This week’s Lore Watch kicks off with a question based on a datamined spoiler which will be revealed as we come to toward the end of patch 12.1, as we finally uncover the goal Xal’atath has been working toward since before she was besties with a nameless Shadow Priest (Mitch). As usual, her now-revealed motivations may have a knock-on effect on certain aspects of both far-ranging lore and small details of our characters’ daily lives. If, of course, that datamined info comes to pass.

Then we go to Magister’s Terrace and the Lycaneum, which we’ve noticed is packed with all kinds of bookish clutter. This includes stuff that represents travel, like ships, but also a few artifacts you might not expect for a Blood Elf location, even if they are global scholars, like statuettes of Moonkin. Is this just set dressing, or is there something more significant these props are meant to signify? Or, one step further, are they foreshadowing a return to something Moonkin-y, like Elune?

If you want even more background story, we also have a guide to every Warcraft book in chronological order (for those of you who prefer reading that way).

You can listen to the podcast directly from this post or click on “Follow” in the player below to follow the podcast in your podcast player of choice.

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The Lore Watch podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. If you’d like to catch up on previous Lore Watch podcasts, our weekly Blizzard Watch podcast, or our ongoing TTRPG podcasts, check out our podcast page. You can also search for any of these programs in your favorite podcast player to subscribe and be notified when a new episode is released.

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Thanks for listening and enjoy the show!

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Now that we’ve all obtained plenty of experience sloshing through the glowing, venomous rivers of the Coiled Isle we’re ready to step back and evaluate our initial thoughts on Midnight’s patch 12.1, The Curse of Ula’tek. There’s new story pointing us in the direction of the expansion’s finale, a new raid, lots of world events and grinds to add to our ever-growing lists, and more snakes than you can shake St. Patrick’s shillelagh at. So what do you think of this chapter of World of Warcraft so far?

I really did enjoy the way the story advancement came together and tied Zul’jan’s rash play for power all the way around to the unresolved ending of the previous content cycle. Without giving any spoilers, the diversion into deep Troll history and subterranean labyrinths full of serpents seemed to be a bit of a narrative left turn but ended up dovetailing nicely with everything else that has happened in Midnight and where we appear to be headed next.

While there were a small number of things in the new content that weren’t brimming with snakes or dripping with vivid poison, they were few and far between. If you’re like Indiana Jones and you’ve got acute ophidiophobia, this has probably been a fairly rough patch to play through so far. If only we could get a version of Arachnophobia Mode that would convert serpents to some other tube-shaped animal. I’m thinking ferrets.

I think my favorite thing about the Curse of Ula’tek content so far is the little things. Sure there’s lots of Trolls, but who would have guessed that a boatload of lost Tortollans would end up playing bit roles as varied as “Fishing Buddy” and “Possessed Raid Boss.” The addition of Pet Beds means that my ridiculously under-utilized menagerie of furry little buddies can finally roam around my Player Housing pad. And the addition of one particular short-spined trash panda means that I’ll always look back on this time in my World of Warcraft career as the era of swimming through poison waterfalls with a stumpy raccoon.

So what do you think of the Coiled Isle and the rest of the Curse of Ula’tek update so far? Have you enjoyed collecting all the various venomous currencies, or are you counting the days until we sail away from these slithering shores for good?

BlizzCon 2026 runs from September 12-13, 2026, and we finally have a full schedule of events for the convention! Some parts of BlizzCon will only be for in-person attendees but a majority of events, including all major panels and ceremonies, will be livestreamed for free so everyone can watch live (or catch up later). The caveat is that different events will appear on their respective games’ Twitch or YouTube channels, which makes easy if you’re just following one game, but a little more complicated if you’re trying to stay on top of several games (like we are). It’s more important than ever to stay on top of the BlizzCon schedule.

There’s a lot going on this year, so we’ve broken down the BlizzCon 2026 events you won’t want to miss, as well as where you can watch them, whether you’re going in-person or catching a stream. But remember, these are just the highlights, so you should still take a look at the full BlizzCon day 1 and BlizzCon day 2 schedules to make sure you don’t miss out on anything you’re interested in. Keep in mind that there could be changes to the schedule between now and the convention’s end, and Blizzard has a history of adding extra panels after the open ceremony announcements, so keep your eyes on the official schedule for any last minute changes.

Here are our must-watch BlizzCon 2026 panels — warning, we consider most of them to be must-watch — as well as where to watch them.

BlizzCon day 1 streaming schedule

Saturday, September 12

Blizzard stream

Watch on Twitch or YouTube

• 10:30am pacific (1:30pm eastern) — Opening Ceremony
• 2:30pm pacific (5:30pm eastern) — Custodians of Legacy Games
• 3:30pm pacific (6:30pm eastern) — Classic Game Deep Dive
• 4:45pm pacific (7:45pm eastern) — BlizzCon Community Night

World of Warcraft stream

Watch on Twitch or YouTube

• 12pm pacific (3pm eastern) — World of Warcraft: What’s Next
• 2pm pacific (5pm eastern) — Building Cutscenes in World of Warcraft
• 2:45pm pacific (5:45pm eastern) — World of Warcraft: What’s Next 2
• 3:30pm pacific (6:30pm eastern) — World of Warcraft: Developer X Creator Showcase

Overwatch stream

Watch on Twitch or YouTube

• 12pm pacific (3pm eastern) — Overwatch Dev Livestream: Live from BlizzCon!
• 12pm pacific (3pm eastern) — Overwatch World Cup Quarterfinals
• 3:45pm pacific (6:45pm eastern) — Overwatch: Hero Deep Dive
• 6:15pm pacific (9:15pm eastern) — Overwatch Art & Collaboration

Hearthstone stream

Watch on Twitch 0r YouTube

• 12pm pacific (3pm eastern) — Hearthstone World Championship Quarterfinals
• 3pm pacific (6pm eastern) — Hearthstone: What’s Next
• 3:45pm pacific (6:45pm eastern) — Hearthstone World Championship Quarterfinals
• 6:30pm pacific time (9:30pm eastern) — Drawstone: Murloc Draw Along

Diablo stream

Watch on Twitch or YouTube

• 1:45pm pacific (4:45pm eastern) — Diablo: Developer Update

Classic games

• 12pm pacific (3pm eastern) — Heroes of the Storm – Legacy Match
  • Twitch
  • YouTube
• 4:30pm pacific (7:30pm eastern) — Classic Cup: Warcraft 3
  • YouTube

BlizzCon day 2 streaming schedule

Sunday, September 13

Blizzard stream

Watch on Twitch or YouTube

Note that Sunday’s live performance of LeSserafim is in-person only and will not be streaming.

• 9:30am pacific (12:30pm eastern) — 30 Years of Battle.net with Special Guest CD Project Red
• 12:45pm pacific (3:45pm eastern) — Villains of Blizzard
• 2pm pacific (5pm eastern) — Collaborative Storytelling in SFD
• 3:15pm pacific (6:15pm eastern) — Voices of Blizzard
• 4pm pacific (8pm eastern) — Localization: Bringing Blizzard Worlds Together
• 5:30pm pacific (9:30pm eastern) — Closing Remarks

World of Warcraft stream

Watch on Twitch or YouTube

• 10am pacific (1pm eastern) — World of Warcraft: Deep Dive
• 1:15pm pacific (4:15pm eastern) — World of Warcraft: Art Design
• 2:15pm pacific (5:15pm eastern) — World of Warcraft: Archives
• 4:15pm pacific (7:15pm eastern) — World of Warcraft Hardcore: What’s Next

Overwatch stream

Watch on Twitch or YouTube

• 12pm pacific (3pm eastern)– Questwatch: Live
• 12pm pacific (3pm eastern) — Overwatch Dev Livestream: Live from BlizzCon!
• 12pm pacific (3pm eastern) — Overwatch World Cup Quarterfinals
• 1:15pm pacific (4:15pm eastern) — Overwatch World Cup Third Place
• 2:45pm pacific (5:45pm eastern) — Overwatch World Cup Finals
• 6:15pm pacific (9:15pm eastern)– Overwatch Art & Collaboration

Hearthstone stream

Watch on Twitch 0r YouTube

• 9:30am pacific (12:30pm eastern) — Hearthstone World Championship Semifinals
• 1pm pacific (4pm eastern) — Hearthstone World Championship Finals
• 3:15pm pacific (6:15pm eastern) — Hearthstone: Battlegrounds Design
• 4:15pm pacific (8:15pm eastern) — Drawstone: Card Back Art Demo

Diablo stream

Watch on Twitch or YouTube

• 11:45am pacific (2:45pm eastern) — Diablo: Developer Update

Classics stream

Watch on Twitch or YouTube

• 11:30am pacific (2:30pm eastern) — Classic Cup: StarCraft 2
• 2:15pm pacific (5:15pm eastern) — Classic Cup: StarCraft Remastered

How to earn BlizzCon 2026 digital rewards

You can earn digital rewards for the game of your choice by hitting certain view time benchmarks for that game’s stream when you link your Battle.net account to a Twitch or YouTube account. These rewards are also earnable by in-person attendees if they link their BlizzCon passes to their Battle.net account. Both camps will need complete their respective process by September 18, 2026 and all rewards should be delivered by September 26, 2026.

