- Author: Luxrah
- Date: May 1, 2025
- Updated: May 1, 2025
- Expansion: World of Warcraft
The next content update for The War Within has a name, if not a release date (yet). Patch 11.1.7 is titled “Legacy of Arathor,” and includes some more mid-season content to tide players over until the next major update. Among its offerings is the controversial new Rotation Assist feature that was announced yesterday.
The War Within’s storyline continues with a new campaign in Arathi Highlands. This original zone from vanilla World of Warcraft is going to be the site for a new chain of quests that offers separate Alliance and Horde perspectives as tensions rise between the two factions once more.
There’s also some new content that can be experienced even by lower-level characters. From level 10 on, you’ll be able to speak with Lorewalker Cho in Stormwind, Orgrimmar, or Dornogal to explore some of the game’s legacy content in a new context. New quest chains will introduce you to the Ethereals in Netherstorm, Xal’atath’s background in the Black Empire, and Arthas’s culling of Stratholme.
Delves are getting a new feature as well. Several delves will now have affixes, and completing the delve with the affix active will yield new rewards. In a follow-up post, Blizzard clarified that the affixes are completely optional.
The new Rotation Assist feature will be in this patch, bringing the functionality of popular addons into the default UI. Along with it, there will be a Single-Button Assistant feature that will greatly simplify rotations for players who just want to experience the game’s story and content. This feature is a hot-button issue among the player base, with a lot of debate around the importance of accessibility versus keeping the game challenging.
The Greedy Emissary Event will be returning sometime after the patch launches, offering rewards that include new recolors of classic Tier 2 armor sets.
Finally, the Turbulent Timeways Event will make its return for 6 straight weeks of Timewalking dungeons. This time, Battle for Azeroth is being added to the menu, with both week 1 and week 6 of the event taking us back to that expansion.
The patch is now live on the Public Test Realms.
Take your adventures further in the Legacy of Arathor, our next content update. You’ll amp up the challenge in Overcharged Delves, get a helping hand with the new Combat Assistant and Single-Button Assistant… and more.
New Arathi Highlands Campaign
While attentions have been focused on Khaz Algar, a new storm is brewing in the Arathi Highlands. Tensions are rising between the Horde and Alliance; join Faerin and Danath as they attempt to quell the rising tides of hostility between the two factions in a new multi-quest campaign. You’ll get to experience this new two-chapter storyline with branching viewpoints for each faction as you play through.
Players will receive a few new rewards for their efforts:
- Alliance: Stromgarde Tabard
- Horde: Maghar Tabard
- Shoulder Transmog inspired by Faerin’s own pauldrons.
Read and listen to the Heartlands 5-part audio novella before you head into Arathi Highlands.
Go Lorewalking with Lorewalker Cho
Players level ten and above can speak with Lorewalker Cho in either Stormwind,Orgrimmar, or Dornogal for a renewed questing experience. You’ll step back into some iconic lore moments in Azeroth with both previous quests and a few new ones.
There are three available repeatable quest chains:
- Meet the Ethereals: Travel to Netherstorm to fight Dimensius, meet up with Alleria and Locus Walker in Legion, and head into the Shadowlands to meet the Brokers and gain access to Tazavesh. You’ll also meet up with Ve’nari.
- Experience Xal’atath’s Storyline: Learn more about the Blade of the Black Empire in Legion,  see how Xal’atath gained her body in Battle for Azeroth, and go back in time to the Black Empire to experience Xal’atath’s encounter with the Old Gods.
- Face the Past with Arthas:Â Return to Stratholme for a condensed version of the culling, feel the stinging cold of betrayal in Wrath of the Lich King, and confront old memories as you step into the role of the Lich King as he faces down the heroes of Azeroth.
While Lorewalking, you won’t be able to undertake any other quests, but you’ll be able to exit any time you like and return to Lorewalker Cho.
Overcharged Delves
Things are about to become even more dangerous in Delves for you and Brann. We’re introducing a new Delve-specific affix to six Delves to push you to new feats of heroism (or to earn more shiny loot.)
- Kreigval’s Rest
- Skittering Breach
- The Spiral Weave
- Nightfall Sanctum
- Fungal Folly
- Sidestreet Sluice
You’ll engage with rare new enemies, more traps, and unlock traits in a new trait tree specific to Overcharged Delves. Selecting the right traits can turn the tides of traps by making them more beneficial rather than a detriment to your progress.
Additional New Rewards
- Titan Disc Belt:Â Unlock the Titan Disc Belt at the start of the event and upgrade it through a weekly quest.
- New Mount: Overcharged Mech Suit
- New Gear
- More Delves Currency
New UI Options: Combat Assistant and Single-Button Assistant
Combat Assistant is a new feature coming to the game that highlights the recommended next ability based on resources and the situation your character is in. This feature is designed to help new players, players who are trying out a new specialization, or those looking for additional guidance on the abilities they should use without the need to turn to third party apps or outside guides. This new feature is configured as an additional option that is part of the base UI to assist you with a damage rotation no matter which specialization you’re using.
In addition, a Single-Button Assistant can be used to cast the next recommended ability in the sequence. This assistant is designed to have a small additional global cooldown added between abilities so that it is still useful for learning new skills, aiding those who are looking for additional help, or for those who want to experience the story or game on a more casual basis. It will also detect when an Area of Effect (AoE) spell or multi-target ability should be used.
Both of these new options should aid in lowering the barrier of entry for new players or players looking to explore new characters in a way that’s meaningful to them. As with the new Cooldown Manager added in the 11.1.5 content, it will continue to evolve over time.
The Greedy Emissary Returns
Later during this content cycle, we’ll be bringing back the Greedy Emissary event. During this event you’ll be able to encounter even more of these deviously greedy emissaries in Stormwind, Orgrimmar, Dornogal, and Undermine for new diabolical rewards— including a mount. You won’t want to miss some truly iconic rewards including recolors of classic Tier 2 armor sets for your characters.
Alongside this event, we are also providing a Collector’s Bounty buff which will aid players in the hunt for legacy loot by increasing drops in legacy content throughout Azeroth. We’ll share more details when we are closer to its release.
Slip Into the Turbulent Timeways With Battle for Azeroth!
During this update cycle, we’re refreshing Turbulent Timeways with the addition of Battle for Azeroth in the rotation. This event will span six weeks, beginning and ending with Battle for Azeroth.
- Week 1: Battle for Azeroth
- Week 2: Mists of Pandaria
- Week 3: Burning Crusade
- Week 4: Warlords of Draenor
- Week 5: Legion
- Week 6: Battle for Azeroth
We’ll have six new Timewalking Dungeons for players to undertake— Atal’Dazar, Freehold, King’s Rest, Shrine of the Storm, Temple of Sethraliss, and Waycrest Manor. Players can also shop at a new Battle for Azeroth vendor that can be found in the harbors of Boralus and Dazar’Alor.
Master the timeways and you can also earn the new Chrono Corsair skyriding mount… and more.
We’ll share more details about these events and more in the coming weeks. . In the meantime, you’ll be able to head into the Public Test Realm to check them out.