WoW Hotfixes Stop Ula’tek Swim Cheese and Preserve Darkwell Access

Blizzard’s September 3, 2026 hotfixes for World of Warcraft mostly focus on cleanup across raids, quests, classes, and a few older versions of the game. The headline fix is in The Venomous Abyss, where players can no longer avoid Ula’tek’s Caustic Waves by swimming underneath them.

The patch also fixes a progression issue tied to The Darkwell. Characters who haven’t finished the “War of Light and Shadow” campaign should now still keep access to The Darkwell if they’ve completed Arator’s quests for the “Curse of Ula’tek” campaign.

• Ula’tek’s Caustic Waves in The Venomous Abyss can no longer be dodged by swimming under them.
• The Blight Vein tooltip now points to the correct damage value.
• The “Spark in the Night” achievement now properly grants credit for the Sparks of War quest when completed in the Coiled Isle, Val, or Naigtal.
• Holy Priests should see Renew more reliably grant Renewed Vigor from the Venomous Abyss 2-piece bonus.
• Restoration Shamans using Totemic should now get the intended healing increase from Oversurge for Surging Totem and Overflowing Shores.
• Ruby Life Pools now has the Radiant Drake return NPC appear in Mythic+ after the final boss is defeated.
• Zul’jin’s Guillotine Technique will no longer pick a second target that isn’t already in combat.

As usual with WoW hotfixes, some changes are live as soon as they’re applied, while others may need realm restarts. Blizzard also notes that certain issues still require a client-side patch rather than a server-side hotfix.

Further reading: Official World of Warcraft September 3 hotfixes