For full details on which drops are available, check out the viewer’s guide (scroll down to see all available rewards).

How to find panels if attending in person

If you’re in Anaheim for BlizzCon, knowing where a panel is streaming won’t help you find it in person. Check the official schedule for a physical locations for these panels, and find each stage on the convention floor map.

Last week at gamescom, we got a bit of a surprise in the form of a full-length trailer for Exodus. To those unfamiliar, Exodus is an upcoming sci-fi action shooter that may look a lot like Mass Effect with the serial numbers filed off, and for good reason! But more on that in a sec. First, the big news coming out of gamescom 2026: Exodus officially launches on April 7, 2027.

So what is Exodus?

Exodus comes from several former Mass Effect and BioWare devs

As I alluded to above, Exodus is an upcoming sci-fi adventure game with a pretty significant tie to the mostly defunct but extremely beloved Mass Effect series. Exodus is developed by Archetype Entertainment, a new company formed by video game industry veteran James Ohlen, who was the Senior Creative Director at BioWare for 22 years. In 2019, he formed Archetype as a new development studio under Wizards of the Coast.

He’s not the only one, though; in January 2020, another BioWare member, Chad Robinson, was named as Vice President and General Manager of Archetype Entertainment. One month later, BioWare Writer Drew Karpyshyn came on board as the Lead Writer at Archetype. We knew they were working on Exodus — but that was all we knew for a while. The other bits of information have been slowly drip-dropped out over time.

Following the collapse of Earth’s environment in the 2200s, humanity launched arkships to find a new home. One of those arkships lands in the Omega Centauri cluster — which just so happens to be the setting of the game. Of course, that kind of intergalactic travel takes time; due to Exodus’s emphasis on ultra-relativistic travel and the effects of time dilation, players will be playing roughly 40,000 years after that arkship initially arrived in Omega Centauri.

In the intervening time, a progenitor species has built interstellar gateways, humanity has genetically “uplifted” animals called Awakened — like Salt, the sentient octopus/mech pilot seen in the trailer above — weird relics, alien and human factions with differing agendas, moral choices for your protagonist that affect both personal and broader outcomes, and a companion system — sound familiar?

Archetype and WOTC are building an entire universe for Exodus

What we’ve seen of the game itself has been relatively minimal. First announced — by Matthew McConaughey, no less — at The Game Awards in 2023, all we saw for a while was a pre-rendered cinematic and a small snippet of gameplay. Since then, Archetype and Wizards of the Coast have been busy publishing everything except the game so far, building out the Exodus universe across all types of media:

• Two lore-heavy novels from Peter F. Hamilton, Exodus: The Archimedes Engine in 2024 and Exodus: The Helium Sea this year (2026).
• An entire TTRPG that had a limited run but which will be seeing a reprint from Renegade in the near future.
• A six-part playthrough of said TTRPG called Star Heist from the devs, with James Ohlen serving as DM.
• Multiple short-story cinematics (~1.5 min each) narrated by Matthew McConaughey.
• Several written short stories that act as prologue tales to the game.
• A somewhat sporadic Q&A series with the developers, spanning from 2023 to 2025.
• And, of course, a few additional game trailers, including an almost 20-minute extended gameplay reveal.

Not to mention, a core rulebook, monster manual, and lore guide are all apparently on the horizon. You’d be forgiven if you had no idea none of this existed — but for lore fiends, space nerds, Mass Effect fans, and everyone in between who might be remotely interested in Exodus, there’s a whole wealth of knowledge to be absorbed before the game finally launches.

So when can I get my hands on it?

There was some concern about the status of Exodus after James Ohlen stepped down in late 2025 that perhaps development was rockier than we knew — after all, Wizards of the Coast just recently canceled most of its known and unknown video game projects, leaving only Exodus and Warlock in active development — but it seems that it was because he felt his work was done, and he’s still with Wizards as a creative advisor on tabletop RPGs.

As of right now, Exodus is set to release April 7, 2027. I know I’m not the only Mass Effect fan who’s had a Shepard-shaped hole in my life since finishing the trilogy, and Exodus looks like it might fit the bill as a big science-fiction epic video game.

It isn’t often that my now-teenage daughter gives me something but when she does it’s usually a cold. Her immune system tends to be ironclad, and mine is also similarly strong, so when the littler one brings something home, eh, it’s a headcold or whatever. But when my daughter brings something home and I catch it, it is gnarly and won’t let go. I’m on day 4, and I feel worse than I did yesterday.

If Cory also gives me his cold I’m going to haunt this website when I die.

This is The Queue, our daily column where you ask us questions and we ooh-AH-AH-AH-AH

MUSEDMOOSE

Q4tQ: swords, axes, or hammers? Assuming you could only choose one.

(For the sake of argument, “swords” includes all stabby weapons, while “hammers” includes all smashy ones, and let’s throw in all the polearms with axes because it’s clear I didn’t think this through)

Our Answer:

Swords, then hammers, then axes.

I use knives constantly for everything from slicing boxes to cutting veg to trimming bushes. Everything else is considerably less versatile, but I find many more uses for hammers than axes. It’s pretty rare that I go split wood, but I’m fairly confident I could do a serviceable enough job with a single-sided sword and a mallet.

FARADAI

Q4TQ: Thoughts on the BlizzCon gear being themed “The Next Chapter”? WoW 2 confirmed?

Our Answer:

It may be the Dayquil talking, but I am freaking out about the whole “Next Chapter” verbiage. I’ve seen a lot of people joking about Diablo 5 and WoW 2. Though I do think it’s likely we’ll get big flagship sequel announcements — some kind of WoW Classic+ or WoW Classic Classic Classic is almost certain — this seems to imply that it’s not the next chapter for a particular IP, but the next chapter for either BlizzCon itself, or Blizzard.

This will be the second BlizzCon under the Microsoft umbrella — sort of. BlizzCon 2023 happened a month after Microsoft’s acquisition, then BlizzCon 2024 and 2025 were both cancelled. And if I’m Microsoft, this is probably the last BlizzCon. It has always operated at a technical loss, and none of Microsoft’s other gaming studios has something like this. They just announce at PAX or gamescom or whatever instead of having to deal with the expense and logistics of their own festival. The other option would be MicrosoftCon, which let’s be real, would just be Call of Duty Con with a side stage that Blizzard and Bethesda share. Though, I wouldn’t mind just BlizzThesdaCon, really.

This year, we also saw a rash of projects shuttered, studios shuttered and spun off, as Microsoft’s new CEO wanted to hack and slash, lean and mean, AI-driven blah blah blah. This is where I’m trying the hardest not to spiral and failing. I don’t think it’s likely that Blizzard will be shuttered or spun off, but I do think it’s likely that we’ll see the announcement of actual closures of games that are already on maintenance mode but require some degree of constant server traffic for PVP. Rumble, Heroes of the Storm, and Starcraft 2 are already on ice for new stuff, and I’d even be so bold as to maybe suggest the Warcraft 3 remaster may also get the axe. Blizzard Arcade would likely be safe. They can just sell a box and you can play Rock N Roll Racing where ever you want, and they can even play it fast and loose with peer-to-peer downloads, but if you need additional server bandwidth just to keep it alive, it’s unlikely those Microsoft Excel spreadsheet columns for microtransactions jive. They can use those AWS instances for even more Call of Duty! (I was going to write a different joke here because it feels kinda hack comic, but out of 16 total non-Blizzard games on the launcher, seriously, nine of them are different versions of Call of Duty).

But those are negative announcements, and not likely to be all that welcome at the convention itself. Unless they did have a full on new IP to showcase all that would take center stage as opposed to the games, which would (sigh) make the shares tank instead of rise, which is really (double sigh) the whole point of doing an event like this.

So I’m fine, everything’s fine, it’s just the Dayquil, it’s cool.

KALCHEUS

Anna Bell Fest is live on Steam!

Our Answer:

It’s funny, because I appear to have crossed a weird threshold with survival crafters. It would appear that I now own so many that there’s very little left to entice me, even with an entire fest dedicated to it. Several of my longtime faves (Long Dark, Icarus, Pacific Drive, Project Zomboid) are on sale. Several items which are on my wishlist but not on sale are highlighted (Zero Seivert, Grounded 2), or have a halfhearted 10-20% off sale (Windrose), and those I can just wait on.

