World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

Ethereum Void Reaper Model Updated in Patch 11.1.5
The Ethereum Void Reaper model, granted by using the Infiltrator's Shroud toy, has received a visual update in Patch 11.1.5. This toy, which has a 1-hour cooldown and a 20-minute transformation, now features three newly updated appearances.

Infiltrator's Shroud is one of the hidden toys introduced in The War Within expansion. It's a guaranteed drop from the Ethereum Void Reaper NPC, which has a low chance to spawn when using the Treacherous Transmitter trinket from Nexus-Princess Ky'veza.

Tip: The Ethereum Void Reaper can be looted by the first five players that tag it, making it efficient to farm the toy in a group. Even if the other players don't have the Treacherous Transmitter trinket, they will all be able to loot Infiltrator's Shroud.




Undermine(d) In-Game Cinematic: A New Tomorrow
In this cinematic, we see an Ethereal using one of the updated models while holding the Dark Heart, a pivotal moment that will have significant implications for the story moving forward. Will we see K'aresh and more of the Ethereals in Patch 11.2?

WoW Hotfixes - May 9, 2025

PAX East - Evolving Azeroth: Creating a Living World: Past, Present and Future
Some Blizzard members were live at PAX East for a special World of Warcraft panel, streaming now on the official PAX Twitch and YouTube channels.

The panel explores 20 years of world building and design that brought life to Azeroth. Associate Game Directors Jeremy Feasel and Paul Kubit, Associate Design Director Maria Hamilton, and Principal Game Designer Jesse Kurlancheek reflect on iconic moments like the opening of Ahn'Qiraj and offer a look at what's ahead, such as the player housing feature in Midnight, the upcoming expansion.


The Past

• The team talked about what makes up a living world, recapping some examples of things that change in the world.
• The player base isn't monolithic, there are people that enjoy just specific parts of the game (questing, PvP, PvE, etc)
• Daily quests were built out for players that wanted to do quests, helping those players not run out of quests. It also helped the world feel more alive.
• In Blade's Edge Mountains there was a bombing run quest and the cannons would fire back at you. The area would get really laggy on Sunday and Monday, because the cannons were shooting an invisible bunny that didn't despawn and they slowly built up over the week.
• By Wrath of the Lich King, the team knew that there were going to be expansions in the future, lots of expansions.
• The team realized that the world didn't change with you, despite all of your accomplishments. This led to creating phasing.
• Phasing is super useful for showing progression in the world. Both for individual players and groups in the world.
• The downside of phasing is you may not see your friends, or they may not see the same thing that you are seeing. It separates people, so the team is more careful with it.
• Party Sync helps keep friends in the same phase.
• The team used Cataclysm to re-do some
• By the time the team got to Mists of Pandaria, they had a well polished version of the core elements of WoW.
• The team wanted to get away from the old World Quest system, where everything was on a timer and the same, so in Legion they revamped the system to make the world and quests feel more dynamic.
• The team added a buffer, so you didn't have to log in every single day, you could log in every few days and do things.
• The first modern Secret the team added to the game was a murloc egg in Northrend in a cave that granted a pet.
• The team couldn't fit all of the Artifact Questlines in the new areas, so they put some in older places in the game. It allowed the team to reuse older spaces in a new way to tell the next part of the story.
• The team went deep into the lore of each class, as well as putting some of that lore out in the world. You got to see other classes out in the world doing things.
• Dragonflight gave the team a huge map to hide little things out in the world everywhere.
• Scenarios were used for the Tuskarr Soup, so the team made 60 different scenarios to make the event work. This led to updated scenario tech that is still used today.
• Some players got motion sick when Skyriding, so the team added accessibility options.
• Building quests let the team put objectives way up high, so that going to the next one from high above was really cool.
• The Jenafur secret might have been too secret.
• Roadmaps allowed for a lot of speculation, but let players know that the team would be delivering content with a steady pace.
• Roadmaps let the team figure out what is going to happen with the story.
• The team was working on the story for the expansion after Dragonflight, but it was too big to fit in a single expansion. Chris Metzen suggested doing a trilogy instead, allowing the team to bring back everyone that players were excited about.
• The team wanted to experiment with reusing WoW content. One idea was expanding on Timewalking and the other was letting players relive a whole zone / expansion. At the same time, team members were playing D3 and wanted to have Seasons in WoW.
• Remix lets everyone experience this content together, so everyone progresses together rather at different times.

