boss players will face in Tidebound Grotto. In regard to loot, Nymrissa will only act like a world boss and give push loot on World difficulty. On Normal and above, she will drop pieces of loot that need to be rolled on, like a normal raid boss.

Unlike world bosses in the past, killing Nymrissa counts as a raid activity for the Great Vault.

Difficulty	Loot Item level
World	ilvl 279 Veteran 1/6
Normal	ilvl 292 Champion 1/6
Heroic	ilvl 305 Hero 1/6
Mythic	ilvl 318 Myth 1/6

Below is a complete loot table of what Nymrissa can drop.

Item	Item Type
Tidebound Sorcereress’s Robes	Cloth Chest Critical Strike/Mastery
Cincture of the Abyssal Grotto	Cloth Belt Critical Strike/Versatility
Breakwater Boots	Leather Boots Haste/Versatility
Rising Tide Wristguards	Mail Bracers Mastery/Critical Strike
Grips of Swirling Fury	Mail Gloves Critical Strike/Haste
Swelling Sea Spaulders	Plate Shoulders Critical Strike/Mastery
Forgotten Grotto Girdle	Plate Belt Haste/Versatility
Tidepiercer’s Bubble Popper	Agility Staff Critical Strike/Versatility
Frostscale’s Mystic Frond	Intellect Off-Hand Critical Strike/Mastery
Bubblefin Splash Guard	Intellect/Strength Shield Mastery/Haste
Alluring Bubbleband	Ring Haste/Versatility
Wavecaller’s Seastone	Trinket Haste/Primary Stat Passive Proc

In addition to the gear pieces above, Nymrissa can drop the Clumped Asteroidea housing decor.

Patch 12.1 Hits This Week but Season 2 Is Still a Week Away

Starym — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:34:28 +0000

The first major Midnight content patch is almost upon us, as the coming reset brings the first week of 12.1! Season 2 arrives a week after that, bringing all the major activities like the raid, Mythic+ and PvP seasons, but there’s still plenty of content coming this week.

You can read up on everything the patch brings in the full content notes here:

Full 12.1 Content Notes

You can also check out the exact dates when each section of the patch opens up here:

Full 12.1 and Season 2 Content Unlock Schedule

NA Launch Times

As with all patch launches, the maintenance times vary, sometimes getting significantly extended and sometimes getting shortened. Here’s the full maintenance schedule for this week’s 12.1 launch on NA servers:

And here are the estimated launch times in the major time zones:

Time Zone	Local Time
PDT (Los Angeles)	Tuesday, August 11 — 3:00 PM
MDT (Denver)	Tuesday, August 11 — 4:00 PM
CDT (Chicago)	Tuesday, August 11 — 5:00 PM
EDT (New York)	Tuesday, August 11 — 6:00 PM
BRT (São Paulo)	Tuesday, August 11 — 7:00 PM
BST (London)	Tuesday, August 11 — 11:00 PM
CEST (Paris/Berlin)	Wednesday, August 12 — 12:00 AM
MSK (Moscow)	Wednesday, August 12 — 1:00 AM
IST (India)	Wednesday, August 12 — 3:30 AM
CST (Beijing)	Wednesday, August 12 — 6:00 AM
JST (Tokyo)	Wednesday, August 12 — 7:00 AM
AEST (Sydney)	Wednesday, August 12 — 8:00 AM

EU Launch Times

Here’s the maintenance schedule:

And here are the estimated launch times in the major time zones:

Time Zone	Local Time
PDT (Los Angeles)	Wednesday, August 12 — 2:00 AM
MDT (Denver)	Wednesday, August 12 — 3:00 AM
CDT (Chicago)	Wednesday, August 12 — 4:00 AM
EDT (New York)	Wednesday, August 12 — 5:00 AM
BRT (São Paulo)	Wednesday, August 12 — 6:00 AM
BST (London)	Wednesday, August 12 — 10:00 AM
CEST (Paris/Berlin)	Wednesday, August 12 — 11:00 AM
MSK (Moscow)	Wednesday, August 12 — 12:00 PM
IST (India)	Wednesday, August 12 — 2:30 PM
CST (Beijing)	Wednesday, August 12 — 5:00 PM
JST (Tokyo)	Wednesday, August 12 — 6:00 PM
AEST (Sydney)	Wednesday, August 12 — 7:00 PM

One Week Left Before Season 2 and These Specs Are Leading Mythic+

Anshlun — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:22:55 +0000

Patch 12.1 PTR testing has wrapped, and with it comes our final pre-season Mythic+ tier list. This week’s update reflects the positions at the end of the Patch 12.1 PTR and the overall meta among the Mythic+ testing population.

