The Dragonflight pre-patches start arriving the week of October 25

The announcement of the forthcoming end of Shadowlands Season 4 made us pretty confident that the Dragonflight pre-patch (aka patch 10.0) would arrive simultaneously on October 25, and today official word was published confirming its arrival next week with the weekly reset. However, there was a little bit of curveball in the announcement, as it was revealed there would actually be two pre-patches, with the second one arriving the week of November 15. There’s a lot coming with patch 10.0 so finally having an expected arrival date is good, even if not everything is available day one.

With the release date of Dragonflight on November 28, the week of October 25 for the pre-patch gives us a solid month to start experimenting with some of the new features of the upcoming expansion. Completely revamped talent trees and customizable user interface will be implemented immediately, as will being able to roll a mage, priest, or rogue of any race. The pre-patch events and the new Uldaman dungeon will not be available until the second pre-patch on November 15, and those who have pre-purchased Dragonflight will not be able to start leveling their Dracthyr Evoker through the starting zone until then either.

While Season 4-related mounts, portals, and titles can no longer be earned as of the pre-patch, other time-limited activities will remain until the release of Dragonflight. The Carcinized Zerethsteed will still be obtainable until November 28, as will the Jellycat — and that mount may become easier to get as all three raids should be available in Fated mode at that time. In addition, the Winds of Wisdom XP buff is expected to last until, “the new Dracthyr Evoker becomes playable,” so there will be a few extra weeks to take advantage of that to level your new Highmountain rogue, which you can level with the full experience buff until November 15. The Back from the Beyond feat of strength and its Veilstrider title reward will also not depart until the new expansion, but you’ll want to get going on it ASAP as there is significant time-gating involved.

Originally published October 11, 2022. Updated October 18, 2022.