Even if you consider yourself a casual World of Warcraft player, you’ve probably heard at least a small handful of things about the upcoming major content patch entitled Rise of Azshara. Considering its designation as a “major” content patch, Rise of Azshara has quite a lot to offer in terms of new content and features. I’m relatively certain that if you’ve been following it at all, at least one of these aspects managed to pique your interest.

If you’re at all excited about anything that’s being introduced to World of Warcraft once Patch 8.2 hits live servers, the wait is nearly over. Blizzard confirmed very recently that Patch 8.2 will go live after scheduled maintenance on Tuesday, June 25, 2019.

If you haven’t heard everything that will be coming in the patch, or you find yourself curious as to what my thoughts might be on its more major aspects, you’re in luck. I covered everything about Patch 8.2 that I consider to be major additions at significant length in a separate article.

Alternatively, if you’d rather just read a quick rundown of the patch’s major features, I’ll briefly explain everything you might want to know if you plan to dive back into the game once the patch releases. Firstly, Gnomes and Tauren will receive their heritage armor with this patch, which you can acquire by leveling one of these races from level 1 to 120 and completing a related quest line.

Secondly, two new playable islands will be added to the Island Expedition rotation once Rise of Azshara is live. Thirdly, a new system called “mount equipment” will be fully implemented. As a result of this system, all water strider mounts will lose their trademark water-walking ability in favor of a specific type of mount equipment.

Next comes the addition of Heroic-difficulty Warfronts. The Heroic version of the Battle for Stromgarde will be initially available, with the new version of the Battle for Darkshore presumably coming in a later update.

Finally, two new zones known as Nazjatar and Mechagon will be available for players to quest through. The former of these contains a new raid, known as Azshara’s Eternal Palace; the latter contains a so-called “mega-dungeon” which will be available exclusively on Mythic difficulty until a later date.

These zones contain new factions with which players can gain reputation. Reaching Revered status with these factions is required to unlock the second part of the Battle for Azeroth Pathfinder achievement. This achievement, in turn, is required to unlock the ability to use flying mounts in Kul Tiras and Zandalar.

With all that out of the way, I leave the final word to you, dear reader. I’m curious to know what, if anything, coming in Patch 8.2 has piqued your interest or stoked the fire of your excitement. Alternatively, you might find certain aspects of this patch that disappointed or upset you. Either way, feel free to discuss your thoughts on the patch in the comments below!

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