Patch 12.1 comes out this week in every region! This means only one week left for tuning before Season 2 starts on August 18th/19th. Let’s take a look at the current state of affairs and how the Mythic+ meta is shaping up.

Midnight Season 2 PTR Mythic+ Tier List

Below is the tier list updated for this week, following changes from the latest PTR build and meta developments. You can read more about how these lists are built in the Criteria section at the bottom of the post.

Highlights for the Week

DPS Tier List Healer Tier List Tank Tier List

You can also see the tier list explained below in video format:

Bug of the Week

Before touching on the other highlights, let’s talk about Subtlety Rogues. Sub had a bunch of hotfixes last week to fix longstanding bugs from the spec. These bugs were expected to account for a 7% damage increase. However, there were issues with the fixes that landed the changes at ~12% instead. These will likely be fixed during this week or before launch.

A Better Look at the Meta

Last week, we placed Havoc at A+ due to the numbers it was showing in parses. However, looking deeper at logs, it seems that a large part of the damage is padding and, due to the front-loaded nature of it, we decided to move Havoc to A this week.

Despite the recent nerfs, we decided to keep Devourer at A+. The reason is that its Void Scar build continues to perform very well in caster groups, with excellent single-target damage. Devourer is looking to be a top 5 caster right now, if not top 3.

The Healing Dark Horse

Right now, a lot of the Mythic+ community is putting all their chips on Preservation. After the changes from last week, this lizard has grown substantially in size. However, don’t go rerolling to Pres yet. While the spec is indeed very strong with the changes, it is probably the hardest healer to pilot. As usual, Pres keeps its high-skill requirement due to its limited range, which will likely cause headaches for non-organized groups.

For those looking for safer picks for healers, Resto Shaman and Holy Paladin continue to be excellent choices. It is even possible that Preservation will see some nerfs during this coming week, which could take the shine off before the season even starts.

Launch Week Watch List

The specs to watch for as we head into Patch 12.1 are definitely Blood DK, which right now is dominating the tank meta, and Subtlety Rogue, for the nerfs mentioned before. Besides those, Hunters, all three specs, could see some love, as they are performing incredibly poorly right now. Blizzard has never left all three specs of a class in the dirt, so we expect at least one the specs to receive some buffs this week.

Criteria of the Tier List

This tier list is based on the strength of each DPS specialization during recent PTR testing for Midnight Season 2. The placement takes both the raw throughput and the utility kit into consideration. Damage profile for Season 2 dungeons also plays a role in deciding positioning.

You can read the full disclosure about the criteria on the PTR Tier List hub. Ultimately, Tier Lists are an opinion, which you may disagree with. However, this is our current opinion as tuning stands. The list will change week over week, and we will cover future changes as the meta progresses. It will also likely change as Season 2 starts, tuning happens, and meta develops. Stay tuned for updates.

Last-Minute Checklist: What to Do Before Midnight Season 1 Ends

Emma — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:03:04 +0000

Midnight Season 1 is almost over, and if you’ve been putting things off, now is the time to make your final push.

There are two important deadlines to remember. Competitive PvP Season 1 ends at 10:00 pm on the night before patch maintenance, while Mythic+ and the rest of Season 1 remain available until maintenance begins on 11th August (NA)/12th August (EU). Once the servers are back up, Midnight Season 2 will technically be underway in a pre-season state.

Here’s everything you can still finish until those deadlines arrive!

10:00pm the Night Before: Finish Your PvP Push

Deadline: 10:00pm the night before maintenance in your region.

For any seasonal PvP rewards like titles, achievements, rankings, and sets, this will be your deadline.

Also remember to spend your Conquest on completing any remaining Conquest sets, as this currency does not get transferred to Season 2. Honor and Conquest PvP sets will be available to purchase for Mark of Honor, but you’ll have to wait until The Last Titan for that!