TWiW: Welcome Back Weekend, Rise of the Zandalari, and More

This Week in WoW—Catch up on the latest World of Warcraft news from the last week!

Get back in the Fight during Welcome Back Weekend

The War Within™ is nearly here—gather your friends and prepare to descend into the depths of Azeroth to face Xal'atath, Harbinger of the Void. From August 1 through August 4, we're giving all players with inactive World of Warcraft® accounts full access to the game and all your characters without a subscription or Game Time.

Brave adventurers can access all expansions, including Dragonflight, to play the most recent content—including the Radiant Echoes pre-expansion event.

Rejoin your guild, rally your Warband, and prepare to explore an entirely new world beneath Azeroth and get ready for The War Within when it launches on August 26, 2024, at 3 pm PDT globally.

Get Back in Action

If you've been away for a while, you can play through the new starting experience starting at level 1 to learn the ropes.

You can also opt out of the starting experience and begin instead at level 1 in the starting area for your race. Upon reaching level 10, you can continue into Dragonflight or speak with Chromie to choose a Timewalking Campaign. Choose an expansion and continue leveling until you're ready to enter Khaz Algar at level 70 when The War Within goes live. Players with Allied race characters will begin at level 10. Non-Allied race Death Knights and Demon Hunters will automatically begin at level 8 and play through their own starting experience before moving on around level 10.

If you'd like to select a different Timewalking Campaign, simply speak to Chromie again. With phase 2 of The War Within pre-expansion patch, Timewalking Campaigns scale to level 70 and include Dragonflight.

Whether you're a returning player or starting a fresh new adventure, get more details on how to get into World of Warcraft from our latest article. 

Experience the Radiant Echoes Event With New Changes!

Confront the memories of Azeroth during the updated pre-expansion event and collect Residual Memories to purchase new items to add to your Warband collection. We've made changes to the event so that players have less down time between stages and more opportunities to gain rewards.

When: July 30 – August 26
Where: Dalaran (hub), Dragonblight, Dustwallow Marsh, and Searing Gorge
Currency: Residual Memories – Half forgotten memories can be glimpsed in the light playing across this iridescent powder.
Levels: 10-70

Players with and without The War Within™ will be able to take part in this event for its duration.

Confronting Memories

Players who have reached level 70 will receive an introductory quest and then will be directed to visit Dalaran to start. Players under level 70 will be immediately directed to Dalaran.

The event occurs in two stages and cycles between three zones, changing zones every hour. Portals in Dalaran will be available to take you directly to the event staging area and a return portal is available in each of the event zones so that players can quickly return to Dalaran and head into the next occurrence of the event. When the event is active in a zone, the portal will have an additional golden glow to indicate that it is active.

Stage 1

Defeat the radiant echoes causing havoc in the zone. Random events that are active within the zone can be seen on the map (M). Event locations throughout the stages are marked by a multicolor globe. Once enough memories have been defeated, a zone boss will spawn.

Stage 2

You’ll be able to undertake a quest in each zone during the event that will ask for you to defeat one of the event bosses as follows:

• Only Darkness: Remembered Lich King Slain (Dragonblight)
• Broken Masquerade: Remembered Onyxia Slain (Dustwallow Marsh)
• Champion of the Waterlords: Remembered Firelord Slain (Searing Gorge)

Please note that once the boss is defeated by players, Stage 4 will begin and the boss will no longer be available to kill for the quest completion until the event begins in the zone again. Bosses can also rarely drop additional pieces of gear.

Once the boss is defeated by players the event will return to stage 1, spawning new memories to fight.

Rewards

Players will be able to accumulate Residual Memories to use to purchase items from various vendors in each of the zones. You can keep track of how much Residual Memories you’ve collected by opening Character Info (Hotkey- C) and the currency tab under the War Within dropdown.

