WoW's 20th Anniversary, Going Solo, New Dracthyr Classes, Season 1, and More!

WoW's 20th Anniversary Celebration, Going Solo, New Dracthyr Classes, Season 1, and More!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
This Week in WoW (TWiW), catch up on the latest World of Warcraft® news from the last week!


Going Solo in World of Warcraft: A Hero’s Journey


With the release of The War Within there are more ways than ever to carve your own path through the challenges and tales of World of Warcraft— and you can choose to take them on as a solo player. Whether you jump into Follower Dungeons or take on bite-sized challenges in Delves, you can experience more of World of Warcraft your own way.

Whatever your reason for going solo, the opportunity for adventure is yours to take. New or returning to Azeroth, there’s no better time to jump in and get started.


WoWCast: World of Warcraft 20th Anniversary Celebration Preview


Join Executive Producer & Vice President Holly Longdale, Senior Game Designer Bret Cocking, Associate Game Designer Leah Hwang, and host Community Manager Bethany Stout as they reveal a myriad of games and activities players can look forward to in the WoW 20th Anniversary Celebration in-game event—including some unique rewards, plus a look ahead at incoming Shaman Ascendance forms, the new Blackrock Depths Raid, new Timewalking dungeons, and more!

The WoW 20th Anniversary in-game event content will be available for testing on the PTR very soon; keep an eye on the official forums to learn more.


Celebrate World of Warcraft During the 20th Anniversary!


The 20th Anniversary Celebration of World of Warcraft is almost here, and we have many exciting activities and rewards to share with you as we look ahead to what’s in the works. It’s a big year for World of Warcraft, so we’ve created a variety of events and rewards spanning over a couple of months. Here’s an overview of what we have planned.

Here’s what you can look forward to during the 20th Anniversary Celebration:

  • Look for the 20th Anniversary Celebration event all through the months of November and December.
  • Earn and spend a new currency— Bronze Celebration Tokens— to spend on new items for your collection.
  • Engage in the Blackrock Depths Raid dungeon
  • Collect Iconic Tier 2 transmog appearance sets
  • Go Timewalking through Classic World of Warcraft Dungeons
  • Earn a New Mount, Blizzard Employee Service Award cosmetics, and More
  • Celebrate with an expanded event at the Caverns of Time
  • Join Chromie on a new time-bending adventure with the Codex of Chromie
  • Discover new secrets and solve them with Guest Relations
  • Defeat Party-Crashing World Bosses, including the Sha of Anger and Archavon the Stonewatcher
  • Go back for some PvP revenge during Korrak’s Revenge in Alterac Valley
  • Celebrate 30 Years of Warcraft with Warcraft III-themed back appearances on the Trading Post

Read our article to learn more about how you can celebrate World of Warcraft® during the 20th Anniversary!


The Dracthyr Spread their Wings to New Classes


The exposure to new races and their abilities in the Dragon Isles has expanded opportunities for growth among the dracthyr. In the 20th Anniversary Celebration content update, players will be able to create new Dracthyr as a Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Mage, Warrior, or Warlock.

In addition, Shaman will get a new Ascendance form for each specialization—Restoration Shaman will get a new Water form, Elemental will get a new Fire form, and Enhancement will get a new Wind form—to express their elemental mastery with the release of the update! We’ll have additional adjustments you can look forward to for Ascendance, just keep an eye out for the PTR update notes in the days ahead.

We can’t wait to see what paths your new Dracthyr takes when the update goes live—read through our previously published article for all the details.


Take the Fight to Nerub-ar Palace Beginning September 10

Gather your allies and traverse into the dark depths of Azj'Kahet into Nerub-ar Palace to take the fight to eight new bosses, ending in a face-off against Queen Ansurek, but beware of the tangled web she weaves…or you may be her next meal.


Deep within the kingdom of Azj-Kahet lies Nerub-ar Palace—Queen Ansurek's seat of power. She has tightened her grip on her Sureki followers from a shadowed throne, leading them along a dark path to a new future. As her paranoia grows, the members of a conspiratorial Severed Threads launch their final gambit against Ansurek's rule.

Raid Bosses: 8
Difficulties: Raid Finder, Normal, Heroic, Mythic, Story Mode
Level: 80
Raid Finder Minimum Item Level: 567

Raid Unlock Schedule:
  • Week of September 10 – Raid Finder Wing 1: The Skittering Battlements (Ulgrax the Devourer | The Bloodbound Horror | Sikran, Captain of the Sureki), Normal, Heroic
  • Week of September 17 – Raid Finder Wing 2: Secrets of Nerub-ar Palace (Rasha'nan | Nexus-Princess Ky'veza | Broodtwister Ovi'nax), Mythic, Story Mode
  • Week of September 24 – Raid Finder Wing 3: A Queen's Fall (The Silken Court | Queen Ansurek)

Learn more details about bosses, achievements, and rewards from our Raid overview.