So right now I think I’m going to grab The Planet Crafter and Sunkenland from the sale, and also throw in Aerial_Knight’s Mr. Freezy, which just came out today and is a puzzle game where you play as a lady serial killer, which is also very much an Anna kind of game. I do kind of adore the ones which mix wanton lady violence and survival crafting, but I already have 7 Days to Die, so.

I may wind up doing a whole article on the sale later, depending on how long it takes me to write up Lore Watch this week.

Player Housing enthusiasts were particularly excited for WoW patch 12.1, which would add the ability to move your home’s entrance, allowing you to build basements or simply change your layout without starting over. However when the patch launched, the feature was disabled due to a fairly serious bug that had a chance of sending your character off into an infinite loop of being ported into the void. No one wanted that.

But with the week two reset, the ability to move your home’s entrance was fixed and made available to players. You can now create the basement, cellar, mine shaft, or pit of your dreams. Here’s how to move your home’s entrance in World of Warcraft Player Housing.

How to move the entrance to your home in Player Housing

The entrance isn’t just the front door. A common misunderstanding is that moving the door to your home moves the entrance, but doors are simply another piece of decor and changing, adding, or moving them doesn’t relocate the entrance. The Front Door decor items are an exit point, you can have as many of these in your house as you wish. There are currently two Front Door assets available, there are two additional decor items in the database, one was available on the Midnight PTR but we haven’t seen either of them on live as yet. These are the “front door” appearances we know about so far:

• Founder’s Point Front Door
• Razorwind Shores Front Door
• Bel’ameth Front Door – not yet in game
• Silvermoon Front Door – not yet in game

How to move the Entry Room. Actually moving the entrance to your home involves moving the Entry Room. The entrance to your house is locked to the Entry Room, no matter how you decorate it. This room is unique, and you cannot delete it, but now you can move it. This includes changing which level the entrance appears on.

To change where you enter your house, you move the Entry Room using the room placement editor. While in the room placement mode, right click on the Entry Room name to see the context menu options — choose “Move” then drag the room to its new desired location. If you want to change what level the entrance is on, you need to use the floor selection widget in the bottom right hand corner without ‘letting go’ of the Entry Room. If you accidentally ‘drop’ the Entry Room it will revert back to its previous location and you will need to try again.

When in the room placement screen it will show an icon on the left hand edge of the floor selection widget to indicate which floor the entrance is currently located on.

How do I move the entrance to a lower level?

According to the developers, the current floor limit is 100 — though you couldn’t actually build a full 100 levels as you would run out of placement budget before then. However, you could build up a bit, move your entry, delete the lower levels, build up a bit, rinse, repeat, until you are at the level you want to be at.

Floor 1 will remain the lowest possible level you can possibly build at, if you want to create the illusion of going down from the entry level you need to move your Entry Room to a higher level.

If you’re starting a new house layout and you are not yet sure whether you will want to go up or down, it may be worth moving the entrance up several floors to give yourself future options to build basements or other underground spaces.

What happens to my entrance if I reset my house?

Along with Blueprints for saving and sharing housing designs, patch 12.1 introduced a reset feature which erases your house and sets it back to a fresh out-of-the-box state. If you reset your house, it will delete all the saved rooms and decor and set the exterior to the faction default small house in the default position on your plot. This includes moving your Entry Room back to the Floor 1 location, but with no Front Door decor item. Reset really means reset: you’ll have to set up your home (and the entrance) from scratch.

Are you planning to move your front entrance? What ideas does this give you? What is your favourite underground space?

Today’s maintenance is an easy one for everybody, with just an hour of downtime scheduled for all World of Warcraft realms. It’s short and sweet, so Midnight players can make a quick run to check their weekly vault.

Here’s the WoW maintenance schedule for Tuesday, September 1:

• Midnight: Offline from 7am – 8am pacific (10am – 11am eastern)
• Mists of Pandaria Classic: Offline from 7am – 8am pacific (10am – 11am eastern)
• WoW Classic (including Classic Era, Season of Discovery, and Hardcore realms): Offline from 7am – 8am pacific (10am – 11am eastern)
• The Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary realms: Offline from 7am – 8am pacific (10am – 11am eastern)

All World of Warcraft servers are currently back online!

Midnight players will be getting another round of class tuning this week. When the servers come back online, a bunch of underperforming specs will be getting buffs — some quite significant. Nothing new has been announced for any other realms.

And that’s all for this week’s maintenance. It’s a quick one so I should be seeing you back in Azeroth very soon!

I had a chest cold a week ago, and the cough is still holding on. I’m fine, except for the hacking and coughing every once in a while. It’s only really bad when I lie down, and who spends their evenings lying down? Sleep is overrated, I’ve heard, anyway.

While I look into replacement lungs, it’s time for our daily question and answer column — The Queue!

IN MY EYES, INDISPOSED IN DISGUISES NO ONE KNOWS HIDES THE FACE, LIES THE RED

Q4TQ: do you sleep more over the weekend than you do during the week?

Our Answer:

Easily.

I sometimes don’t even set an alarm on the weekend and get up whenever my body decides that it’s ready to wake up. It’s glorious.

I also have the bad habit of staying up too late when I have to work early in the morning. Which means sleep suffers. It’s ok; I drink lots of coffee, and that’s pretty healthy. It’s mostly water, after all. Hydration is important, I’ve been told.

I guess what I’m saying is that I’ve never met a candle that I haven’t wanted to burn at both ends.

IN THE SUN IN MY DISGRACE BOILING HEAT, SUMMER STENCH ‘NEATH THE BLACK, THE MUSEDMOOSE LOOKS DEAD

Q4tQ: what are your favorite named weapons in games? Asking because my necromancer in Diablo IV has transmogged her new hammer to the extremely well-named Final Headache .

Our Answer:

Did somebody say, Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker?

Memes aside, that is a really good name for a sword. It’s evocative and does what it says on the tin. I also like Armageddon, but that’s also a triumph of visual design alongside the name. It’s completely impractical in real life, but for a chunky fantasy Warcraft sword? Perfection.

Also, the Scythe of the Unmaker from Argus, and while we’re talking about scythes — Mortarion’s scythe, Silence, in Warhammer 40,000 are both amazing. I know scythes make for terrible weapons in real life but just like the chunky swords, they’re usually super cool in video games.

FUZZYBUNNY WON’T YOU COME AND WASH AWAY THE RAIN?

Q4tQ:
Do we know if the body we see for Xal’atath is a physical body or a non-corporeal avatar?

Our Answer:

That’s the corporeal body of a dead high elf. Xal’atath has form and can affect the world around her with more than just void magic. Why the players thought it was a good idea to help Xal’atath against N’zoth in Drustvar, we’ll just say that we were hoodwinked and bamboozled, and nobody could see that assisting this void entity in getting a body would end so poorly. The signs just weren’t there. Just like nobody could tell that a dragon who called themselves Deathwing was a bad guy.

FUZZYBUNNY WON’T YOU COME? WON’T YOU COME? WON’T YOU COME?

Q4tQ: Who do you think will be killed off in The Last Titan?

Our Answer:

I bet that Tyrande and Malfurion will go down protecting each other in the second patch. The raising-the-stakes patch.

Thrall will last until the end, but he’s too central, and a major death of his calibre will really sell the final boss fight. We’ve also seen him get bodied by the last boss before, but this time we won’t be able to save him. It’s ok, his sacrifice will provide the break in the armor that we need to win the fight.

STUTTERING, COLD AND DAMP STEAL THE WARM WIND, TIRED FRIEND TIMES ARE GONE FOR HONEST HIGH DENSITY WAFFLE

If the Lady of the Lake were a WoW class, what class would she be?

Our Answer:

That’s Shaman behavior. Magical and tied to the elements. Plus, she’s giving away a sword; we know they can’t use those! Otherwise, she could’ve gone around and been the ruler of Britain. They’re fine with having a Queen. I’d vote for her.

Bacardi is at full charge again. He’s the reason my electric bills are so high around these parts. I can’t not keep him juiced up though; how else will he get the sweet sweet loot to all of you? It’s a sacrice that I undertake willingly.

Would you rather

Go to a large Renaissance Faire

Or

Go to a large Comic Convention

Today’s Anna Earworm™: Black Hole Sun

Have a great week, everybody! Leave Anna and the rest of the writers lots of questions to make their Queues queutastic!

Our adventures on cursed snake island continues in WoW patch 12.1, as we keep running through dailies (of killing snakes), watching the Race to World First (of killing snakes), and working our way through the new Zul’jarra’s Forces renown (by killing snakes). The patch really picked a theme and ran with it — and it’s most of what we’re talking about in another news-light week leading up to BlizzCon.

But even a quiet week has news, so here’s what’s been happening in the world of Blizzard games, and what’s coming up this week.

What happened last week?

