Blizzard Watch WeeklyAug 17, 2026 9:00 am CT

Blizzard Watch Weekly: Let’s all head to the Coiled Isle

By Elizabeth Harper

The news of the week is all about WoW patch 12.1, which is now live in all regions. But next up is Midnight Season 2, which starts on Tuesday on NA realms and Wednesday on EU realms. That means a brand new Race to World First to watch on top of all the new, more difficult seasonal content to tackle. I’m looking forward to the new season of Delves myself, but I have a lot to do on the Coiled Isle before I can settle down to see what trouble Valeera’s going to get me into this time.

But if you’re not up to date on the latest, let’s catch up on what’s been going on in the world of Blizzard games, and what’s coming up this week.

What happened last week?

WoW patch 12.1 is here, bringing a brand new story with Zul’jan leading us to the Coiled Isle (for better or, more likely, worse). We’ve all been questing, killing rares, doing world events, and taking our first steps into the mountain of new content available for the first week of the patch, but on Tuesday Midnight Season 2 begins with the Venomous Abyss raid and more high-end content. Clear your calendars, because there’s plenty to do.
The built-in Cooldown Manager has been improved in patch 12.1, inching closer to replacing our lengthy collection of WeakAuras. It’s still not perfect, but it’s getting better.
Alongside patch 12.1 came Jimothy, a new raccoon pet in World of Warcraft. Secret hunters are currently trying to track down this tricksy raccoon, and we’ll keep you updated as we learn more about where Jimothy is hiding.
A great many Player Housing updates came with the new patch, including Blueprints, which let you save and share rooms or your entire home with others. But there are a whole lot of caveats to the process, so we’ve written up a how-to to help you out… and we’re hoping Blizzard keeps improving the feature.
One thorny subject with regards to Blueprints is whether players are allowed to sell them, and what this means for the future of housing designs and the RMT scene, since we’re already seeing overpriced homes being offered for sale.
This week’s Hearthstone Tavern Brawl is Heroic Brawliseum, which we thoroughly suggest you do not play. We have a guide with some deck suggestions if you just have to give it a try, but really, just don’t subject yourself to this pay-for Brawl, even if the first entry is free.

What’s happening this week (and beyond)

August 18: Midnight Season 2 begins as well as the Race to World First
August 21: Diablo 2 Resurrected ladder season 15 starts
August 27: The Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary phase 3
Through September 8: Sorcerer’s Grassy Garb transmog set in WoW available as a Twitch Drop
September 12 – 13: BlizzCon 2026
November 17: World of Warcraft D&D book launches

Other things we’re playing, watching, and more

On our Thursday indie game stream, Joe and I wrapped up Desktop Explorer, and Liz and I started playing a new game: The Séance of Blake Manor. Catch us live Thursday at 8pm eastern (follow us on Twitch to get notifications of this and any one-off streams), or watch on YouTube later. Here are our latest game streams for you to enjoy:

If you’d like to watch Desktop Explorer start to finish, watch our Desktop Explorer playlist; it’s about 11 hours of gameplay in all, and I only managed to get half of the achievements along the way. It was very fun, and if you’d rather play the game yourself, you can buy Desktop Explorer on Steam. I highly recommend this very strange puzzle game!

This week’s free game on the Epic Games Store is Caravan SandWitch, a post-apocalyptic exploration adventure game that somehow makes the apocalypse feel cozy as you trek across unknown lands in your camper van. Grab it free through Thursday.

In tabletop news this week, DriveThruRPG has partnered with Paizo to bring Paizo’s catalog — some 1200 books — to the DriveThruRPG store. You can buy digital books right now, with print on demand available in the near future, making it easier to pick up the Paizo titles you want — including books that are otherwise out of print.