What could be coming in The War Within patch 11.1?

We’ve crash-landed on Khaz Algar, met some new earthy friends, reunited with some long-lost kinda-humans, and vanquished an eight-legged queen — what’s on the horizon for our band of adventurers? Let’s take a look at what kind of new features and content have dropped in the last few major mid-expansion patches and take some educated (and wild) guesses about the next chapter of The War Within.

Patch 11.0.5 is about to drop and give us a long-duration 20th anniversary party. In addition to some updated threads and revived old content, there will likely be some breadcrumbs and hints that point towards what’s coming next — so we’ll be keeping a sharp eye out in Dornogal for new faces.

But 11.0.5 is a minor patch: the next big content drop will be patch 11.1, which should be out early in 2025. While we wait for official news — or those new faces — here’s what we expect (or hope) to see in patch 11.1.

Where to, Earthen crew?

Perhaps the biggest question that remains to be answered is which new zone we’ll be invading/rescuing/exploring. Previous areas unveiled in the first major patch of an expansion include Zaralek Cavern and Korthia, both of which were adjacent to the areas that were explored previously. Does that mean we won’t be traveling across the ocean (or cosmos) for our next tasks?

Joan did a great job with a rundown of some of the most likely candidates. With goblins being plentiful throughout Khaz Algar, could we be headed to their subterranean capital, Undermine? We have learned that the Hallowfall Arathi are just one spearhead of a larger population that resides on a landmass unknown to us so far. Might we be paying them and their emperor a visit in 11.1?

My prediction is the Undersea. The vast area north of Hallowfall just beckons to be explored. Without giving any story spoilers from the campaign so far, it does seem like a very probable place for the next stage of our conflict. I am more than ready to hotkey all of my aquatic mounts and spend a few months poking around a horribly dark subterranean ocean.

Get your raiding gloves on

While we have seen some large dungeons added mid-expansion in recent years, it seems to me that 11.1 will most likely bring a brand new raid instead. By this time we’ll be fully ready to hang up our spider-stomping boots and leave Nerub-ar Palace behind.

What kind of raid we’ll see will heavily depend on what zone we wind up in. Undermine might include a gauntlet of mechanical bosses and corrupt goblins. I can picture a labyrinth of underwater treasures and dangerous void-infested leviathans if we do head to the Undersea.

We’ve seen plenty of titan facilities throughout the years, but there’s always a good chance that we’ll need to cleanse another one of some sort of corruption. Verticality has been big in a lot of instance design lately, and that is on brand with this spelunking-heavy expansion. Maybe our next raiding experience will simply take us deeper into Azeroth than we’ve been so far — perhaps on a mission to further communicate with the Worldsoul itself.

There’s also the question of who the antagonist will be. We’ve been chasing down Xal’atath — is it time for our Warbands to face off with her directly for the first time? Could we be going toe to toe with a crazed Arathi Emperor, or whatever is in charge of the encroaching korbyss?

Season 2 should bring new Delves (and a new companion)

If the recent pattern holds, we’ll shift into Season 2 of The War Within just after patch 11.1 hits. That will likely come with the usual PVP refresh, Mythic+ dungeon rotation, and overall gear quality increase.

One thing that was added in this expansion that we haven’t yet seen a seasonal change in is Delves. We know that our Delver’s Journey track is labeled as Season 1, and that Brann Bronzebeard was tagged as our Season 1 Delve companion. Making a guess about a Season 2 companion choice is its own entire article for another time.

But what will Delves look like in 11.1? I think we’ll probably get two or three new Delves in the new zone along with a new track with new rewards. I’m hoping for a lot more customizations for my Delver’s Dirigible. Could we get a new mini-antagonist, the way we chased down and eliminated Zek’vir?

We’re looking forward to what’s next, but it won’t arrive soon

While it’s fun to speculate, we have plenty of time left in Season 1 before we set off on our next adventure. Using Dragonflight as a baseline, we likely won’t see patch 11.1 hit the live servers until February 2025.

So what predictions do you have for the next chapter? In addition to all of the content that will go live, I’m excited about finding out what happens next in the story. We’re maybe 10% of the way through the Worldsoul Saga. Which main characters will the next narrative focus on? What unanswered questions will we unlock the answers to?