• The Race to World First for Venomous Abyss isn’t over yet, but it may be wrapping up soon. Here’s a recap of the first week of the race, and here’s how to watch the race live as we go into the final boss this week!
• We’ve been busily exploring the Venomous Abyss, raid, not only by watching the Race to World First, but also by digging into the lore behind the bosses we encounter here.
• If you’re having trouble with the Venomous Abyss because the raid entrance isn’t exactly obvious, we have an easy guide on how to find it.
• Looking for more to do on the Coiled Isle beyond the raid? Or reasons to stick around cursed snake island? There’s a whole list of renown rewards for the new Zul’jarra’s Forces faction to keep you busy.
• Jimothy is now available in World of Warcraft: Midnight. This is not a drill, so go and get your own Jimothy right now.
• Somehow, September starts tomorrow and with it comes a brand new Trading Post packed with fresh transmog and other goodies, plus the outlet is open in September to let you pick up looks from previous months that you missed.
• Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary realms just advanced to Phase 3, adding iconic raids Black Temple and Mount Hyjal.
• Get ready for some RNG, because this week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl is Who’s the Boss Now?, in which you get random boss hero powers that swap every turn. It can be fun, but you should go in expecting some chaos and the inevitable frustration said chaos brings.

What’s happening this week (and beyond)

• Through September 8: Sorcerer’s Grassy Garb transmog set in WoW available as a Twitch Drop
• September 12 – 13: BlizzCon 2026
• November 17: World of Warcraft D&D book launches

Other things we’re playing, watching, and more

We’re continuing to play the spooky mystery The Séance of Blake Manor on our weekly indie game stream. Catch us live Thursday at 8pm eastern (follow us on Twitch to get notifications of this and any one-off streams), or watch on YouTube later. This week it’s Liz and Mitch stumbling through a game of connect the dots as they try to reconstruct magical runes in this definitely not haunted house:

•  Blizzard Watch Plays The Séance of Blake Manor, episode 3: Connecting the dots, literally

There are currently two free games from the Epic Games Store: Breathedge, a survival game that strands you in the harsh depths of outer space, and Rival Horse Stars Racing, which is exactly what you think it is. You can grab both of these games free through Thursday.

Gamescom was last week, and though there were no big announcements from Blizzard, you can watch Opening Night Live to catch the big announcements.

Our latest podcasts

• Blizzard Watch Podcast: WoW’s real end game (and boring end game)
• Lore Watch Podcast: Necessity is the mother of Gnomish invention
• Tavern Watch Plays Kids on Bikes, Episode 3: Time to pay the piper

That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back next week with another weekly news recap!

I’m fascinated by the first revealed boss in the upcoming Megaman game, Twinkle Girl. First of all, because it’s a breath of fresh air that they’re no longer confined to just “[Something] Man” (EDIT: or “Woman”) anymore. But second, because she just looks so friendly!

Look at her!

This is The Queue, our daily Q&A column where we absolutely can’t believe Twinkle Girl is gonna be just a disposable villain. Come on now! Playable Twinkle Girl adventures or riot!!!

MUSEDMOOSE

Blizzard has used the concept of “class fantasy” for a long time. What classes do you think really nail the class fantasy, and which ones do you think aren’t quite there?

Our Answer:

Ooh, that’s a great question.

Death Knight seems like one of the most well-defined classes to me. I think it’s because Blizzard purposefully spent a lot of time working on what makes Blood, Frost, and Unholy different from each other. So a class that started from a single theme — a “corrupted Paladin” of sorts, using Death Magic instead of Light — ended up having several different aspects within it, from pure necromancy to vampiric blood magic to the cold might of Northrend itself. Even Hearthstone benefited from WoW Death Knights being so well-defined, with the class actually having an intricate rune system in that game.

I don’t really know what “Evokers” are, to be honest. Like, I know what they do, of course, but if you asked me to “describe Evokers,” I’d probably just describe them as generic spellcasters whose source of power happens to be the Dragonflights. But I don’t know how they study, how they train, what they do in general that’s any different from, say, how a regular Mage or a Warlock does it. Do they like… pray at an Alexstrasza-shaped altar? Do they spend as much time reading tomes written in Draconic as they do flapping their wings, or sharpening their claws, or working on their lung capacity? I don’t know!

TELWAR

There are reasonably strong suspicions about new specializations being added Soon(tm).

What would you want to be added, and how would you have it work?

Our Answer:

Top of the list is always going to be an earth-based tanking Shaman spec. That one is so obvious that I feel I don’t even have to explain it much. Shields, rocks, and lots of Shaman spells and abilities that already exist in the game, like Earth Shield and Rockbiter Weapon, slightly repurposed. No other new spec has such a strong existing foundation in my opinion.

Then we other candidates that have already “existed” in the game in some form, such as:

• the “Shockadin,” a Holy spellcaster ranged spec for Paladin
• a tanking Warlock that becomes a demon, though we probably won’t be using “Metamorphosis” as the name of their spell anymore
• a sword-and-board Gladiator spec for Warrior

I’d also like to see a Rogue that uses ranged weapons, similar to the Demon Hunter from Diablo 3.

And a spellcasting Monk, so we can separate Chi-Ji and Yu’lon (Mistweaver keeps one, the new ranged DPS spec gets the other), which could even be called Lorewalker and be based upon casting spells form their scrolls.

And a second flavor of Shadow Priest. One could be all Void and tentacles and Old Gods, the other could be the “old school” Shadow that was just based on Mind effects and psionic powers and pure Shadow magic. Maybe it could even use that cool “shadow ravens” effect they used to have.

I’m sure there are more ideas, and I could easily come up with one for each class if I wanted, but these are the strongest concepts I have, and would be my primary choices.

HIGH DENSITY WAFFLE

Who is hungrier? The Devourer Demon Hunter or the average Pandaren?

Our Answer:

I’m gonna go with the Devourer Demon Hunter, because I believe Pandaren as a whole are too big a population to imagine that they all share the same behavior. Becoming a Devourer Demon Hunter, on the other hand, is a far more contained choice that one purposefully seeks out. It’s much easier to draw a profile of what the average Devourer DH is than the average Panda. 🐼

Besides, Pandaren have plenty of other interests, like drinking, fighting, meditating, farming, and telling and writing stories. Demon Hunters, on the other hand, tend to be pretty one-track mind about their interests!

ARTHONOS

1) Q4tQ: How is your release schedule for September looking?

2) Do you really think GTA6 is going to dominate November like everyone is predicting?

3) Why am I playing HotS again?

Our Answer:

1) It’s looking like Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave. It’s one of the new releases I’ve been most excited about in quite a while (last time I was excited like this was for FF7 Rebirth). Heck, I bought a Switch 2 for this game, pretty much (well, not literally for this game, but it was the big push).

The other September game I’m interested in is Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter (the remake), but I haven’t played the 1st chapter yet. I should! Estelle best girl!

2) Yes, I do, actually. It’s one of those games that transcend just “gamers” and hits the general masses. Even people I never talk to about gaming at all will mention that they play GTA. It is that big. The entire industry wouldn’t react to it so strongly if it weren’t.

3) You’re obviously in the pocket of Big Cory!!!

VALENCEMAGI

Sleep Hypnosis? Is such a thing even possible?

Our Answer:

You are falling fast asleep.

Deeper, deeper, and deeper.

You are now completely asleep.

You don’t need to smoke.

Cigarettes don’t control you.

You’re a strong, confident woman, who does not need to smoke.

DISHSOAP

What is your favorite color of creepy paper?

Our Answer:

Flesh beige.

This has been The Queue. Have a good weekend, friends, and if you come across an enemy that looks suspiciously friendly, maybe try talking to them first! You never know!

We got a special treat this week as our Aussie columnist and player housing enthusiast Sara Hanson joined the pod. She walked us through a lot of the very recent changes to how certain player housing features work, and discusses some of the things the housing community is trying to uncover, like which pets do what when they’re hanging out, now that we can add them. She also has strong opinions on transmog, much like the rest of our hosts, so they had to discuss both the new cash shop offerings and this month’s Trading Post, which we got an advance preview of. And not only an advance preview, but this one will bring back a bunch of older offerings as well, for a Trading Post megamix.

Also something something Mythic Raiding race, or whatever. You know we’re focused on the real end game, here.

We also waded through some gamescom news, which included CD Projekt Red teaming up with Blizzard, bringing The Witcher to the battle.net launcher — and teasing some future announcements for BlizzCon. Of course, Matt thinks this means Cyberpunk on the battle.net launcher, but Cory isn’t the only one who can huff hopium around here. But gamescom isn’t all sunshine — several projects showcased are apparently using AI heavily in their development process. If I were a sim, I would have two red minus signs above my head in Crazy Taxi‘s general direction right now.

You can listen to the podcast directly from this post or click on “Follow” in the player below to follow the podcast in your podcast player of choice and download directly to your device.

Or catch up with recent episodes on our playlist to be sure you haven’t missed any of the latest news.