The War Within Season 1 Begins September 10

Enter Nerub-ar Palace in Azj-Kahet, undertake Mythic dungeons, face new World bosses, engage in player-vs-player competition, and more in the first season of The War Within.


Week of September 10

  • Nerub-ar Palace Normal and Heroic difficulty, Raid Finder Wing 1
  • Mythic 0 dungeons
  • Heroic Seasonal Dungeons
  • Face New World Bosses
    • Kordac, the Dormant Protector
    • Aggregation of Horrors
    • Shurrai, Atrocity of the Undersea
    • Orta, the Broken Mountain
  • PvP season begins

Week of September 17

  • Nerub-ar Palace Mythic Difficulty and Raid Finder Wing 2
  • Mythic + dungeons
  • Nerub-ar Palace raid Story Mode becomes available

Week of September 24

  • Raid Finder Wing 3

There are also seasonal rewards for your efforts in Delves, and you'll want to obtain them before the start of Season 2:

  • Nemesis: Defeat Zekvir in his lair before the release of the next season of Delves.
  • Hunting the Hunter: Defeat Zekvir in his lair on Tier 5 before the release of the next season of delves.
    • Reward: "Ascension Breaker" Title
  • Let Me Solo Him: Defeat Zekvir in his lair on Tier 5 without any other players in your party before the release of the next season of delves.

For a detailed look at what's in store for Season 1, read through our Season 1 overview. Good luck in the season ahead, champions!


AWC and MDI Plans Revealed for The War Within!


The War Within is here, and with it, the Arena World Championship (AWC) & Mythic Dungeon International (MDI) return in Season 1.

The quest for Arena immortality begins later this month, with Cup 1 starting September 27. Meanwhile, Dungeoneers will have two opportunities to participate in both Mythic Dungeon International (MDI) and The Great Push (TGP) formats running in Season 1!

Registration is now open for each program, which will all be broadcast live on Twitch and YouTube!

Arena World Championship

The AWC will begin September 27, with four online qualifier Cups leading into an epic Season Grand Finals boasting a $300,000 (USD) prize pool and the chance to be crowned The War Within's first Champions.


Teams in Europe and North America can sign up on Raider.IO for The War Within Season 1 Cups, where they'll earn the new in-game Forged Banner of the Algari as they battle for their chance at advancing to the Grand Finals. This banner will be exclusively available via the Arena World Championship program for the first time. There will be four open Cups per region, where teams will compete for points and $20,000 (USD) prize money per Cup. After all the Cups and the AWC Gauntlet, the remaining four teams in each region will face off in the Season 1 Grand Finals for their share of the combined $300,000 (USD) prize pool!

Mythic Dungeon International

The Mythic Dungeon International begins with Time Trials starting October 16.


Registration is now open on Raider.IO to all eligible teams, where the top 16 teams globally will advance to the MDI Groups. In each MDI Group, teams of eight will compete for a share of $30,000 (USD) prizing, as well as to be one of the top teams qualifying for the MDI Global Finals. The top six teams from Group Stage will join two teams from the re-introduced China region to battle it out at the Global Finals for their share of the $200,000 (USD) prize pool and the MDI Global Champion for The War Within title! The first MDI season begins on October 16, and sign-ups are now open, so head over to Raider.IO to register!

For more information on AWC and MDI plans in The War Within, read through our previously published article.


Follow along on the official World of Warcraft news site for all the latest developments as we journey through the week together.
This article was originally published in forum thread: WoW's 20th Anniversary, Going Solo, New Dracthyr Classes, Season 1, and More! started by Lumy View original post
Published on 2024-09-07 08:41 AM
22 Comments
Comments 22 Comments
  1. Biomega's Avatar
    I find it mildly amusing in the wake of all the anniversary stuff that while we have all sorts of old villains appear on promotional material - Illidan, Arthas, Gul'Dan, Jaina... - there is no mention of THE villain anywhere.

    You know, the villain behind everything in the previous "chapter of the WoW saga" that was finally brought to a close two expansions ago. The one whose machinations forged the fate of entire ages of history. A villain so devious and so far-reaching his manipulative stratagems explained every twist, every turn, every thread of lore and story in WoW for almost twenty years.

