World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth - Patch 8.1 and 8.2 review

During BlizzCon 2018, Blizzard revealed some of the World of Warcraft content players can expect to come in the nearest future. WoW’s newest expansion, Battle for Azeroth, has been live for just over two months and we’ve taken the liberty of gathering all the announcements below; before we get to that, however, check out the cinematic that premiered at the opening ceremony:

Patch 8.1:

• Patch 8.1 will go live between the 11th and the 13th of December (release date tied to each region’s server reset)
• The update’s raid, the Battle for Dazar’Alor, is expected to launch sometime in January 2019
• No release date for the Crucible of Storms mini-raid has been revealed
• Two classic races - the Dwarves and the Blood Elves, are getting their stories expanded via Heritage Armour questlines

Patch 8.1.5:

• Two new Allied Races will become available - the Kul Tiran Humans and the Zandalari Trolls.
• Patch 8.1.5 will see the return of the Brawler’s Guild, delving deeper into the story behind the shady establishment
• Two battlegrounds introduced in vanilla WoW are getting revamped - Blizzard are working on refreshing the visuals of Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch
• The Darkmoon Faire is being expanded with a new ride - the Darkmoon Faire Rollercoaster
• Seasonal events and holidays will be periodically updated to include features introduced in recent expansions
• New powerful profession items will become craftable in Patch 8.1.5
• The Horde and Alliance hubs in BfA are getting new portal rooms to make it easier for players to navigate the world

Patch 8.2:

• Officially christened the Rise of Azshara
• Two new zones will become available in Patch 8.2 - the Naga capital of Nazjatar and the Mechagnome hideout in Mechagon
• The Nazjatar questline will conclude in an eight boss raid featuring Queen Azshara at the end, whilst Mechagon will take players into a megadungeon available exclusively on Mythic+ difficulty
• Two more classic races, the Tauren and the Gnomes, will be getting their Heritage Armour questlines
• Flying in BfA will finally become unlockable
• Two new Island Expeditions are to be added in Patch 8.2

Patch 8.2.5:

• The only feature coming in 8.2.5 that has been revealed are Goblin and Worgen model updates

Check out this bonus in-game cinematic coming to the game in Patch 8.1 (WARNING: SPOILERS!)