Season of Discovery offers players a brand new experience regarding World of Warcraft. This game mode introduces many features unavailable in other versions, so champions are eager to try its various content. Players anticipate the arrival of a bunch of new mechanics, but most are still determining when these updates will be coming to the game.
Season of Discovery Roadmap
The Season of Discovery updates will be separated per season. It is still being determined if they will be added to the game as one whole set per timeframe. Devs are likelier to include them in the game in small patches to give more room for optimization. Here are the expected updates coming for Season of Discovery:
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Phase 2: Winter 2023 |
· Level 40 · New Runes · PvP Event · Gnomeregan Raid |
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Phase 3: Spring 2024 |
· Level 50 · New Runes · New Raid |
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Phase 4: Summer 2024 |
· Level 60 · New Runes · End Game Activities |
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Phase 5: Autumn 2024 |
· End Game Content · Updates |
Winter Update
This update might be spread out between January and February, which will be the second phase of the initial major patch of SoD. The most notable changes are the increased level cap and Gnomeregan Raid. The increased max rank will open more skill points to players and more slots for their runes. Meanwhile, Gnomeregan will make its debut in Season of Discovery. The raid will retain most of its features, but there will be some adjustments like the requirement.
Unlike the standard version, champions must be level 40 to enter this dungeon. It is unclear what devs will implement for this improved raid. However, we do have details about some item revamps. In particular, the Manual Crowd Pummeler transformed into the Automatic Crowd Pummeler, which now comes with unlimited charges instead of three. However, the active ability has a 3-minute cooldown, so players cannot constantly spam it. Unfortunately, only Paladins, Shamans, and Druids can use this item so other classes won’t abuse it.
Stranglehorn Vale is assumed to be the PvP Event and zone during Phase 2. However, this news has yet to be confirmed. Arathi Highlands is another potential place for the second winter update. However, due to its popularity, devs are more likely to add SVT instead.
Spring Update
The spring patches will bring additional runes to the game and increase the level cap to 50. We still don’t have any details about these skill emblems and how the increased max rank will benefit players. Another raid is set to be streamlined during the release of the Spring patch, but we don’t know what this content is since Blizzard has yet to release further information. However, Blizzcon did tease that famous raids like Scarlet Monastery and Karazhan Crypts could be potential dungeons for Season of Discovery. Gamers will have to wait for further announcements from the devs to confirm this.
Summer Update
Players will see another increase the level cap to 60, probably to access newer content. Additional runes will be added during this time, which we don’t have any details on. During this season, Blizzard will start rolling out end-game activities, which could include various features like more raids, PVP events, and item-farming content. Devs confirmed Classic Raids like Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, Ahn’Qiraj, and Naxxramas. These challenges might arrive during the Summer update.
Autumn Phase
The Autumn update will bring the last changes to WoW Season of Discovery. There will be no additional ruins during this time, nor will the max rank be increased. Instead, the previous updates will focus on bringing in more end-game content and improving existing features. Devs will also provide an update about this version of World of Warcraft and its fate in the succeeding year.
When Will These Updates Roll Out?
All we know for now is that they will be released in batches or as one big patch per season. The interval in which they are released is yet to be determined. However, evidence suggests that developers will adopt either a two-and-a-half-week or a three-week interval approach per patch. If Blizzard follows this timeframe, we can expect the spring update to arrive in May, the summer patch in July or August, and the last autumn updates in September or October.
What Will Happen to Season of Discovery After the Autumn Update
Many players are curious about the fate of this version after the last sets of patches from the roadmap roll in. Season of Discovery is an experimental version of WoW, which brings in new features that were never introduced in previous game iterations. Players are wondering whether characters from this version will be transferred to Classic once SoD is over. We have no details regarding this, but we can assume that Blizzard will announce the Autumn patch.
