Catch up on all the latest World of Warcraft news from the last week!

The War Within Beta Test Now Live!

Over the course of the test, we’ll be inviting community veterans, press, fansites, friends, and family to check out the upcoming expansion and give us feedback. Players who purchase or who upgrade to the Epic Edition of The War Within will also gain immediate access to the beta and gain a minimum three-day early access to the expansion.

Players selected to participate* will receive an email invitation directing them to download the game client directly from the Battle.net desktop app. Players who purchase the Epic Edition may also receive email notifications. As always, please be aware of phishing attempts—if you’re unsure whether your invitation is legitimate, please log in to your Battle.net account to verify that there is a The War Within beta license attached (under Your Game Accounts).

Getting Started

• Make sure your graphics drivers are up to date.
• Run the Battle.net® desktop app—it may need to update itself if you haven't run it recently. If you don't have the app installed, get started here.
• Once Battle.net is installed and updated, select World of Warcraft from the list of games.
• In the Game Version drop-down menu above the Play button, choose The War Within Beta (listed under In Development) option, then click Install.
• Allow installation to complete, click Play, and select any available Test Servers.
• Create a new test character or use the character copy to import your existing Dragonflight character.
• Enter the game and test the available content.

If you have issues installing and operating The War Within Beta, please check our Common Technical Issues and Solutions to begin troubleshooting.

What's Available in the Beta?

New systems, the complete leveling experience, zones, dungeons, delves, Warbands, and the new playable Earthen are all available in the beta. Raid testing will come at a later time.

Learn more about the beta test in our previously published article.

Meet the Earthen, A New Playable Allied Race

A new playable race arrives in The War Within—the Earthen. Unlock playable Earthen characters after completing their quests and the overall level-up campaign. Enlist this titan-forged race made of living stone by aiding them in their endeavors. 

Champions of Azeroth must aid the Earthen and seek a way to restore their harmony and population. They can also be unlocked as a playable race, and you can choose Alliance or Horde to begin your journey starting at level 10 in their capital city of Dornogol.

Racial Traits and Class Combinations

• Azerite Surge: The earthen draw upon their inner strength using an empowered spell that, when released, invokes the power of Azerite in a cone in front of them, dealing Fire damage. This spell is on a 2-minute timer and gains additional effects as it is empowered:
  • I: Deals Fire damage
  • II: Heals allies hit by the effect
  • III: Deals additional fire damage to the enemy's health, most affected by the effect.
• Hyper Productive: Increases Finesse by 2%. Finesse increases the chance of gathering additional materials when gathering.
• Ingest Minerals: You are always Well Fed but cannot consume food. Activate to consume a Khaz Algar gem and change the benefit granted to you by Well Fed:
  • Amber (Stamina)
  • Emerald (Haste)
  • Onyx (Mastery)
  • Ruby (Critical Strike)
  • Sapphire (Versatility)
• Titan-Wrought Frame: Base armor from equipped items is increased by 10%.
• Wide-Eyed Wonder: When you gain experience for exploring a location, gain 200% additional exploration experience.

Once unlocked, earthen can master the following classes:

Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid
X	X	X
Evoker	Hunter	Mage
X	✓	✓
Monk	Paladin	Priest
✓	✓	✓
Rogue	Shaman	Warlock
✓	✓	✓
Warrior
✓

• Racial Mount: Slatestone Ramolith: Unlock the earthen mount, Slatestone Ramolith, upon completing the Allied Races: Earthen achievement. This mount is usable by any race and is available account-wide.
• Heritage Armor: For reaching 50 on the Earthen Allied Race, you will receive the Heritage of the Earthen Feat of Strength and the Earthen Heritage Armor. This armor can only be transmogged by Earthen characters.

Uncover the Secrets of Delves in The War Within

Take your adventure to a new level with Delves.  Explore bite-sized world instances, gain experience, and epic rewards! You can explore alone or with up to four additional friends, along with an NPC companion—Brann Bronzebeard— you customize through their talent tree.

These replayable, seasonal, role-agnostic adventure experiences offer a new way to enjoy the leveling and endgame progression alongside traditional Dungeons, Raids, and PvP.