    Someone so masterful in his pulling of strings and turning of gears he was playing more than 4-D Chess, more than 5-D Checkers, more than 6-D Connect-Four...

    I am of course talking about his bald eminence, the great boogeyman of WoW that makes even the devs tremble (no, not Asmongold) - The Dominator of Doom, Mr. Even-Sylvanas-Couldn't-Believe-His-Plain-Was-Enslavement-All-Along, the one and only JAILER.

    Apparently this shadowy puppet master is so shadowy he's now faded from sight entirely. His story finished the first big chapter of WoW so completely, they closed the book on him entirely.
  1. Redwyrm's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Biomega View Post
    I find it mildly amusing in the wake of all the anniversary stuff that while we have all sorts of old villains appear on promotional material - Illidan, Arthas, Gul'Dan, Jaina... - there is no mention of THE villain anywhere.

    Apparently this shadowy puppet master is so shadowy he's now faded from sight entirely. His story finished the first big chapter of WoW so completely, they closed the book on him entirely.
    I don't know about the Jailer but they could have done a wider panorama shot and included more "Iconic" characters from WoW's history. Varian, Deathwing, Garrosh, Ragnaros, etc.
  1. Al Gorefiend's Avatar
    I am glad to see Blizzard encouraging more and more solo play. The overlap between WoW players and antisocial people is large. I like WoW for the RPG, the MMO part is usually what's responsible for all the lag, shit dungeon experiences, waiting for mobs to respawn, negative parts of WoW.
    Playing with social off, no chats enabled and blocking all whisper requests is the best way to play.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Biomega View Post
    I find it mildly amusing in the wake of all the anniversary stuff that while we have all sorts of old villains appear on promotional material - Illidan, Arthas, Gul'Dan, Jaina... - there is no mention of THE villain anywhere.

    You know, the villain behind everything in the previous "chapter of the WoW saga" that was finally brought to a close two expansions ago. The one whose machinations forged the fate of entire ages of history. A villain so devious and so far-reaching his manipulative stratagems explained every twist, every turn, every thread of lore and story in WoW for almost twenty years.

    Someone so masterful in his pulling of strings and turning of gears he was playing more than 4-D Chess, more than 5-D Checkers, more than 6-D Connect-Four...

    I am of course talking about his bald eminence, the great boogeyman of WoW that makes even the devs tremble (no, not Asmongold) - The Dominator of Doom, Mr. Even-Sylvanas-Couldn't-Believe-His-Plain-Was-Enslavement-All-Along, the one and only JAILER.

    Apparently this shadowy puppet master is so shadowy he's now faded from sight entirely. His story finished the first big chapter of WoW so completely, they closed the book on him entirely.
    It isn't that shocking they will try to scrub all mention of the Jailer from future story beats, they aren't unaware SL was their shittiest expansion. I wonder how much of that played a part in the sacking of their main story writer
  1. Shigma's Avatar
    Well, the Janitor was so ahead of his time he completely died before turning into vintage theme park material. Such a chad. Not even Arthas faded so hard from existence in that xpack.
  1. AtomR's Avatar
    Nerubar story mode? Is that a solo version?

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Biomega View Post
    I find it mildly amusing in the wake of all the anniversary stuff that while we have all sorts of old villains appear on promotional material - Illidan, Arthas, Gul'Dan, Jaina... - there is no mention of THE villain anywhere.

    You know, the villain behind everything in the previous "chapter of the WoW saga" that was finally brought to a close two expansions ago. The one whose machinations forged the fate of entire ages of history. A villain so devious and so far-reaching his manipulative stratagems explained every twist, every turn, every thread of lore and story in WoW for almost twenty years.

    Someone so masterful in his pulling of strings and turning of gears he was playing more than 4-D Chess, more than 5-D Checkers, more than 6-D Connect-Four...

    I am of course talking about his bald eminence, the great boogeyman of WoW that makes even the devs tremble (no, not Asmongold) - The Dominator of Doom, Mr. Even-Sylvanas-Couldn't-Believe-His-Plain-Was-Enslavement-All-Along, the one and only JAILER.

    Apparently this shadowy puppet master is so shadowy he's now faded from sight entirely. His story finished the first big chapter of WoW so completely, they closed the book on him entirely.
    Sargeras was missing from the artwork and he is definitely an important villain, the most important i'd argue. The wallpaper features iconic characters from the last 20 years and the current baddie. There are dozens missing. Are they being scrubbed from embarrassment?
  1. Biomega's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by AtomR View Post
    Sargeras was missing from the artwork and he is definitely an important villain, the most important i'd argue.
    While that's true, he was never really in the GAME. We got to see him in one big cutscene and that's it. He was never an NPC and never a boss.