If you’d like to catch up on previous Blizzard Watch podcasts, our weekly Lore Watch podcast, or our ongoing TTRPG podcasts, check out our podcast page. You can also search for any of these programs in your favorite podcast player to subscribe and be notified when a new one is released.

And finally, if you subscribe to our Patreon Tier 2 or above you will not only get the uncut version of the Blizzard Watch podcast with a bonus 30 minute pre-show, but you will also be able to listen to the Blizzard Watch and Lore Watch podcasts before they’re released to the public.

Thanks for your support and enjoy the show!

The search has ended for the world’s most famous spinally-deformed raccoon… in Azeroth. Among Midnight’s patch 12.1 content are several new companion pets (some more secret than others), and the World of Warcraft Secret Finding Discord channel has been buzzing with leads all week as sleuthing players scoured Silvermoon City for Jimothy himself.

If you’ve spent the summer on the side of the Moon that doesn’t get any internet, you might not be familiar with Jimothy. This curiously proportioned but otherwise healthy Seattle raccoon went viral after a video of his disturbingly endearing gait showed up online in mid-July. Over the past few weeks the internet has done its weird old thing and turned Jimothy into a mascot of sorts.

It was barely more than a week before the World of Warcraft team responded to an apparent deluge of requests with a teaser of an in-game Jimothy scuttling happily around Zul’Aman. There were a few more hints in developer interviews and teased models, but the launch of patch 12.1 came and went without access this horizontally challenged trash panda.

Officially appearing in-game as J’imothy, the adorable omnivore’s pet journal entry describes how he encountered trouble while digging through trash in Silvermoon City. As usual, the WoW Secret Finding Discord channel activated and quickly scoured the Blood Elf capital.

No in-game clues were found initially, but datamining is one of the arrows in the secret-finder’s quiver. Several clues were discovered hidden in the game’s code in the form of spells and items that suggested our favorite ring-tailed chum got a bit too curious rummaging through magical garbage and ended up trapped in some sort of arcane prison. It was confirmed a few days after the 12.1 patch went live that J’imothy was not yet available in-game.

It was Thursday’s Race to World First where companion pet enthusiasts got their next glimpse of J’imothy bumbling around Silvermoon as part of several content creator’s streams. By mid-afternoon, a hotfix went live that activated the elusive raccoon and made him available for capture.

There are three locations around Silvermoon that you might stumble upon J’imothy trapped in an arcane prison as an Ensorcelled Cryptid. He might be inside the dwelling on the northwest outskirts of the city past the university, in the northeast quadrant the city (Lithiel’s Landing) under a bridge, or at the very end of Murder Row just above its label on the map.

Once you locate the unfortunately trapped critter, you’ll simply need to click on the magical barrier surrounding him and channel a spell while avoiding falling orbs. Once released, you’ll receive a Stubby Whistle which will add this compact buddy to your arsenal of oddly-shaped pets.

Originally published on August 14, 2026. Updated on August 27, 2026.

The Burning Crusade Classic anniversary realms Phase 3 is now live, so hopefully you’re prepared to take on Illidan in the Black Temple and much more in this phase. Let’s take a look at everything that’s now live in Phase 3.

What’s in The Burning Crusade Classic Phase 3?

• Black Temple raid
• Battle for Mount Hyjal (or Hyjal Summit) raid
• Netherwing faction daily quests
• Epic Gems
• PVP Arena Season 3

The most anticipated activity in Phase 3 is a showdown with Illidan Stormrage inside the iconic Black Temple raid that players can take on after completing its attunement quest, which starts with The Tablets of Baa’ri quest and can be picked up from different quest givers depending on your allegiance to the either the Scryers (Arcanist Thelis) or the Aldor (Anchorite Ceyla). The Battle for Mount Hyjal raid is the other available Phase 3 raid that players can do once they complete The Vials of Eternity questline starting at Soridormi in the Caverns of Time.

Both raids have reward reputation with a new faction and have faction vendors within their instances and both raids are also sources of Epic Gems. Inside Mount Hyjal, players can start mining for Epic Gems and earn reputation with the Scale of the Sands faction, which in turn gives access to rewards from Indormi. The Black Temple grants reputation with the Ashtongue Deathsworn faction and eventually rewards from Okuno, while the bosses have a chance to drop Epic Gems as rewards.

If you have a flying mount, or flight form, you can travel to Netherwing Ledge in Shadowmoon Valley to start doing daily quests for the Netherwing faction in exchange for reputation and eventually access to Epic flying mounts at Exalted rank.

For PVP players, Arena Season 3 will begin on September 1 once the weekly maintenance ends. Season 2 ends on August 18 and any remaining Arena points will be converted to Honor points at a rate of 1 Arena point to 10 Honor points. Season 2 Arena gear will be sold by Area 52 vendors at a discounted price while Season 1 Arena gear can be purchased from Honor vendors in Orgrimmar or Stormwind City.

Originally published July 23, 2026; updated August 27, 2026.

Every week the Epic Games Store gives away a game or two for free. This week, they’re giving us a banger narrative survival game and a game that wishes it was Secret of the Magic Crystals for free.

• Breathedge
  • Release Date: February 25, 2021
  • Game Type: Survival
  • POV: 1st person
  • Party: Single Player
  • DLC: None.

I swear, I learned the lesson of Mass Effect to not declare a game centered around narrative good until you finish the narrative and are certain of that, but Breathedge left me so close to the edge of my seat I fell off. The premise is that you were on a spaceship and then… something happened. Now, you have to keep yourself alive in the void of space, and hopefully find your way home. Your space suit has limited oxygen, and you also need to go find food and water. Cold is also an issue. Most of the ways you deal with these issues are consumable, so I found myself in the home base/starting area, watching my food supply dwindle as I was too chicken to leave and not sure if I was already doomed because I’d stayed there too long.

For some people, including me, this kind of indecision paralysis is what we call “fun.”

• Rival Horse Stars Racing: Desktop Edition
  • Release Date: June 24, 2020
  • Game Type: Racing, Management Sim
  • POV: 3rd person
  • Party: Single Player
  • DLC: None.

Rival Horse Stars Racing is a slightly odd title, because it has several different forks, including a mobile and VR versions. At its core, it’s a similar horse racing and management sim, including a whole horse breeding minigame, but each fork is apparently developed at different rates, with slightly different features. This is also very clearly a game intended for either kids or horse enthusiasts, so it’s slightly less polished but the various horse-related terms and types are kind of exhaustive. I honestly did not know there were that many different subtypes of broader coat types, but I’m not surprised. And even if you’re not in the know, for a free game, it’s pretty decent.

My new best friend is named Ethrandil, and he’s the only one in Azeroth who seems to be with me on this snake thing. Why are we here on cursed snake island? Why is anyone here? Why are we slaves to this torment and when can we go home?

We are now besties, bonded for life over our mutual terror, because the exposure therapy of spending so much time on cursed snake island is not helping. (And yes, you’re going to get to hear me talk about this for the next six months. Blame Blizzard.)

But while I bask in the joy of new-found friendship, this is the Queue, our daily Q&A column where I try to answer your questions in between bouts of being terrified of certain fanged reptiles. Let’s get to the questions!

ARTHONOS ASKED:

Q4tQ, cursed wish edition: what game in a franchise would you pick to have remade? Know that by picking this game, while the remake will be of amazing quality, there will never be a new game released in this franchise. It will just be the same game remade every 5 to 10 years. Forever.

Our Answer:

Dragon Age 2. The story and voice acting are both top notch, but the graphics feel their age, the gameplay was clunky from day 1, and every time you leave Kirkwall you’re going to the same cave (and even when you’re in Kirkwall it’s the same alleyway everywhere). This is a best in class narrative game, but it doesn’t shine the way it might with more modern graphics, more varied environments, and a way to play the game without having to deal with Anders all the time. (The only characters that can be specced to heal the party are Anders and either Hawke or their sister Bethany… but if Hawke is a mage who can be specced into healing, then Bethany is dead, so it’s one or the other.) It’s a great game already, but I think it would really shine with a glow up.

We’re never getting another Dragon Age game anyway, so it’s literally no loss. With the only okay performance of Veilguard followed up by EA being eaten up in the largest leveraged buyout in history, we’re never getting another good game from EA again, so even daydreaming about it is silly.   The newly acquired Electronic Arts is $20 billion of debt, and its new owners intend to deal with that by cutting costs and leaning into AI. If the company doesn’t go bankrupt in the next year I’ll be surprised.  The interest payments alone on that much debt will eat them alive.

JALAMENOS SAID

Huh.
Witcher 3 in battle.net?
What a time to be alive.

Our Answer:

This was announced by Blizzard and CD Projekt Red this week at Gamescom, and it’s an interesting move to build on the Battle.net platform with more non-Blizzard games. Microsoft games I expected, but third party games I was surprised by. And they say it’s “just the beginning.”

