World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

Engage in an all new PvP season beginning with weekly resets. Gather your team to take on the challenge of Rated Arenas and Rated Battlegrounds and earn Conquest points to spend on new and more powerful PvP gear.


Season 9 also brings with it two new battlegrounds, Battle for Gilneas and Twin Peaks, and sets the stage for a dynamic PvP experience.

---

New Raid Dungeons: The Battle Begins May 30


Beginning on May 30 at 3:00 pm PDT globally, level 85 players will be able to take their first steps into three raid dungeons: The Bastion of Twilight, Blackwing Descent, and Throne of the Four Winds.

The Bastion of Twilight

The Bastion of Twilight stands as a dark symbol of the Old Gods’ burgeoning power on Azeroth. Various branches of the Twilight’s Hammer dwell deep beneath the towering form— considered the cult’s foremost command center— along with their twisted leader, Cho’gall. There he, and his servants, conspire to bring the Old Gods’ apocalyptic visions to fruition by bleeding Azeroth of all sanity, hope, and life.

Zone: Twilight Highlands

Difficulty: (10) Normal, (10) Heroic, (25) Normal, (25) Heroic

Bosses: 4 (5 on Heroic difficulty)

• Halfus Wyrmbreaker: Imbued with unnatural power and stamina by Cho’gall the ettin Halfus Wyrmbreaker captures dragons for use as fodder in the Twilight’s Hammer’s rituals. To this end, he has enslaved a behemoth proto-dragon to aid him in hunting down his winged prey.
• Theralion and Valiona: Magically aged to adulthood, Valiona and Theralion were to be paragons among a new clutch of twilight dragons, leading their brood in scouring Azeroth of life. Instead, they waste their incredible powers constantly bickering and fighting each other.
• Ascendant Council: As the most powerful Twilight’s Hammer cultists to be twisted into elemental beings, the Ascendant Council members have long forgotten their existence as mere mortals. From their wicked sanctum they oversee the selection of new ascension candidates.
• Cho’gall: Under Cho’gall’s control, the orcish Twilight’s Hammer clan was transformed into a murderous cult obsessed with the Old Gods and their herald, Deathwing. Extended contact with his dark master has hideously warped both Cho’gall’s mind and body.
• Sinestra (on Heroic difficulty only): Originally Deathwing's prime consort, Sinestra created the first twilight dragons, but was later obliterated by one of her terrifying creations. Now a ravaged husk reanimated by insidious magic, Sinestra oversees the creation of new twilight clutches.

Blackwing Descent

Nefarian and his warped attempts to create a new breed of dragon were thought to be defeated after his death in Blackwing Lair. Yet tales have emerged that his father, Deathwing, has reanimated Nefarian and set him to work in Blackwing Descent. The gruesome experiments being conducted there are feared to be on a level of wickedness far surpassing Nefarian’s previous crimes against nature.

Zone: Burning Steppes

Difficulty: (10) Normal, (10) Heroic, (25) Normal, (25) Heroic

Bosses: 6

• Omnotron Defense System: The Omnotron Defense System was once touted as the Dark Iron dwarves’ greatest technological marvel. When Nefarian arrived in Blackwing Descent, he repurposed the run-down system to annihilate anyone intruding on his laboratories.
• Magmaw: Magmaw is a colossal lava worm summoned from the Firelands centuries ago by Ragnaros’ Dark Iron servitors. Nefarian largely considers Magmaw a worrisome pest but has grown fond of feeding the beast his failed experiments… and servants.
• Atramedes: Atramedes, or Experiment 25463-D, is a failed attempt to bestow enhanced senses on a black dragon whelp. The toxic salve applied to the broodling robbed him of sight, forcing him to rely on sound and smell for survival. A tragic story… if Atramedes weren’t so evil.
• Chimaeron: Terrifying. Ugly. Evil. Kill it.
• Maloriak: The human Malory was a bright young alchemist until he was kidnapped by Nefarian and fused with the corpse of a dragonspawn. The result— Maloriak— is a bumbling minion who possesses only a dull glimmer of his former intelligence.
• Nefarian’s End: Deathwing’s son, Nefarian gained infamy for his horrifying efforts to create chromatic dragons from the essences of Azeroth’s various dragonflights. After his death in Blackwing Lair, he was reanimated and charged by Deathwing to continue his insidious endeavors.

Throne of the Four Winds

Al’Akir the Windlord’s personal lair, the Throne of the Four Winds, glides high among Skywall’s boundless vistas. Now the barriers of the Elemental Plane have been ruptured, Al’Akir is free to travel Azeroth’s winds at his leisure. He has mustered his fiercest tempests to scour Uldum of life and seize control of the mysterious titan-forged Halls of Origination.