Legion Remix

• The team is going to do do Legion Remix next!
• Legion has a lot of content, so the team is currently working on figuring out how it will work. More info is coming later, with lots of details about the systems.
• Legion Remix will have Mythic Keystones.
• Legion Remix will also have an increased difficulty world tier called Shattered Timeline.

Game Modes

• Plunderstorm had a ton of players try it, a big success. Desire from player base to come up with new WoW game modes.
• The team is working on another new WoW game mode, but more details are coming later. It has a vibe that is on the scary story side of things and it is not a battle royale.

Housing

• Housing has been worked on in WoW for many years, lots of old datamining cruft revealed that.
• The more modern attempt at Housing started years ago, with prototypes and pitches.
• Players have been visiting Azeroth for years, but they finally will have a home.
• Your progression in housing can be forever if you want it to be.
• Quests rewarding you with décor or trophies for your house is exciting for designers.
• With housing, content can come to you. You may help an NPC with a quest and you'll see him come by from time to time.
• The team working on housing has a very bulky roadmap of stuff that they want to do. Player feedback and ideas are being taken into account.
• We'll get more Housing information in the next couple weeks.
• Innkeepers will no longer say "Make this Inn my home", as in Midnight you'll have a home.

How to Gear Up in Delves - The War Within Season 2
One of the major changes for World of Warcraft: The War Within Season 2 is the ability to get quality gear through Delves.

Gearing in a Delve isn’t entirely a new concept; it was something that was possible in Season 1, but it has been greatly expanded for Season 2. One major way Blizzard is accomplishing this is by overhauling how the tiers in Delves work. In the patch notes for 11.1, Blizzard stated that any Delve above tier 8 in Season 1 was “meant purely for players who wanted a challenge.” Blizzard is now letting players obtain more desirable rewards, such as Gilded Crests on a Tier 11 Bountiful Delve.

Our guide on gearing in Delves will go over everything you need to know about obtaining the best gear through Delves in The War Within Season 2.

How to Obtain Gear in Delves
The gear you get from Delves depends on the Tier you run and whether or not you’re unlocking a Bountiful Chest.


Delve Rewards in The War Within Season 2

Delve Tier Level	Bountiful Delve Rewards	Initial Upgrade Level	Great Vault Level	Initial Great Vault Upgrade Level
1	610	Adventurer 1/8	623	Veteran 1/8
2	613	Adventurer 2/8	626	Veteran 2/8
3	616	Adventurer 3/8	629	Veteran 3/8
4	619	Adventurer 4/8	632	Veteran 4/8
5	623	Veteran 1/8	639	Champion 2/8
6	626	Veteran 2/8	642	Champion 3/8
7	636	Champion 1/8	645	Champion 4/8
8	639	Champion 2/8	649	Hero 1/6
9	639	Champion 2/8	649	Hero 1/6
10	639	Champion 2/8	649	Hero 1/6
11	639	Champion 2/8	649	Hero 1/6

If you are not running a Bountiful Delve, loot will be capped at Tier 3 and drop ilvl 593 gear.

You can also obtain Gilded Undermine Crests up to 3 times a week by completing a Tier 11 Bountiful Delve in Season 2 of The War Within.



Completing Delves Also Fuels Your Great Vault
That’s not all, though, as completing these Delves also fuels your Great Vault in a similar manner to Raids and Mythic+. Take, for example, my Great Vault for this week.


Despite not completing a single Mythic+ dungeon or killing any raid boss, I can pick and choose.

It’s a very welcome change that makes gearing in The War Within easier than ever before. Even though the gear I can get directly from a Bountiful Delve is capped at ilvl 639, I’m still actively encouraged to keep pushing higher tiers for better rewards.

Best Brann Delve Curious for The War Within Season 2
Brann has a new role in Season 2 of The War Within: he can now tank, making life easier for the classes that can’t tank themselves.

With Brann now able to perform all three roles (Tank, Healer, DPS), he also has a new suite of Curious at his disposal. The question remains, though, which curious are best for Brann?