Does that mean more third-party games on Battle.net? Does it mean game collaborations between Blizzard and CD Projekt Red?

Right now we don’t know anything, but we’re certain to learn more soon: BlizzCon is only a couple of weeks away.

RED ASKED:

Q4Liz: what do you expect to see from Blizzcon? Any surprise announcements? Just the usual stuff? Anything specific you’re hoping for?

Our Answer:

There are the usual suspects, content we know is coming regardless that we’ll hear more about at BlizzCon. But there have to be some surprises in store, too, or I don’t think they’d bother having a BlizzCon, and particularly not at this odd, off-schedule time in September.

For WoW, that means more details on the next few patches. 12.0.5, 12.0.7, and perhaps 12.2. Maybe we’ll see a slightly more detailed roadmap zooming in on the next six months or so. And though it feels early for it, without much to talk about in WoW because we’ve only just had a new patch, I think we may get some big picture news about The Last Titan, even though I don’t think Blizzard will want to go into a lot of detail because we’re still a long way from knowing how Midnight ends.

For WoW Classic, we’ll probably find Mists of Pandaria transitioning into Warlords of Dreanor progression realms. We might hear more about upcoming Burning Crusade Anniversary phases or scheduling, but Phase 3 (Black Temple and Mount Hyjal) is only launching today, and BlizzCon is just two weeks away. I strongly suspect the big announcement will be some kind of Classic+, that adds new content to the Classic format much like Season of Discovery. Rumors have been spinning about this for years, but with Season of Discovery gone dormant after its last experimental phase that added the all new Scarlet Enclave, I feel like the team must have been working on something behind the scenes. Perhaps we’ll see a new, bigger Season of Discovery, or perhaps it will be an all new game mode focusing on new content. I suspect this will be a stand-out announcement.

For Hearthstone, it’s around the time to think about a new expansion. Hints suggest that we may have a new class coming soon, which could be part of an expansion or perhaps a stand-alone release if it’s still early to talk about the next xpac, and they want to make a splash of it. Could we be seeing a monk, perhaps?

Diablo 4 will certainly be talking about its next season, which launches on September 15. We already know about the season, but announced content is light and Blizzard has already said they’ll tell us more at BlizzCon… hopefully something exciting. I feel like it’s too early to talk about the next Diablo expansion if it’s going to be two years between releases, but maybe they’re tightening up that schedule, and will announce a new expansion featuring Diablo, Baal, or even Malthael. Maybe we’ll see even more fan-favorite classes, like the Amazon, which would be a great fit for the current expansion. But I’m not sure what we might see here simply because it’s such a strange spot on the schedule for Diablo 4, because it’s been less than six months since the last expansion. I’m not expecting anything of note from other Diablo games, but Immortal will probably have a new patch on offer; it’s too early for a new Diablo 2 season or Diablo 3 season.

For Heroes of the Storm… well, I live in hopium with Cory. It’s a good game, and it’s been getting a regular schedule of balance patches and updates this year, with a patch about every eight weeks. That’s a pretty consistent cycle for a “dead” game. I think it could be ready to be shoved back into the prime lineup. I’m not holding my breath, but I think it’s in the realm of possibility.

For StarCraft, I really do think this is coming back, I just don’t know when, how, or in what format. Microsoft bought Blizzard recognizing the power of this IP, and I don’t think it will let StarCraft sit dormant like Activision-Blizzard was.

Then there’s that CD Projekt Red thing. Are they working on something with Blizzard? Are we going to get a surprise game collab, or just a bunch of new games in the Battle.net launcher?

After so many BlizzCons, it’s hard to surprise us. We’ll see if Blizzard manages it.

ARTHONOS ASKED:

Q4tQ: With next week being the start of September, how packed is your game release schedule for the month?

Our Answer:

September is only packed for me because of BlizzCon, really. Game-wise I’m interested in Control Resonant, but haven’t actually played the first Control game (though I bought it on sale recently). I like the vibes of the game, but it hasn’t gotten to the top of my list, and I want to do the first before the second. Resonant won’t be a day one buy, so while it is an interesting game coming out in September it’s not one that’s going to be occupying me.

There are a couple of indies on my wishlist that I might pick up if BlizzCon doesn’t drown me. Or maybe even if it does, for a change of pace. Ship Shaper is a model ship building game that looks very chill, and it will be in early access next week. File under maybe. ShoreTiles is a charming citybuilder in which you build a town around a lighthouse and try to keep it from being destroyed by eldritch horrors. Maybe it’s actually more of a tower defense game.

What am I supposed to be looking forward to? What’s everyone else looking forward to?

That’s it for this week. Take care of yourselves and hang in there; we’re heading into the weekend soon. I’ll see you in the comments section.

I don’t know why but I am amused by the established fact that Allosaurus specimens have a marked tendency to display paleopathologies that indicate that even among Theropods, they were willing to take risks. We find broken ribs, punctured tail vertebra, and a variety of wounds from Stegosaurus thagomizers. Including a thagomizer blow to the public bone of a particularly… let’s just say reckless… Allosaurus.

I like to imagine Allosaurus as a genus of Johnny Knoxvilles. Daring each other to attack a Brontosaurus or a Stegosaurus and getting their faces smashed so hard they spend the rest of their lives with crooked jaws, bone spurs, stubbed tails and yes, spike punctures to their pubic bones. The Tazmanian Devils of the Jurassic.

JALAMENOS

Wow.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt remaster.
Free for everyone that owns the game.
Plus a brand new DLC, for an 11 year old game.

Our Answer:

Okay, I seriously want this to mean they’re going to make another DLC for Cyberpunk 2077. My word, but I love that game so, so very much. How much? Well, I just found a backup archive I made of my save files. How many? Somewhere around 3200+ save files.

BOVEN WHITEHOOF

Eh. Just tell everyone you’re doing a low budget Marilyn Monroe impression.

Our Answer:

I have a giant industrial fan, the kind used in flood cleanup and mold abatement, and it sounds like a jet engine when it’s running. In summer, I like to put a sheet or light blanket over it, turn it on, and transform my bed into a wind tunnel that ends up with me cooled to the point of actual discomfort.

I don’t pretend I’m Marilyn Monroe, but I could do a mean Homo habilis impression.

RED

Our Answer:

I am honestly impressed with the scope of the FF VII trilogy and the audacious way it hasn’t been so much a remake or remaster and more a meta-fictional rumination on the original game and how certain elements of its narrative. Without spoiling it for people who haven’t played it yet, these games have done an amazing job of taking the original game and saying what happens if we don’t do the same thing twice?

That being said, the fact that we now have four games named Final Fantasy VII, and that’s taking the central problem I’ve always had with the entire series — namely, the fact that each game is less and less accurately named — and concentrates that disconnect into a laser tight beam of consternation. Will this be the final Final Fantasy VII or will be get another?

KALCHEUS

Q4tQ with CD Projekt Red collaborating with Blizzard, do you think we’ll get Cyberpunk 2077 skins in Overwatch? Who gets to be V?

Our Answer:

The serious part of me wants to say that he doesn’t think we’ll get to see any such Cyberpunk 2077 skins.

The silly part of me thinks it’s fun to speculate, and also, why not throw in some Edgerunners skins while I’m at it? So here are a few ideas for who could get what skins.

• D.Va gets a Rebecca from Edgerunners skin
• Sombra or Zarya for V (Valerie) depending on if they want a netrunner or a solo
• Sombra could also get an Alt Cunningham skin
• Widowmaker could get a young Rogue Amendiares skin, while Ana could get the more seasoned 2077 version of Rogue.
• Maybe it’s a bit ghoulish, but we could give Reaper a Jackie Wells after his corpse got Soulkiller used on it skin, complete with dual wielded blinged out handguns.
• Maybe Mauga or Sigma could get an Adam Smasher skin? I’m not sure if Roadhog would work, but I’m willing to be convinced.
• Takemura? I feel like Hanzo is halfway there already.
• Cassidy gets a Falco from Edgerunners skin. This is funny to me because they’re both voiced by Matthew Mercer.
• Would Johnny Silverhand be angry at Soldier 76 getting a Silverhand skin? Almost certainly.

Okay, that’s the Queue for today. I think Allosaurus could get a Junker Queen skin.

Ay-oh! Oh-ay! Blizzard wants you to get in on some of the the fun the Hearthstone Adventure bosses have in the Who’s the Boss Now Tavern Brawl.

The developers pulled this one from the way back machine and I’m not referring to the 80s era sitcom of the same name. This Brawl hasn’t seen the light of day in almost four years, but we haven’t forgotten how to score a win.