    But all that aside, I was making fun of their manufactured hype during the leadup to SL as though the Jailer was this great big villain behind everything - and how now this overarching story mastermind who's been the true power behind everything from the Legion to Arthas has apparently been erased from history.
  1. Shigma's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Biomega View Post
    While that's true, he was never really in the GAME. We got to see him in one big cutscene and that's it. He was never an NPC and never a boss.

    But all that aside, I was making fun of their manufactured hype during the leadup to SL as though the Jailer was this great big villain behind everything - and how now this overarching story mastermind who's been the true power behind everything from the Legion to Arthas has apparently been erased from history.
    It doesnt help his face is now rather comical for most of us after being asociated with so many memes/humour stuff exactly because of that. No wonder they just swept under the rug silently at this point.

    Besides maybe Anduin's arch, almost everyone involved was shafted lore-wise and turned into meme material (Baine, Bolvar, Arthas, the list goes on).

    I don't really know what they were thinking, that could just backfire.
  1. Resheph's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Redwyrm View Post
    I am of course talking about his bald eminence, the great boogeyman of WoW that makes even the devs tremble (no, not Asmongold) - The Dominator of Doom, Mr. Even-Sylvanas-Couldn't-Believe-His-Plain-Was-Enslavement-All-Along, the one and only JAILER
    Because apart from the circlejerk on the mmo-boards between 50 (former) players and maybe a few rabid redditors nobdy even remembers the Jailer or was aware of what happened in raids or books. The vast majority of players were never aware or cared. So Blizzard can present a santized version of the past, and why should they not? It's just pixels. It's all just makebelieve, go with the flow and enjoy playing the game.
  1. Redwyrm's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Resheph View Post
    Because apart from the circlejerk on the mmo-boards between 50 (former) players and maybe a few rabid redditors nobdy even remembers the Jailer or was aware of what happened in raids or books. The vast majority of players were never aware or cared. So Blizzard can present a santized version of the past, and why should they not? It's just pixels. It's all just makebelieve, go with the flow and enjoy playing the game.
    I think you quoted the wrong person
  1. Kithelle's Avatar
    I was kinda hoping for dracthyr shaman, dragon totems would have been awesome
  1. Biomega's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kithelle View Post
    I was kinda hoping for dracthyr shaman, dragon totems would have been awesome
    Now imagine dragon druid forms.
  1. Shadowferal's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Biomega View Post
    Now imagine dragon druid forms.
    umm ...ouch..
  1. AtomR's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Biomega View Post
    While that's true, he was never really in the GAME. We got to see him in one big cutscene and that's it. He was never an NPC and never a boss.

    But all that aside, I was making fun of their manufactured hype during the leadup to SL as though the Jailer was this great big villain behind everything - and how now this overarching story mastermind who's been the true power behind everything from the Legion to Arthas has apparently been erased from history.
    It seemed you were reveling (revel in?) on the fact that they failed doing what their plan was. Which is perplexing for me. I don't get that kind of rubbing their failures into peoples faces.
  1. Biomega's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by AtomR View Post
    It seemed you were reveling (revel in?) on the fact that they failed doing what their plan was. Which is perplexing for me. I don't get that kind of rubbing their failures into peoples faces.
    That's because you don't understand why this is funny in the first place. This isn't some poor sob who just had an accident through now fault of their own and we are somehow indulging in gleeful schadenfreude - this is a corporation who arrogantly tried to manufacture a master-villain by ham-fistedly retconning him into 20 years of history and then discovered that people aren't buying it. And now they're effacing their mistake by conscientiously not mentioning it.
  1. Relapses's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Biomega View Post
    I find it mildly amusing in the wake of all the anniversary stuff that while we have all sorts of old villains appear on promotional material - Illidan, Arthas, Gul'Dan, Jaina... - there is no mention of THE villain anywhere.

    You know, the villain behind everything in the previous "chapter of the WoW saga" that was finally brought to a close two expansions ago. The one whose machinations forged the fate of entire ages of history. A villain so devious and so far-reaching his manipulative stratagems explained every twist, every turn, every thread of lore and story in WoW for almost twenty years.

    Someone so masterful in his pulling of strings and turning of gears he was playing more than 4-D Chess, more than 5-D Checkers, more than 6-D Connect-Four...