Zone: Uldum

Difficulty: (10) Normal, (10) Heroic, (25) Normal, (25) Heroic

Bosses: 2

• The Conclave of Wind: With Siamat, Lord of the South Wind, imprisoned by the Neferset tol’vir, Al’akir’s lieutenants are vying to fill the power vacuum that now exists in the Conclave of Wind. The remaining conclave members are Anshal, Lord of the West Wind, whose gales can heal allies or poison enemies; Rohash, Lord of the East Wind, whose tempests can grind the mightiest mountains to dust, and Nezir, Lord of the North Wind whose frigid storms have claimed more lives than all other cardinal wind lords combined.
• Al’Akir: Gifted with great intelligence and cunning, Al’Akir the Windlord once served as the foremost tactician in the Old Gods’ horrific armies. In the wake of the Cataclysm, he has aligned with Deathwing and turned his godlike power against many of the air elementals’ ancient tol’vir nemeses.

---

Gather your allies and get in the battle!

Non-Player Characters

• Doc Nanners in Valdrakken will again offer players "A Cataloger's Paradise" upon reaching Renown 8 with the Dragonscale Expedition.

WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria

• Added clarity to the quest "The Great Water Hunt" to speak with Mudmug before gathering water.
• Nostwin now sells Glyph of Shadow for Priests.
• Fixed an issue preventing the quest "Where are My Reinforcements?" from proceeding as expected.
• Improved the respawn rate and treasure from rares and rare elites across Pandaria.
• Increased the amount of bronze and raised the drop chance for threads of time from airborne bronze.
• Fixed an issue where players who faction-changed could not use the group finder for dungeons and scenarios.
• Fixed an issue preventing the quest “Riding the Skies” from granting the appropriate Cloud Serpent mount.
• Fixed an issue causing Wise Mari in the Temple of the Jade Serpent to not spawn Corrupt Living Water as intended.
• Hutia was out of control in the Jade Forest, and has been convinced to relax a bit and stop hitting so hard.

Cataclysm Classic

• Fixed a bug preventing Diabolical Plans from dropping in Ashenvale for Horde players wanting to do “Never Again”.
• Cataclysm Honor Vendors should now be available in Stormwind and Orgrimmar to purchase ilvl 352 Blue PvP Gear for Honor Points.
  
  • Conquest and Elite Conquest vendors will not sell anything until Arena Season 9 begins with next week's regional resets.
• Fixed a bug with the Thirty Tabards
• Fixed a bug preventing Engineers and Alchemists from making discoveries while crafting.
• Crafted “Vicious” gear that was unintentionally created at item level 377 has been adjusted to item level 339.
• In "Stonefather's Boon", the Stonefather's Boon buff duration has been reduced to 10 seconds (was 3 minutes).
• Fixed some quest issues. Erunak Stonespeaker should now still be visible to players who have advanced further in the quest line at the original location to turn in “Call of Duty”. “All or Nothing”, “Blood and Thunder”, and “Defending the Rift” should no longer fail to complete if you are sitting or mounted.

Hello!

As mentioned in the article above, we’ve been working on a new raid experience for The War Within called Story difficulty.

Throughout World of Warcraft’s history, many of the most epic moments in our stories have been told in dungeons and raids. With the recent introduction of Follower Dungeons, we’ve been experimenting with new ways for players to see those stories, especially for those who may not feel comfortable playing within the social expectations of group environments.

With Story difficulty in Nerub-ar Palace, our goal is to offer players a way to see the epic conclusion of Azj-Kahet’s story who may not see the end to that story otherwise. This difficulty is intended for a private party of 1-5 players and will allow players to face off against Queen Ansurek without the assistance of other players or Followers. This encounter features reduced combat complexity and difficulty, instead focusing on the narrative elements of the encounter. Story difficulty is intended to be experienced as a one-time chapter in the game’s story, but is repeatable for players who want to revisit that part of the adventure.

We currently plan to release this experience alongside the final wing of Looking For Raid difficulty, for players who’ve reached the appropriate point in the questing experience of The War Within. We’d love to hear your feedback on this feature once it’s released.

Cataclysm^® Classic™ is here, which means it is time for more events!

This June is the Dragonslayer Challenge, where teams race through raids and dungeons. Then, the Cataclysm Arena Tournament, where top combatants will again test their mettle in an open bracket.

---

Dragonslayer Challenge

While many adventurers have conquered Blackwing Descent before, few are as fast and efficient as two of the top speedrunning guilds: Progress (EU - Gehennas) and None of the Above (EU - Gehennas).

But what if they didn’t have all the best items and near-unlimited time to gear up? The Dragonslayer Challenge gives these two guilds basic level 85 characters, limited time to gear up, and forces them to speedrun through Blackwing Descent.

Can these guilds conquer the challenge?

Watch them take on the Dragonslayer Challenge on June 8–9 live on YouTube and Twitch.

---

Cataclysm Arena Tournament


Prepare for the ultimate showdown in the 2024 Cataclysm Arena Tournament! This is your chance to witness the top players from Europe and North America battle for glory and a combined prize pool of $50,000 (USD). Don’t miss this event on June 14–16, live on YouTube and Twitch.

Don’t just watch the action; be a part of it! Sign-ups for the Cataclysm Arena Tournament are open until June 7 at 10:00 am PDT. Visit Raider.io for more details on Europe and North America. Stay updated with WoW Esports on Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch, and check out the WoW Classic website for all the latest news as we return to a changed Azeroth!