Tavern Brawl basics

• Name: Who’s the Boss Now?
• Description: Dungeon bosses want to help you play! Build your own deck but get a random boss power. Each time you use it, get a new one!
• Fun level: 2-5/10 depending on your card collection
• Difficulty: 5-9/10 depending on your card collection
• Replayability: 5/10
• Format: Wild
• Type: PVP
• Deck: Constructed (Wild)
• Rewards: 1 Escape from Violet Hold pack

The only change this Brawl makes is to your Hero Power. You get one of twelve different custom Hero powers from the single-player Adventure bosses. Once you use it, you’ll get a different one from the pool. All of the Hero powers cost two mana. The powers range from awesome one like Me Smash: Destroy a random enemy minion to the downright awful Jeering Crowd: Summon a 1/1 with Taunt. So glad I spent 2 mana on that!

This is a Wild Constructed Brawl which means the size of your card collection will have a huge impact on the decks you can build and the amount of success and fun you’ll have.

How to win Who’s the Boss Now? Tavern Brawl

Like most Constructed Brawls, the key to victory is finding a great deck. You’ll want to avoid things like Odd Decks or Quests which rely heavily on the Hero Power. Likewise, Hero cards like Dr. Boom, Mad Genius loose some power in this format.

All that said, this Brawl plays out remarkably like the Wild Ladder. Sure, you can get great hero powers like lining up a Decimate — set all enemy minions’ health to 1 — into a Poison Cloud — deal 1 damage to all enemy minions, if any die, summon a 2/2 slime — but that’s going to be rare. Awesome if it happens, but not something you can count on.

Instead, you need to focus on building a strong deck that can win regardless of Hero Power.

The best decks to win the Who’s the Boss Tavern Brawl

Here is a collection of Wild decks that are very powerful in general at the moment, and can only get better with the powerful Hero Powers from this Brawl.

XL Seed Warlock (Seedlock)

• Credit: hsguru.com
• Deck code:

  AAEBAf0GDOfLAvjQAo+CA52pA5PkA4T7A4+fBOWwBI21BJfvBP3EBcSiBg7cCvLQAvr+ApXNA9fOA8HRA876BcSeBqOgBsO4BsnkBtGCB4SZB6WtBwABA78W/cQF+7AD/cQFk+QD/cQFAAA=

• Seedlock is all about inflicting a lot of damage to your own hero, fast, and benefitting from that. Don’t be afraid of seeing your health dip low; that’s how you’re supposed to win here!

Discard Warlock (Discolock)

• Credit: hsguru.com
• Deck code:

  AAEBAf0GBo+CA9XRA/nGBfGhBvahBsayBwzOB7W5A9DhA5iSBauSBZXKBteXB4SZB6StB9a+B9m+B8+/BwAA

• You’ll use effects that discard your own cards, but they get played anyway. Often earlier than intended! This deck can be pretty overwhelming for your opponent. Just make sure you’re discarding the right cards at the right time.

Clone Mech Paladin

• Credit: hsguru.com
• Deck code:

  AAEBAZ8FBJ+3A/mkBMekBp3dBw2l9QKHrgOStQTUvQTa0wSEpQXZ0AW5/gXi8Qa/+Qa6lgfa4gea/AcAAQTX/gKd3QfzswbHpAb2swbHpAbu3gbHpAYAAA==

• You will be summoning lots and lots of mechs, often from the bottom of your deck, and you’ll get tons of discounts on mechs in your hand, and effects that get stronger when you have a full board. It’s a pretty straightforward board-based strategy.

Call to Arms Paladin

• Credit: hsguru.com
• Deck code:

  AAEBAZ8FBowBwP0ChJYFzpwGprMGg8IHDIgO+NICg94DkeQDzusDyaAE4aQEwcQFhY4GmY4G9ZUGmvwHAAA=

• The idea with Call to Arms is to summon minions straight from your deck into your board, without even having to go through your hand. If you play your cards right, you can get very strong boards much earlier than your opponent can deal with them.

Wild Brawls are tough, but keep trying

You’re in for a Wild time with this Brawl. Keep an eye on sites like Out of Cards and Hearthpwn which will continually have new decks to try out. Face Hunter is probably your best bet if you don’t have a large collection. I’m having fun with Big Shaman. If you find a great deck, leave a link in the comments.

Just remember, whatever the result of your game, there’s a brand new life around the bend.

Last published August 13, 2020; updated August 26, 2026 with contributions by Phil Xavier.

 

Anduin Wrynn’s kingship — and distinct lack thereof — is the first topic this week on the Lore Watch Podcast. He’s been off either having adventures or healing from those adventures for nearly his entire reign, so what could happen for Anduin to truly embrace his throne as a ruler? Joe, Matt, and Eric run down the series of events that led him here, and conjecture about his future.

Then, we talk Gnomes and their inventions. Gnomish inventions tend to run the gamut from great to accidentally explodey. Even human inventions run on a bit of a sliding scale, from earth-shattering ones like the wheel to the mediocre, like the pet rock. What should the next gnomish invention be, and what could spur that inventor to create it?

If you want even more background story, we also have a guide to every Warcraft book in chronological order (for those of you who prefer reading that way).

You can listen to the podcast directly from this post or click on “Follow” in the player below to follow the podcast in your podcast player of choice.

Or catch up with recent episodes on our playlist to be sure you haven’t missed any of the latest discussion of video game lore.

The Lore Watch podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. If you’d like to catch up on previous Lore Watch podcasts, our weekly Blizzard Watch podcast, or our ongoing TTRPG podcasts, check out our podcast page. You can also search for any of these programs in your favorite podcast player to subscribe and be notified when a new episode is released.

And finally, if you subscribe to our Patreon Tier 2 or above you can listen to the Lore Watch and Blizzard Watch podcasts early and ad free!

Have lore questions for Matt and Joe? Email us at podcast@blizzardwatch.com to get them answered!

Thanks for listening and enjoy the show!

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As we slither our way across the Coiled Isle and into the depths of the Vaults of Atal’Utek, we’ll be working closely with Midnight’s latest faction: Zul’jarra’s Forces. There are 20 ranks to this renown track with the usual rewards of mounts, pets, Player Housing decor, gear upgrades, and more.

As patch 12.1 kicks off, Zul’aman has been invaded by the newly unleashed Children of Ula’tek. The Shadowpine, Witherbark, Revantusk, and Amani tribes agree to follow the leadership of the Amani’s newest warchief and hash’ey, Zul’jarra. Under her banner, the combined Forces of Zul’jarra storm the Coiled Isle, fight for control of the Vaults of Atal’Utek, and attempt to vanquish Ula’tek once and for all.

Reputation with the faction is obtained through most max-level activities on the Coiled Isle: World Quests, rare enemies, special events, and the like. The most efficient way to quickly climb the ranks is to complete the two weekly quests: one for helping out in the Vaults of Atal’Utek and one for participating in the isle-wide Curse Surges. The Zul’jarra’s Forces quartermaster is Jan’sari the Watchful, who stands just outside the inn at Tokka’s Landing.

Here are all of the rewards you can earn from Zul’jarra’s Forces renown.

Renown 1

• You’ve proven yourself to Zul’jarra and her followers, and can now begin to earn reputation with the faction

Renown 2

• Cloak of the Hash’ura, a cosmetic cape, becomes available for 3,000 Voidlight Marl
• Visit Jan’sari the Watchful to receive a complimentary Veteran-track wrist piece

Renown 3

• Three Player Housing decor items (150 Voidlight Marl each) become available for purchase:
  • Amani Supply Sack, a spiked leather pouch
  • Amani Storage Crate, a woven cubic box for the crate-collecting enthusiast
  • Amani Wayfarer’s Torch, a tall wooden structure with what appears to be a flaming pinecone on top
• You’ll now find small treasures around the Coiled Isle: Cracked Canopic Jars, Venom-Clotted Baubles, and Singing Shells. They can contain healing potions, low-level gear, profession knowledge, Coffer Key Shards, and even Player Housing dyes

Renown 4

• The first time you kill a Curse Surge boss each day, there’s a chance to loot a Corrosive Soul

Renown 5

• Your Warband unlocks the following profession blueprints for purchase. With the exception of the Cooking recipe for 1,500 Voidlight Marl, each costs 150 artisan moxie:
  • Loa’s Gathering (Cooking), a feast that gives stamina and your highest secondary stat
  • Concentrated Silvermoon Health Potion (Alchemy), an upgraded HP-restoring concoction
  • Rite of the Hash’ey (Enchanting), a weapon enchant that occasionally boosts a secondary stat
  • Vantus Rune: Tides (Inscription), a week-long boost to versatility when fighting a targeted Venomous Raid boss
  • Contract: Zul’jarra’s Forces (Inscription), a week-long Warband-wide boost to Zul’jarra’s Forces reputation when competing World Quests
  • Coiled Amani Hookshot (Engineering), a Player Housing decor item consisting of hoops of rope attached to a tri-headed bone grappling hook
  • Keen Hex Mask (Enchanting), a Player Housing decor item with ominous smoky blue eyes
  • Flat Snakeskin Canopy (Leatherworking), a Player Housing decor item made up of scaly hide stretched between three metal fasteners
  • Amani Forgemaster’s Workbench (Blacksmithing), a Player Housing decor item in the form of a large stone crafting table
• You’ll also unlock the ability to purchase a recipe for the Fishing recipe Ula’tek Snakehead Lure for 1,500 Voidlight Marl 

