World of Warcraft’s latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth, is scheduled to launch in just a few weeks on August 14. As is the case with most game expansions, there will be a lot of new content to work through, which can actually be bad for players who want to be “raid ready” (i.e. geared up enough to be eligible for endgame raids) as early as possible. However, potential raiders can now rest a little easier since Battle for Azeroth’s first raid won’t be arriving until September, giving them plenty of time to prepare.
Interestingly enough, Blizzard hasn’t actually confirmed the September launch of Battle for Azeroth’s Uldir raid as of this writing, at least not in any official capacity. Instead, players discovered the upcoming raid launch dates by checking World of Warcraft’s in-game calendar. The calendar, which tracks both official World of Warcraft events and happenings as well as custom events created by guilds or individual players, has been updated to reflect upcoming Battle for Azeroth milestones, including the start dates for the upcoming Uldir raid.
According to the in-game calendar, here’s how Battle for Azeroth’s Uldir raid will be rolled out:
- Normal and Heroic versions of the full raid will become available on September 4.
- The raid’s Mythic version will go live on September 11, which means raiders will have a full week to test themselves against the Normal and Heroic encounters before trying their hand at the more challenging Mythic difficulty.
- September 11 will also be the day on which the first wing of the raid opens up for the matchmaking-enabled Looking for Raid (or LFR) feature, allowing more casual raiding fans an opportunity to give the Uldir raid a go.
- The second LFR wing of the Uldir raid will arrive on September 25.
- The third and final LFR wing will go live on October 9, allowing LFR raiders to experience the full Uldir raid runthrough.
As players eagerly await Battle for Azeroth’s launch next month, Blizzard has been busy with getting the hype fires stoked, mainly by doing away with World of Warcraft’s initial box price and kicking off a new series of animated story trailers.