WoW Patch 12.1’s Pre-Season Will Open New Content Before Mythic+ and Rated PvP
The week of August 11 will include the Coiled Isle, Heroic and Mythic 0 dungeons, Delves, Lairs, unrated PvP, and new housing features, while the full Season 2 rollout starts on August 18.
World of Warcraft Patch 12.1, Curse of Ula’tek, will begin with a pre-season week rather than opening every Season 2 activity at once. Blizzard has published its pre-season details, confirming that players will have time to collect gear, complete outdoor activities, and prepare for the next season before Mythic+ and rated PvP become available. Players can also follow the new campaign to unlock access to the Coiled Isle during this opening period.
The pre-season window will run from August 11 through August 18. For EU realms, the corresponding dates will be August 12 through August 19. Season 1 competitive PvP will end at 10:00 p.m. PDT on the night before maintenance begins in each region, with Mythic+ and PvP percentile cutoffs calculated as the realms enter maintenance.
What will be available during the pre-season
Once maintenance ends and the realms return, several pieces of Midnight Season 2 content will be active. The selection gives players plenty to do, but its reward limits will remain below the full-season caps.
- Delves 1–11 will be available, along with the “?” Nemesis difficulty. The three new Delves are The Ring of Glory, Gnarldor Isle, and Venomfall Deeps. Bountiful Delves will be disabled, Adventurer gear will cap at 3/6, and Veteran Crests will be available.
- “? Azta’rec” will be available during the pre-season.
- Curse Surges and the Vaults of Atal’Utek will open on the Coiled Isle.
- Pinnacle Caches will drop Season 2 Veteran gear.
- Normal and Hard Mode Prey will be active and will award Veteran gear.
- The new Season 2 dungeon pool will be playable on Heroic and Mythic 0 difficulty, including the new Altar of Fangs dungeon.
- Mythic 0 dungeons will have a weekly lockout and will award Champion 1/6 gear during this week.
- The world difficulty version of Tidebound Grotto, a new Lair, will be available. Nymrissa Wavecaller will be the encounter available on World difficulty during the pre-season. It will drop bind-on-pickup Season 2 Veteran gear, and Lairs will have a weekly lockout.
- PvP Arena Training Grounds and unrated PvP activities will be open.
- Crafting Sparks will begin dropping.
Patch 12.1 also adds new player housing features, including Endeavors, Pets, Blueprints, and a large amount of new decor to collect and use.
The full dungeon pool will be active on Heroic and Mythic 0, but the pre-season will not include Mythic Keystones. A Voidcore can also be used only once per week on a Lair when it is available.
Great Vault rewards will arrive in stages
The Great Vault opening during the pre-season will still be based on activities completed during the final week of Season 1, so it will not provide Season 2 rewards. At the same time, progress toward the first Season 2 Great Vault will begin during the pre-season, with those rewards becoming claimable on August 18, or August 19 in the EU region.
Voidcore bonus rolls will not be part of that first Season 2 Great Vault. They will become available during the second week of the season, the week of August 25, and any player who has unlocked at least three panes will be able to select them.
There are also separate limits for World-row gear. The first Season 2 Great Vault can offer World-row gear up to Champion 3/6. Later Vaults can award World-row gear up to Hero 1/6.
Content that will wait for the Season 2 launch
The rest of the season’s progression systems will begin on August 18, with EU realms following on August 19. The following activities and rewards will not be active during the pre-season:
- Bountiful Delves
- Coffer Keys
- “?? Azta’rec”, along with the Fabled Slayer of Azta’rec achievement and title
- Nightmare Mode Prey
- Mythic Keystones
- Daily Mythic 0 dungeons
- Venomous Abyss at all difficulties
- Tidebound Grotto on Normal, Heroic, and Mythic difficulties
- Rated PvP activities
In other words, the first week will focus on outdoor content, early dungeon runs, Delves, unrated PvP, and gearing under controlled reward caps. Mythic+ keys, rated PvP, and the higher-difficulty Lair content will arrive with the full Season 2 launch instead.
Blizzard’s Curse of Ula’tek overview covers the wider content update, while the Season 2 unlock schedule breaks down the staged rollout.
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World of Warcraft: Midnight
Developed by Blizzard Entertainment