Renown 6

• Profession skill point books can be bought for 75 artisan moxie and 750 Voidlight Marl, with each granting 10 skill points
• Return to Jan’sari the Watchful on all of your characters for a gift of Voidlight Marl

Renown 7

• Three Player Housing decor items become available for purchase:
  • Stitched Blisterfang Bag (150 Voidlight Marl), a scaly brown sack
  • Fanged Scaleskin Pouch (150 Voidlight Marl), a scaly purple sack
  • Vilescar Weapon Rack (250 Voidlight Marl), two large tusks spanned by chained leather and supporting three armaments dripping with venom

Renown 8

• Return to Jan’sari the Watchful to receive a Corrosive Relic that can be brought into the Vaults of Atal’Utek and used at the Altar of Corrosion
• Curse Surge bosses now might drop warbound Veteran-track equipment once per day

Renown 9

• Unfortunate Scout’s Satchels are added to the treasures you can find around the Coiled Isle, which have a very small chance of containing a Poison Dart Frog companion pet
• Visit Jan’sari the Watchful to receive a complimentary Champion-track wrist piece

Renown 10

• Tabard of the Hash’ura, a cosmetic tabard matching Rank 2’s cloak, becomes available for 3,000 Voidlight Marl
• A multi-day quest chain unlocks that rewards the spectral green eagle mount, Spirit of Tok’jara

Renown 11

• Three Player Housing decor urns (150 Voidlight Marl each) become available for purchase, for all of your ancestor-ash-storing needs:
  • Wrapped Scaleskin Urn, a squat container wrapped in snakeskin
  • Cracked Vilescar Urn, a taller, crumbling, vase-like urn
  • Charmed Blisterfang Urn, resembling a potion bottle adorned with a large, hanging tooth

Renown 12

• The adorable little feathered flying serpent Snek’zali companion non-battle pet becomes available to purchase for 2,500 Voidlight Marl
• Return to Jan’sari the Watchful on all of your characters for a second gift of Voidlight Marl

Renown 13

• Idol of Ula’tek becomes available for a hefty 4,000 Voidlight Marl. It’s a toy that transforms you into a bipedal snake-y humanoid Child of Ula’tek that persists through combat

Renown 14

• Return to Jan’sari the Watchful to receive another Corrosive Relic that can be brought into the Vaults of Atal’Utek and used at the Altar of Corrosion

Renown 15

• Light up your Amani-themed Player Housing room with three candle decor items:
  • Amani Worship Candles (150 Voidlight Marl), a single pale-orange wax stub
  • Amani Ritual Candles (150 Voidlight Marl), a trio of brightly-lit pale-orange light sources
  • Amani Ritual Totem (250 Voidlight Marl), six pale-orange wax candles atop a spiky wooden platform topped with a small hex mask
• A cornucopia of weapon transmogs becomes available for purchase: 13 appearances for 5,000 Voidlight Marl

Renown 16

• Shoulderguards of the Hash’ura, cosmetic pauldrons to match the previously earned cloak and tabard, becomes available for 3,000 Voidlight Marl

Renown 17

• The Indigo Coiled Horror mount, three giant snakes wrapped up and wearing a saddle, becomes available for 6,000 Voidlight Marl

Renown 18

• Three rather large stone structure Player Housing decor items become available for purchase at 250 Voidlight Marl each:
  • Sealed Serpentine Reliquary, a large, stone, tomb-like container topped with a large fang
  • Opened Serpentine Reliquary, the same reliquary with its stone lid pushed off, exposing some venomous-looking baubles
  • Ula’tek Ritual Monument, a crudely carved stone monolith that seems to be actively oozing venom
• A complete head-to-toe transmog ensemble unlocks for each of the four armor types at 5,000 Voidlight Marl apiece:
  • Vestments of Jan’alai’s Chosen is the cloth set, a crimson-red high-topped cleric look
  • Battlegear of Halazzi’s Chosen is the leather set, a heavily-fanged, purple-maned stunner
  • Chainmail of Akil’zon’s Chosen is the mail set, an elegant feathered ensemble for the hash’ura on the go
  • Warplate of Nalorakk’s Chosen is the plate set, a sturdy-ish look that combines stone temple-like armor with sandals and exposed thighs
• Return to Jan’sari the Watchful on all of your characters for a third gift of Voidlight Marl

Renown 19

• The Violet-Backed Skyfang, a slender feathered flying serpent that matches little Snek’zali, becomes available for 8,000 Voidlight Marl

Renown 20

• The title “Hash’ura of Zul’jarra” is unlocked
• Two capstone big-ticket transmog pieces become available for purchase at 5,000 Voidlight Marl each:
  • The Mantle of Nalorakk and Axe of the Amani (two-hander), both of which are appearances sported by Zul’jarra herself. Whether she had these replicas crafted for you or gave you the gear off her back remains to be seen

The Venomous Abyss Race to World First is in full swing in World of Warcraft! Players around the globe have set foot in the raid and tried their best to defeat the snakes and snake-like creatures that exist within its walls. After the first week of raiding, we’ve seen five of the eight bosses fall, with Method sitting in the lead as the only guild in the world to have beaten Sszorak. They were also the first guild in the world to kill the fourth boss, Vashnik the Malignant, in just nine pulls! These world-first kills are simultaneously a big huge deal and not as important in the grand scheme of things. First, the good news for Method — these are their first world-first kills in six years. The last time they killed a boss first was back in Battle for Azeroth, defeating Queen Azshara in the Eternal Palace. This has got to be huge for guild morale and can’t be counted out as a motivating factor in their performance for the rest of the race.

On the flipside, we’ve seen before how easy it can be for guilds to get bogged down on the later bosses. The final three bosses taking drastically more time to kill is par for the course. Sometimes the first guild to reach one of them will be held up by an unfound bug or unintended interaction, since they get less testing on the test realms. It also means that Method took more time progressing on a boss further in, instead of running additional Normal/Heroic/Mythic splits like Echo and Team Liquid have been doing. So maybe the early lead will mean they don’t quite have the player power later on to brute-force some mechanics — and they may have to take more time later to do that extra gearing while other guilds are progressing.

The raid itself launched in a shaky position, with many bosses having bugs that caused unplayable lag or disconnects, getting in the way of a smooth launch. The first Mythic kill didn’t even happen until 58 hours after the raid opened — Consequence was the guild that did that in just one pull. This is a major break from tradition though; usually we see the first couple of Mythic bosses get downed pretty quickly as the raid opens. They’re not usually that hard, and a well-geared Cutting Edge guild from the last tier that won’t be racing seriously will just take their first weekly vaults and burn through them to get their name on the leaderboards. This time it took close to three days for anyone to score a kill! Heroic Ula’tek also managed to live to four days before the Chinese guild Clear Water secured the World First on that.

Many splits, handle it

Cat meme from Raider.io’s social media

The rest of the first week saw Liquid, Method, and Echo running raid splits after raid splits after raid splits. Guilds will take as few of their main characters into the raid as possible, with players from the community helping to funnel gear to those characters in exchange for gold and chances at being carried through Mythic kills later in the season. The Midnight Races to World First have seen Mythic splits becoming a thing as well. Previously, guilds wouldn’t run Mythic splits because of the more stringent lockout rules around Mythic difficulty, but if you change your strategy to not really try to defeat the whole raid in the first week, you can kill the first few bosses safely and get some good gear boosts for the second week. All of these raiders are gearing so many characters that even if a mistake is made, they probably have a backup that will suffice.

If you thought that basically a whole week of splits was enough, Liquid resumed their first day after the reset with a bunch more splits. They’ll be running around 12-14 more Heroic Ula’teks (or Hulatek if you’ve been paying attention to raider.io) total on their eighth day. The gold cost for all of the players helping them out must really be adding up. I can’t wait to hear what the final totals are for the guilds running all of these: we’ve seen some truly outrageous gold debts before, and I would wager that this race will put all of them to shame.

Echo and Method are both finishing up their seventh days and preparing for their reset, while Liquid has spent the day squeezing every possible piece of loot they can get out of the raid. The raid will kick into a higher gear over the next few days, and we’ll see if Liquid’s extra preparation pays off and nets them their fifth victory in a row.

Where to get Race to World First updates

Here’s our guide to watching the race live. For text-based updates, Raider.io has minute-by-minute updates on every guild racing, and we’ll be posting rundowns of the race as well.

Good luck to all of the teams taking part in the race — may the best raiders win!