Curios for The War Within Season 2
There are two types of curios available for Brann in The War Within Season 2:

Combat Curios:

• Automatic Footbomb Dispenser – Brann's spells and abilities have a chance to drop 2 footbombs on the field for 10 sec. Running into a footbomb kicks it at your enemy target, dealing significant Fire damage to all enemies in a 6-yard radius.
• Goblomagnetic Bouncing Grenade – Brann has a chance during combat to toss a GMB grenade at an enemy target, dealing moderate Nature damage with a 20% chance to stun for 1.5 sec. This has a 25% chance to bounce to a new target. The grenade can safely bounce on party members.
• Impact Conversion Matrix – Upon entering combat, Brann activates the conversion matrix for 10 seconds. A small percent of all party damage dealt during this time is converted to primary stat and split between party members. After the conversion matrix powers down, the primary stat buff persists for 10 sec. This effect cannot occur more than once every 2 min.
• Mechasaur EZ-Build Kit – Brann's Epic Egg now houses 1 mechasaurs that taunt enemies for 4 seconds while within the egg. Mechasaurs will periodically stomp in addition to their usual abilities, dealing moderate Fire damage split between nearby enemies. Affected enemies explode after 5 seconds, taking moderate Fire damage.
• Pinged Augment Chip – Brann's maximum health is increased by 4%, and his damage and healing done is increased by 20%. While in combat, Brann may become targeted by mechanical bots that fixate on him which can be destroyed or dispelled. If they reach Brann, he will suffer 30% of his maximum health in damage and be stunned for 5 sec.
• Pocket Factory – Brann's spells and abilities have a chance to commission the Pocket Factory to build 1 turret to assist for 10 sec.
• Reverse Engineered Goblin Death Bomb – When any player's health falls below 50% during combat, Brann throws a giant bomb that explodes on impact. The explosion knocks back, slows surrounding enemies by 45% for 5 sec, and heals nearby party members for 35% of their maximum health. Can only occur every 1.5 min.

Utility Curios:

• Biofuel Rocket Gear – Party members are equipped with Biofuel Rocket Gear. Each enemy slain fuels the Biofuel Rocket Gear, increasing Movement Speed by 2% and Haste by 2% for 10 seconds, stacking up to 10 times.
• Comically Large Magnet – When Brann uses Gathering Tools, there is a 100% chance to magnetize Discarded Plating to party members, granting them 5% of their maximum health as a shield that regenerates out of combat.
• Kaja'Cola Carrier – Mislaid Curiosities now have a 35% chance to contain 1 Kaja'Cola, and once per delve, Brann now summons a Kaja'6-Pack when creating campfires.
• L00T RAID-R – Every 60 sec or 5 sec after entering combat, scan the environment highlighting Mislaid Curiosities and making enemies below 95% health take 4% more damage for 10 sec.
• Overdrive Pylon – After 30 seconds of combat, party members and Brann deal 5% more damage and healing for 20 seconds. Can only occur once per combat.
• Pacifist Rig – During combat, a pilot is designated to be over 8 sec before airdropping the Pacifist Rig MK-1 at their location, equipping them with it for 10 sec, and knocking back nearby enemies.
• Three Dimensional Bioprinter – Damaging an Elite creature below 40% health creates an imperfect copy of it at 50% power to fight by your side. Only 1 copy can exist at the same time.

Best Curios for The War Within Season 2
Here’s my go-to setup, which helps me clear Tier 11 Delves despite having a current ilvl of 620.


Mechasaur EZ-Build Kit and L00T RAID-R are the best Curios for Season 2 Delves, in my opinion. The Mechasaur buffs Brann’s Brann's Epic Egg, helping to add another viable ally that can also taunt enemies and deal damage. It’s been vital to be able to tackle Tier 11 Delves despite lacking gear.

Additionally, the L00T RAID-R can be used to obtain additional resources and deal extra damage to enemies. It’s the best of both worlds as a utility curiosity that can effectively be used inside combat.

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Jake has ignored his backlog to play World of Warcraft for 20 years, why should he stop now? While he spends most of his time in Classic with his friends, he's still checking in on the game's other versions on a regular basis, because at the end of the day, nothing beats WoW