World of WarcraftPatch 11.1.7, titled Legacy of Arathor, is the second post-Season 2 update forThe War Within. Blizzard recently confirmed June 17 as the release date for this patch, officially starting the content countdown for players around the globe. Once it arrives, fans will have a plethora of activities, quests, and cosmetics to enjoy inWorld of Warcraft.
Compared toWorld of Warcraft’s previous patch, Legacy of Arathor is full of content, ranging from new story chapters and quality-of-life improvements to limited-time events. Keeping it all straight can be a little confusing, so here’s everything players can expect on and after patch day.
The Last Story Before WoW Patch 11.2
Perhaps the most impactful element of Legacy of Arathor is its campaign chapters. A new campaign storyline will see Faerin Lothar, Lamplighter of Hallowfall, travel to the ancestral Human zone of the Arathi Highlands alongside Daelin Trollbane and Geya’rah to uncover a sinister plot that threatens to open hostilities between the Alliance and Horde. As the central narrative questline for Patch 11.1.7, the storycoming toWorld of Warcrafton June 17will be the final one fans can expect before the campaign continues in 11.2.
Curiously, Patch 11.0.7’s short storyline set up Patch 11.1, Undermine(d), by teasing Gallywix’s Black Blood plotline, and introducing Gazlowe and Renzik “The Shiv” as major players who would appear in the update. However, the Arathi Highlands campaign seems to be its own story, not directly connected to the Xal’atath, the Dark Heart, or theEthereals teased at the end ofWoWPatch 11.1’s story. Players probably won’t be getting any hints about what’s in store for 11.2 until the update’s formal reveal some time after June 17.
Game-Changing Elements in Legacy of Arathor
There are a few parts of Patch 11.1.7 that are poised to change the game on a fundamental level.Lorewalking is a new feature inWoW’s Legacy of Arathorcontent update that allows fans to play through curated storytelling experiences themed around various characters, cultures, or events that are popular or relevant. Legacy of Arathor launches with three storylines – Xal’atath, Ethereals, and the Lich King – but at least one more about the Blood Elves has been datamined already. This feature provides a new way to level up, alongside a method to remind players of key events they might have missed from over 20 years of quests, novels, and other content ahead of their relevance in the main story.
The Combat Assistant andSingle-Button Assistant UI features coming inWoWPatch 11.1.7are also especially significant. These options not only provide options for new or casual gamers to master the game, they also act as accessibility options for fans with disabilities as well.
Lastly, Overcharged Delves are a new type of difficulty mode forThe War Within’s evergreen instance feature. Several Delves are getting a unique affix specific to it, offering fresh experiences alongside further challenges, rewards, and upgradable abilities. Assuming they go over well, players can likely expectBlizzard to innovate further on this Delve featurein later updates. These six Delves are getting Overcharged versions in Legacy of Arathor:
Limited-Time Events in World of Warcraft Patch 11.1.7
Not everything coming in Legacy of Arathor is permanent. A couple of limited-time events are arriving in Patch 11.1.7, the first of which is the Turbulent Timeways. The third iteration of the event introduced in Dragonflight, Turbulent Timeways sends players through six weeks of back-to-back Timewalking campaigns, featuring a unique Infinite Dragon pirate mount reward and an experience buff. What’s more, the Turbulent Timeways are also thedebut ofWoW: Battle for AzerothTimewalking– and even though the event is temporary, this new expansion is being added to the permanent Timewalking rotation from then on.
July 1 also marks the return of theGreedy EmissaryDiablocrossover event inWorld of Warcraft. Players will be able to hunt down Treasure Goblins in Stormwind, Orgrimmar, Dornogal, and Undermine to earn brand-new rewards, including crimson recolors of the revamped Tier 2 sets from the 20th anniversary event and a new mount. What’s more, this event also includes the Collector’s Bounty buff that increases the drop rate of legacy loot in oldWorld of Warcraftzones.
World of Warcraft’s new Dastardly Duos event, which just began on June 3, will be ongoing throughout the first part of Legacy of Arathor until July 15. What’s more, the Midsummer Fire Festival is running from June 21 until July 5 this year as well. This means the opening half of July is going to be especially busy, as Dastardly Duos, Turbulent Timeways, and Greedy Emissary will all be happening at the same time, with the Midsummer Fire Festival overlapping for the better part of the first week.
Were that not enough, the Winds of Mysterious Fortune – a leveling event from Patch 11.1.5 – is currently listed on the Public Test Realm as running from July 17 through August 14. While there has been no formal announcement yet, if theWinds of Mysterious Fortune does return toWoWthis summer, there will be a whopping five events running at once for a short while. The experience boost available during the Turbulent Timeways is significant enough on its own, but if the Winds of Mysterious Fortune blow back into Azeroth as well, Patch 11.1.7 may become one of the best times to level inWorld of Warcraftsince the 20th anniversary event last year, even before including the buff from the Darkmoone Faire.