• Bring Your Friends or Go Solo: Along with your NPC companion, Delves can be explored solo or with a group of up to five, with any combination of classes. And, since they take 10-15 minutes on average to complete, they're ideal for players who want to experience a meaningful game progression without significant time commitments.
• Short Adventures Big Rewards: Delves can be found in any of the available zones of Khaz'Algar while questing and exploring, and they offer quick combat, puzzles, platforming challenges, and bosses to defeat. As you progress, you can find chests and supplies with impactful special abilities and powers for immediate use that can help you in the Delve. 

Delves will have 11 levels of difficulty called Tiers to challenge yourself. Tiers 1, 2, and 3 are available to players when The War Within Launches. Tiers 4 and above will be unlocked when Season 1 begins. Successfully completing a higher Tier unlocks access to the next tier for your Warband.

Delves to Explore

New Season New Companion: Each new season delivers a fresh companion with a customizable Talent Tree to aid your journey, starting with Brann Bronzebeard. Players can choose Brann Bronzebeard to be a healer or damage dealer depending on what support your class needs. Brann will level up and gain new abilities to support you, and his level is shared across your entire Warband. As you travel through Delves, you will find equipment called Curios that Brann can equip and upgrade to give him even more utility to aid you in your adventure!

Small Adventures Lead to Big Rewards: As you complete Delves, you'll earn experience and epic endgame rewards similar to dungeons, raids, and PvP, such as transmog items and endgame gear. When The War Within Season 1 begins you'll also be able to earn progress within the Great Vault by completing delves.

Players who reach max level in The War Within will be able to unlock a new fully customizable mount, the Delver's Dirigible!

Take to the Skies with Skyriding

In The War Within™, players will be able to take to the skies on many flying mounts using new flight mechanics with Skyriding.

Dragonriding is here to stay and will also be available for many flying mounts in all flyable areas even prior to the launch of The War Within. Players will also be able to toggle between Skyriding (previously known as dynamic flight) or the flying style introduced originally in The Burning Crusade (TBC) which we’re calling Steady Flight.

Skyriding will be available from the start in Khaz Algar and players will be able to unlock steady flight at maximum level by exploring the zones of The War Within and completing the campaign.  Players will also be able to collect glyphs throughout Khaz Algar as they explore.  These glyphs will be shifting to an evergreen state in which players shouldn’t feel as if they need to go back to Dragonflight to gain any they missed before. Some abilities that players have collected from their adventures in the Dragon Isles may be restricted to the Dragon Isles, but base abilities like increased Vigor will become a part of how Skyriding works and available to everyone as they level up.

You’ll be able to easily identify the mounts that are enabled for Skyriding from within the Warbands Collection tab (Shift-P) which will be noted as Skyriding. To switch between Skyriding and Steady Flight, you can do so directly in the mount collection by clicking on the Skyriding icon in the middle of the interface and selecting “Switch Flight Style” in the drop-down menu. It’s important to note that any mount that doesn’t support Skyriding will be grounded if Skyriding is active. You will also be able to open your Skills Unlock here as well.

The ground mounts in your collection will continue to stay grounded, but most flying mounts will be able to be put to use for Skyriding save for a select few such as the Otterworldly Ottuk Carrier, some fish mounts, and brooms.

The Dragonslayer Challenge and Cataclysm Arena Tournament are Here!

Let the games begin! Cataclysm Classic™ is here, and with it comes a new world of WoW Esports Tournaments encompassing both PvE and PvP facets of the revitalized expansion. Prepare to watch the fastest speedrunning guilds in the Dragonslayer Challenge, then tune in to the action as celebrated combatants clash in the Cataclysm Classic Arena Tournament. Watch the show unfold on Twitch and YouTube over the next two weekends!

Dragonslayer Challenge

We’re pitting two of the top speedrunning guilds against one another in the Dragonslayer Challenge! The guilds will have one day to gear fresh characters in dungeons before diving into the depths of three raids in a head-to-head race.

On Saturday, June 8,  raiders from Progress and None of the Above will log onto fresh characters equipped with a base item level of 346 to venture into each of the Cataclysm Dungeons in pursuit of upgrades and armor! They’ll down mobs and bosses alike to strengthen their characters and prepare for a daunting Day 2.