    I am of course talking about his bald eminence, the great boogeyman of WoW that makes even the devs tremble (no, not Asmongold) - The Dominator of Doom, Mr. Even-Sylvanas-Couldn't-Believe-His-Plain-Was-Enslavement-All-Along, the one and only JAILER.

    Apparently this shadowy puppet master is so shadowy he's now faded from sight entirely. His story finished the first big chapter of WoW so completely, they closed the book on him entirely.
    Steve Danuser disliked this post.
  1. Raidoser's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Biomega View Post
    I find it mildly amusing in the wake of all the anniversary stuff that while we have all sorts of old villains appear on promotional material - Illidan, Arthas, Gul'Dan, Jaina... - there is no mention of THE villain anywhere.

    You know, the villain behind everything in the previous "chapter of the WoW saga" that was finally brought to a close two expansions ago. The one whose machinations forged the fate of entire ages of history. A villain so devious and so far-reaching his manipulative stratagems explained every twist, every turn, every thread of lore and story in WoW for almost twenty years.

    Someone so masterful in his pulling of strings and turning of gears he was playing more than 4-D Chess, more than 5-D Checkers, more than 6-D Connect-Four...

    I am of course talking about his bald eminence, the great boogeyman of WoW that makes even the devs tremble (no, not Asmongold) - The Dominator of Doom, Mr. Even-Sylvanas-Couldn't-Believe-His-Plain-Was-Enslavement-All-Along, the one and only JAILER.

    Apparently this shadowy puppet master is so shadowy he's now faded from sight entirely. His story finished the first big chapter of WoW so completely, they closed the book on him entirely.
    https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comment...t_acknowledge/

    At this point that doesn't sound like a far fetched theory.
  1. Capultro's Avatar
    Going Solo in World of Warcraft: A Hero’s Journey
    . thank you for this blizzard, i liked a lot torghast solo/party. solo and party are needed the 2! mage tower was grat big fun…and rewards of course (illidan s green fire flame reaper cd ejm)…
  1. Loveliest's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Al Gorefiend View Post
    I am glad to see Blizzard encouraging more and more solo play. The overlap between WoW players and antisocial people is large. I like WoW for the RPG, the MMO part is usually what's responsible for all the lag, shit dungeon experiences, waiting for mobs to respawn, negative parts of WoW.
    Playing with social off, no chats enabled and blocking all whisper requests is the best way to
    And yet you have a whole lot of single player games to play. Thousands. Designed specifically for single player enjoyment. So why not go there? Better story, actual proper RPG elements, huge worlds you can actually influence, fully voiced, you name it.
    There's a handful of mmos with good group content and we come to them specifically to ask they refocus on single player? Why? Genuinely, why? Was it that you used to play back in the day and you can't let go or?
  1. Shadowferal's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Loveliest View Post
    And yet you have a whole lot of single player games to play. Thousands. Designed specifically for single player enjoyment. So why not go there? Better story, actual proper RPG elements, huge worlds you can actually influence, fully voiced, you name it. There's a handful of mmos with good group content and we come to them specifically to ask they refocus on single player? Why? Genuinely, why? Was it that you used to play back in the day and you can't let go or?
    And why encourage less paying subscribers? Unless, you imagine in some fanciful way that this is what Blizz desires...
  1. Al Gorefiend's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Loveliest View Post
    And yet you have a whole lot of single player games to play. Thousands. Designed specifically for single player enjoyment. So why not go there? Better story, actual proper RPG elements, huge worlds you can actually influence, fully voiced, you name it.
    There's a handful of mmos with good group content and we come to them specifically to ask they refocus on single player? Why? Genuinely, why? Was it that you used to play back in the day and you can't let go or?
    If it weren't for WoW I wouldn't play videogames at all. I just have a laptop with 3 games on it. WoW, Planet Zoo and Oxygen Not Included. The only 3 games I have played since 2021.

    I like the story, the characters and how the game plays, it is my escape realm.

    I bought GTA V on Steam and it literally says Purchased 2021, play time 1 minute. No Man's Sky 2022, played for 2 hours.

    If it ain't WoW, it isn't for me.

    I don't overthink video games much. I found one I liked and that is that.

    I will probably play a lot of elder scrolls 6 since I enjoyed Skyrim but I played that game down to the last freaking item and npc.

    If Baldurs gate wasnt turned based bullshit and slow soap opera storytelling I might like it, it WAS a game I was hyped for.
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