Conquest of Azeroth Patch Notes & Live Updates

August 26, 2026 — Mythic+ Cache Tuning

A small hotfix landed late August 26 tweaking the doubled Mythic+ cache drops that shipped with the August 15 patch. Players reported the bonus applied even when one or two Keystone 10 runs were abandoned before the timer ended; the bonus now requires a completed timer for all five party members. This was a long-standing community ask to prevent exploitation of partial completions.

Reaper threat generation on Heroic Atal'zul was also toned down by roughly 8 percent. The August 15 ladder closer was tuned too aggressively for solo and duo ladder teams — the August 26 change brings it back in line with Heroic Azuregos and Heroic Kazzak.

August 22, 2026 — Runemaster Stability

The Runemaster Engraving rework from August 15 had two known crash conditions: one when Ice Rune chained into Wind Rune within 0.3 seconds of a boss enrage, and one when the Conjuration familiar attempted to inherit a totem that had already expired. Both are fixed in the August 22 client-side hotfix. Runemaster play rate on Ragnaros and Onyxia climbed significantly after the rework, and the class is now the third most-picked DPS spec in Heroic raids.

A small buff also went out to Inspiration Support. Group-wide damage amplification was bumped from 6 percent to 7 percent, and the banner cooldown was reduced by 5 seconds. This is the first Support tuning pass since the Heroic ladder opened.

August 15, 2026 — Major Balance Patch

The August 15 patch is the largest balance update since launch. Runemaster received the full Weapon Engraving rework (see our dedicated guide), Ragnaros in Molten Core now starts each pull at 30 percent health to make the Tier 1 catch-up more accessible, Mythic+ weekly cache coin rewards jumped by 50 percent, caches are now doubled for completed Keystone 10 runs, and Wildvine drops were added to every Zul'Gurub mob at a 1 percent rate.

PvP trinket tuning also landed: a new shared 90-second cooldown trinket was added for arena and rated battlegrounds, and several older Honor PvP trinkets were rebalanced for Season 1. Heroic Atal'zul opened as the August 15 ladder closer in Eastern Plaguelands.

August 13, 2026 — Heroic Nightmare Dragons

Heroic difficulty unlocked for all four Nightmare Dragons — the corrupted Green Flight world bosses added on August 5. Heroic adds a stack-based enrage, additional nightmare-themed adds, and improved loot tables including the Wildvine consumable and a chance for class-specific transmog pieces. Ladder teams cleared Heroic Lethias within 90 minutes of the unlock window.

August 11, 2026 — Heroic Kazzak

Heroic Lord Kazzak opened in Blasted Lands as the sixth Heroic shrine on the August ladder. The encounter features the same Doom Blossom mechanic from the open-world version but with shorter cast times and an additional phase at 30 percent health. Kazzak ladder night capped a strong weekend after the Heroic Azuregos and Heroic Soggoth clears.

August 9, 2026 — Onyxia's Lair Timeline Window

Onyxia's Lair re-opened for a one-night only Ascended-tier window on August 9. The original Tier 1 raid's Broodmother mechanics were modernized for 21 CoA classes, and the loot table includes two Onyxia-specific class rings plus the Onyxia Drake mount. The next Onyxia window is scheduled for September 6.

August 8, 2026 — Molten Core Timeline Window

Molten Core opened for an Ascended-tier window on August 8. Ragnaros received the 30 percent starting health treatment that became permanent on August 15. The Aug 8 window was the soft-launch test for the new tuning and gave raid groups a calmer practice environment ahead of the live ladder.

August 7, 2026 — Mythic+ Keystone 10 Unlock

Mythic+ Keystone 10 unlocked on August 7, completing the live launch Mythic+ ladder. Level 10 keystones now drop from weekly chests, and Mythic+ caches reward the same items as Ascended raid loot for the equivalent slot. Affix rotation: Skirmish, Overflowing, Bolstering for the August 7–14 window.

August 5, 2026 — Nightmare Dragons Live

Four Nightmare Dragons went live across the four corners of Azeroth: Lethias in Feralas, Noxith in Ashenvale, Vorath in the Badlands, and Umbrith in Felwood. Each drops Wildvine at 1 percent and a class-themed ring. Heroic difficulty is scheduled for August 13.

August 1, 2026 — Zul'Gurub & Crow's Cache

Zul'Gurub launched as the first post-launch raid, with Hakkar the Soulflayer as the final boss. The 20-player raid features five bosses, updated loot tables, and an outdoor event chain tied to Crow's Cache (a Hybrid Risk open-world event that grants bonus caches and Honor).

July 2026 — Launch Archive

July 3, 2026 marked the official Conquest of Azeroth launch on the Vol'jin realm with all 21 classes, Expanded Azeroth, Mythic+ vanilla dungeons, three launch raids, Manastorm, Hybrid Risk, Heroes Callboard, Woodcutting and Woodworking, and free Master Warchest rewards for new characters. The first three weeks of live updates can be found in our July 2026 update archive and Week Three Progression guide.