According to a post published on the popular World of Warcraft fan site Wowhead, then subsequently followed by an official announcement from Blizzard; the game’s next major content update is scheduled for an imminent release. Patch 8.2.5 will be released on U.S. realms on Tuesday, September 24th, 2019 and Wednesday, September 25th, 2019 on European realms, presumably after scheduled maintenance concludes in both cases.

This patch includes several different facets, ranging from new playable character race models to the game’s planned fifteenth anniversary event that is scheduled to take place in November. For the benefit of our readers who may not know exactly what to expect once the patch is live, I’ll cover most of the patch’s major inclusions and updates as best I can within this article.

The first aspect of Patch 8.2.5 that may command the attention of many players is the long-awaited release of updated models for the playable Worgen and Goblin character races. Despite the inclusion of these updated models, however, it should be noted that the playable Worgen and Goblin races will not receive their Heritage Armor in this patch according to Wowhead; this was confirmed by one of Blizzard’s Community Managers.

Another significant aspect of Patch 8.2.5 is the aforementioned fifteenth anniversary event. It seems that Blizzard has extravagant plans in mind through which players can go about celebrating this milestone. Firstly, every character who logs into the game during the event will receive an anniversary gift package via their in-game mail which contains several goodies. Included within this anniversary package is a black dragon whelp called “Lil’ Nefarian,” which serves as a battle pet.

Based on precedents set in past anniversary events in which I’ve participated, I suspect that the anniversary package sent to players will also contain other treats. Namely, there may be a reusable item which provides a considerable buff to experience gain throughout the event, as well as a quest to visit certain “historian” NPCs in Stormwind and Orgrimmar. These additional possible bonuses are pure speculation on my part at this point, however.

It seems like this gift package is among the smallest aspects of what Blizzard apparently has planned to take place during the event. The main attraction of this celebration will allow players to earn up to three new mounts if they accomplish certain event-exclusive goals on both factions. Blizzard has stated that players can go about earning these mounts by participating in two separate events.

The first of these events is focused on PvE encounters, and it’s composed of three raid wings which each contain three well-known bosses. Blizzard states that these raids feature “iconic encounters from past expansions.” Namely, these raids include bosses from The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm.

Specifically, players will battle Kael’thas Sunstrider, Lady Vashj, and Archimonde in the first of these raids, Heigan the Unclean, Anub’arak, and The Lich King in the second, and Cho’gall, Nefarian, and Ragnaros the Firelord within the third. Players who defeat all nine of these bosses during the anniversary event will receive the Deathwing-inspired “Obsidian Worldbreaker” mount.

The second of these events is focused entirely on PvP encounters; this is the aspect of the anniversary celebration that requires players to accomplish certain goals on both factions. To that end, players will be able to participate in what Blizzard calls an “old-school-inspired” version of the popular battleground known as Alterac Valley.

As far as I’m currently aware, Blizzard hasn’t detailed exactly what about this version of Alterac Valley is inspired by its older versions; even so, I suspect that the idea of being able to experience an older version of the battleground could potentially interest a significant portion of longtime players.

Participating in this different version of Alterac Valley will allow players to accumulate a special currency exclusive to this anniversary event. This currency can be exchanged for what are apparently “higher-resolution” versions of the Alliance’s Stormpike Battle Charger mount and the Horde’s Frostwolf Snarler mount.

Moving on from the festivities planned during WoW’s fifteenth anniversary event, there are two more considerable aspects of Patch 8.2.5 that I want to briefly mention within this article. The first aspect is the introduction of the revamped Recruit-a-Friend system. As it happens, I’ve already covered the majority of the details about how this system will operate once Patch 8.2.5 is live.

I should note for transparency’s sake, however, that when I wrote the article in which I covered this new iteration of the system; I was mistakenly under the impression that the “Party Sync” system I discussed therein could possibly be exclusively available to a party of recruited friends and their recruiter. This is not the case; the Party Sync system will apparently be available to all players once Patch 8.2.5 reaches live realms.

Finally, Blizzard has announced that Patch 8.2.5 will contain the supposedly “epic” conclusion to the ongoing War Campaign within Battle for Azeroth. While I’m definitely interested to see how the campaign might end, I’ll avoid speculating on that matter until I’ve experienced this patch’s content for myself. I will, however, theorize that the campaign’s finale might end up being more fleshed out as time advances closer to this year’s BlizzCon.

There you have it, folks! I specifically avoided covering what I consider to be the more minor aspects of Patch 8.2.5 for the sake of keeping this article as concise as possible. If you find yourself curious about what I elected not to cover today, there exist several resources that go into much greater detail about everything I’ve covered today and then some.

Nevertheless, I look forward to the patch’s launch. As Phenixx Gaming’s unofficial “Azeroth correspondent,” I get the feeling I’ll end up covering the patch’s contents more thoroughly after its launch once I’ve had time to experience it for myself. That’s assuming I’ll be able to tear myself away from WoW Classic anytime soon, however.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.