World of Warcraft: Midnight Patch 12.1 arrives August 11, Season 2 starts August 18

Posted on by

World of Warcraft: Midnight gets its next major update on August 11 with Patch 12.1, Curse of Ula’tek. Season 2 follows on August 18, bringing the Venomous Abyss raid, a new Mythic+ dungeon pool, PvP rewards, Delves updates, Prey targets, and a new instanced world boss setup called Lairs.

The rollout is staggered across several weeks. According to the full patch notes, the first week opens Heroic and Mythic Midnight dungeons, the new Altar of Fangs dungeon, normal and hard Prey, all Delve tiers without Bountiful rewards, Training Grounds arenas, and the Tidebound Grotto world Lair with Nymrissa Wavecaller.

  • The Venomous Abyss raid opens the week of August 19 on Normal, Heroic, Mythic, and Raid Finder Wing 1.
  • Mythic+ Season 2 and PvP Season 2 also begin the week of August 19.
  • Bountiful Delves, Delve keys, Nightmare Prey, Curse of the Isle, Great Vault Season 2 gear, and higher Tidebound Grotto difficulties arrive that same week.
  • Raid Finder Wing 2 and Story Mode open the week of August 26.
  • Raid Finder Wing 3 opens the week of September 2, followed by Wing 4 the week of September 9.

The Season 2 Mythic+ rotation includes Altar of Fangs, Murder Row, Den of Nalorakk, The Blinding Vale, Voidscar Arena, Ruby Life Pools from Dragonflight, King’s Rest from Battle for Azeroth, and Temple of Sethraliss from Battle for Azeroth. Timed Mythic 10 clears will unlock dungeon portals for the eight dungeons.

On the raid side, The Venomous Abyss sends players into the Vaults of Atal’Utek to take on Ula’tek. The raid brings new class armor sets for every class, Hall of Fame rewards for the first 200 guilds worldwide to defeat Ula’tek on Mythic, and the Primeval Skyfriend mount from Mythic Ula’tek. Housing trophies also drop from Ula’tek, with higher difficulties awarding more trophy types.

PvP Season 2 adds the Venomous Gladiator’s Goredrake for Gladiator players and a Vicious Lightbloom Boar tied to rated PvP progress. Delves get The Ring of Glory, Gnarldor Isle, and the Venomfall Deeps Nemesis Delve, while Prey gets new affixes, four Nightmare Mode targets, and a refreshed reward track through the “Prey: A Slithering Threat” quest.

Lairs are one of the more notable format changes. They move world boss-style fights into dedicated instances with scaling difficulty up to flexible Mythic for 15 to 25 players. Season 2’s first Lair is The Tidebound Grotto, where players face Nymrissa Wavecaller.