Patch 8.1: Tides of Vengeance is coming to the PTR by the end of the week

In an action-packed Q&A, Ion Hazzikostas introduced us to the next chapter of Battle for Azeroth: Tides of Vengeance. Patch 8.1 will be packed with features, including:

• A 9-boss Siege of Zuldazar raid with a different experience for each faction. Yes, Jaina will be a raid boss — but just for Horde.
• A shorter Crucible of the Storms raid coming later in the patch. Though Ion didn’t give many details on this one, it will be similar to the 3-boss Trial of Valor raid in Legion.
• A Darkshore Warfront themed around Night Elves vs. Forsaken. This will include an update to the zone itself for max level players.
• Character stories for Saurfang, Tyrande, and Vol’jin, which were teased at BlizzCon.
• More things are account-wide, including Champions of Azeroth reputation which let you unlock your Heart of Azeroth more quickly on alts. Reputation achievements will all also become account-wide (yay!), though Horde and Alliance reputations won’t double-count.
• Heritage armor for Blood Elves and Dwarves, and it sounds like more might come in the future.
• Two new Island Expedition islands: Jorundall, full of Vrykul ruins, and Havenswood, an abandoned Gilnean city.
• For everyone waiting for Kul Tiran and Zandalari races, they aren’t coming yet. Look for them some time after the Siege of Zuldazar raid.

There was a mountain of info, and you can watch it all yourself in the Twitch VOD — or stay tuned to Blizzard Watch because the team is typing away over here and we’ll have more in-depth analysis soon.

I hope to see you on the PTR this week!