• Dalaran: Remembrancer Amuul in Chamber of the Guardian
• Dragonblight: Echo of the Silver Hand at Wyrmrest Temple
• Dustwallow Marsh: Forgotten Hero at Tabetha’s Farm
• Searing Gorge: Memory of a Duke in the Iron Summit

Gear will begin at item level 480 with some room for upgrades. Check out our overview to see all the rewards.

Cataclysm Classic: Rise of the Zandalari Now Live!

Just when you thought you’d take the advice to “Stay away from da voodoo” a new temptation arises, beckoning you to take the risk, enter Zul’Gurub and Zul’Aman, thwart the machinations of the Zandalari and their brethren, and collect the rewards for your efforts.

Return to Zul'Gurub

This ancient city has once again become the staging grounds for an empowered Gurubashi people to strike against those who they perceive to be invading their ancestral lands. Now backed by the Zandalari, the Gurubashi present all-new challenges for players in this level-85 5-player Heroic dungeon. While players may see some familiar faces in this dungeon, the encounters and fight mechanics have been considerably updated. For allying yourself with the Darkspears, High Priest Venoxis, Broodlord Mandokir, High Priestess Kilnara, Zanzil, and Jin'do the Godbreaker would like to make one thing clear -- your intrusion will cost you. Take their heads and you’ll be presented with a treasure map. You’ll want to seek out its precious booty, including an account-bound ring with a gem so big it’s visible when worn!

Also, for those with a high enough Archaeology skill, an additional boss can be unlocked in Zul’Gurub. Gri'lek, Renataki, Hazza'rah, and Wushoolay will be randomly selected to put an end to those who dig too deep for greater riches. Should your group survive the challenge, you'll unearth a selection of rewards available from any of the four bosses, as well as loot unique to each boss.

Players should seek out Vol'jin's representatives in Orgrimmar or Stormwind Harbor to begin their adventure.

The Amani Regrouped

With the aid of the Zandalari, the remaining Amani have reassembled under new, sturdy leadership in Daakara. Zul'Aman has been converted into a challenging level-85 5-player Heroic dungeon. For those who fought Zul'jin back during The Burning Crusade, much of the dungeon will feel similar, but the mechanics have been updated to suit a 5-player group. Akil'zon, Nalorakk, Jan'alai, Halazzi, Hex Lord Malacrass, and Daakara look to bring their tribe out of hiding and into the spotlight as a force to be reckoned with. Challengers beware.

Both Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub will require players to have a minimum average item level of 346 before they can enter. These two Heroic dungeons will exist in a separate Heroic difficulty tier in the Dungeon Finder, above the current Cataclysm Heroic dungeons. In return, they will offer players item level 353 epic-quality loot. Players can expect to find items for nearly every gear slot available in these two dungeons, though much focus has been placed on offering players itemization for hard-to-fill slots or specializations, such as bracers, helms, shoulders, guns, and wands.

Rare Mounts and More

As with the original iterations of Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman, players will have a chance to obtain updated rare mounts. The Swift Zulian Panther and Armored Razzashi Raptor are obtained in Zul'Gurub, while the Amani Battle Bear can be earned by killing the first four bosses of Zul'Aman in a limited amount of time.

Vol'jin needs your help to stop this play for power. Will you rise to the challenge? Step back in time and watch the original Rise of the Zandalari official trailer.

Get Into the Spirit of Competition With the August Trading Post!

The spirit of competition is strong all during the month of August. Show you’re not afraid by wearing the Coward’s Violet Target on your back. You don’t need anyone else to put a target there!

Complete activities to fill the bar at the top of the Traveler’s Log found in the Adventure Guide (Shift-J), and you'll receive this month's bonus reward — The Coward’s Violet Target transmog appearance. No one is going to put a target on your back but you!

Visit T&W (Tawney and Wilder) just outside the Mage District in Stormwind or the Zen’shiri Trading Post next to Grommash Hold in Orgrimmar to check out all the latest items they have available.

Read through our previously published article for a detailed list of all the items available from the August Trading Post and how to get them.

Here's Some of the August Stock

Follow along on the official World of Warcraft news site for all the latest developments as we journey through the week together.