On Sunday, June 9, each guild will field their roster and the competition will be underway! They’ll race against the clock and one another to clear three classic Cataclysm raids: Bastion of Twilight, Throne of the Four Winds, and Blackwing Descent. Whichever guild defeats all of the bosses first will be victorious and will take home the lion’s share of the $50,000 prize pool!

Cataclysm Arena Tournament

Prepare for the ultimate showdown! It’s time for Cataclysm Classic’s most celebrated combatants to clash in the arena.

Witness the top players from Europe and North America battle for glory and a combined prize pool of $50,000 (USD)  in a double-elimination 3v3 bracket spanning across several days. Don’t miss this event June 14–16, live on YouTube and Twitch.

Stay Connected

Be sure to subscribe to the Warcraft Twitch and YouTube channels to check out the action within Azeroth beginning on Saturday, June 8! Learn more about these tournaments on our previously published article.

Warcraft Short Story: "The Goblin Way"

Monte Gazlowe, Trade Prince of the Bilgewater Cartel, has been probing working conditions among the goblins, touring factories, mines, and other operations. The process has been slowly eating away at him: Everywhere he tours, he sees a burned-out workforce, cheap machinery, and unhealthy working conditions that consistently drag production and denigrate their people. Worse yet, every boss has the same opinion: “This is the goblin way! Dog eat dog! Only the winner comes out on top!” But is this really the goblin way, or is it just the way Jastor Gallywix wanted them looking?

Monte Gazlowe sighed, looking out over a vast mining operation from his spot on a platform above the mine’s South District floor. This was his fifth “fact-finding” tour of the week, and it seemed like he’d been going nonstop for months, taking stock of less-than-desirable working conditions among the goblins. This one was easily among the worst, though Marin Noggenfogger—Gazlowe’s host and guide—acted like everything was aboveboard.

Noggenfogger waved for Gazlowe’s attention, looking out of place in a miraculously unsullied all-white suit that practically gleamed amid the smoky air and rancid, dripping space. It was clear he’d recently taken over this operation. “Over here!” he called. Then he turned to one of his bodyguards for help. “Is the two-shift working the . . . uh . . .”

“Longwall shearer?” Gazlowe offered.

Noggenfogger grinned. “Yeah, what you said. The Rockchomper Three Thousand. Beyootiful piece of machinery, eh?” He beamed more broadly as he gestured down into the enormous mine at a steam-powered behemoth. Its fearsome metal teeth ground relentlessly into the bedrock to get at the vein of iron ore that was the lifeblood of this operation.

“You gotta lean over the railing a little to really get a good look, unless you wanna go down and see it up close,” Noggenfogger added, beckoning Gazlowe to the platform.

Gazlowe stepped closer to the railing, waving off his orc bodyguard, Vak’kan. Unlike some goblins—including Noggenfogger, it seemed—Gazlowe had no fear of heights.

As the shearer brought ground ore to the surface, Gazlowe leaned against the railing to watch workers—mostly goblins and some orcs—operate walking mechs with steam shovels, which loaded ore into mine carts, which would take it to a processing plant. A number of workers had bandages wrapped around their limbs, likely because of the discarded machine parts cluttering the footpaths, and a few let out fits of wet, throaty coughs while clamping soiled rags over their mouths.

Noggenfogger gave Gazlowe a fidgety smile, nodding as if to say, “Nice, eh?”

Gazlowe peered back down—and then a section of the railing detached from its mooring with a screech and swung out, leaving nothing but space between Gazlowe and a deadly fall.

He teetered for a moment before regaining his balance—with the help of Vak’kan, who shot out a beefy hand to grab his collar and haul him swiftly backward.

Gazlowe whipped a glare at Noggenfogger, his pointed ears rigid. Had this been

Noggenfogger’s aim? To stage some sort of accident? As newly installed head of the

Bilgewater Cartel and de facto representative of his race to the Horde, Gazlowe was aware he had enemies. But he honestly hadn’t thought an attempt on his life would come this soon, let alone be this ham-fisted!

Read and Download the Rest of This Short Story by Andrew Robinson

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Stay tuned to the official World of Warcraft news site as we journey through the week together.