World of Warcraft the War Within release date, betas, and new content

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• The World of Warcraft: The War Within release date is set for August 26, 2024.

With the beta phase still ongoing, Blizzard has announced the World of Warcraft: The War Within release date during the Xbox Games Showcase. This is a new chapter for WoW, signalling the beginning of the first in a three-part story called the Worldsoul Saga. With the launch date locked in, here’s what we can expect from WoW the War Within.

When is the World of Warcraft the War Within release date?

The WoW War Within release date is Monday, August 26 2024. Blizzard shared this release date news alongside a cinematic trailer, detailing all previous Warcraft expansions. This new expansion brings a whole new region in Khaz Algar that sees you explore the depths of Azeroth through subterranean worlds filled with hidden wonders and horrors, down to the depths of the nerubian empire and an evil plot bubbling away.

The War Within beta

The War Within is currently holding an open beta event as of June 5. If you want, you can sign up to the beta now and play a section of the War Within. If you have already preordered the Epic Edition, beta access will be automatically available to you. In the beta, you can go to four new zones and try out eight of the new dungeons, including the new playable Earthen race, and the delves.

What’s new in The War Within?

With any expansion to an MMO, there are plenty of new additions and changes to expect. Blizzard has shared some information about these, including Delves, Warbands, playable Earthen race, and Hero Talents, to name a few additions we can expect to see.

Delves

Delves are new solo content instances that you tackle with an NPC party member. These can be run to earn loot, and gold, and to experience challenging solo content with an adjustable difficulty. At the time of writing, we know of 12 Delves that will be available throughout the world, with two to three accessible in each of the new regions.

• Earthcrawl Mines – Isle of Dorne
• Kriefval’s Rest – Isle of Dorne
• Fungal Folly – Isle of Dorne
• Skittering Breach – Hallowfall
• Nightfall Sanctum – Hallowfall
• The Sinkhole – Hallowfall
• Mycomancer Cavern – Hallowfall
• The Waterworks – the Ringing Deeps
• The Dread Pit – the Ringing Deeps
• Deepwalker Hold – the Ringing Deeps
• The Spiral Weave – Azj-Kahet
• Rak-Rethan Abyss – Azj-Kahet

Warbands

The Warband is a new system added in the War Within that lets you have cross-character progression across all of your alt characters. This means any progress you make on your Alts, such as unlocked achievements, will be shared across all the characters on your Battlenet account regardless of your Faction. Share Warband bank access, War Within Renown, achievements, and collections for glamouring your items.

Hero Talents

Classes are being expanded once more in the War Within thanks to Hero Talents. Each class in the game has its various specialisations and now each one has two Hero Talent trees that will further enhance your skills and specialisations.

New dungeons and raids

Alongside the Delves, there will also be plenty of new instances to tackle. In the War Within, there are eight new dungeons – four of these are part of the main story quest. The other four instances will be for endgame loot.

The first four story dungeons are:

• The Rookery
• The Stonevault
• Priory of the Sacred Flame
• City of Threads

The endgame dungeons are:

• Cinderbrew Meadery
• Darkflame Cleft
• The Dawnbreaker
• Old City

Alongside these dungeons, there will be a new raid – the Nerub’ar Palace. This raid features eight bosses and will see you try to overthrow the Nerubian Empire to kill the queen.

WoW the War Within story

This expansion marks the first in a trilogy of new expansions coming to WoW, kicking off a brand-new story known as the Worldsoul Saga. The first expansion, the War Within, will be followed by WoW: Midnight, and concluded with WoW: The Last Titan. In the War Within, we will venture deep into the ground of Azeroth to explore subterranean areas and eventually the core of the Nerubian empire. The story will involve Anduin Wrynn, Thrall, and Alleria Windrunner, all key characters in the Warcraft universe.

As we explore the depths of the earth and discover more about the situation and the Void, we will eventually come face-to-face with Xal’atath, the Harbinger, who is the main antagonist in The War Within. We won’t just be spelunking down into the ground, we’ll also get to explore plenty of other regions throughout Khaz Algar, including the Isle of Dorn and the Earthen’s capital city of Dornogal.