Blizzard’s next World of Warcraft Shadowlands update – which is set to introduce Patch 9.15 – is one of those updates that a lot of people feel has been a long time coming. It’s set to make alterations to a few key gameplay systems alongside the expected slew of tweaks, bug fixes, and Quality of Life changes. Here’s the latest on when to expect the update and what’s going to be included.

RELEASE DATE – When does the update drop?

At the moment, we don’t know exactly when WoW Shadowlands’ Patch 9.15 update is due to drop. We know that it’s just hit World of Warcraft’s Public Test Servers (PTR) – well, it hit the PTR on September 3rd – so this means we should see it in late September.

Typically, the distance between major title updates is around three months for World of Warcraft and an update is usually active on the PTR for at least three weeks. It’s hard to say exactly when, though, given the nature of these updates.

However, we will update you here with everything you need to know when Blizzard confirms when the update is due to be released.

UPDATE HIGHLIGHTS – What’s on the way?

World of Warcraft’s next Shadowlands update is going to make a few key changes that are worth looking out for and we have information on them all below.

AoE Cap Removal

This is essentially going to U-Turn Blizzard’s previous decision to limit the targets an AoE attack could hit and amend the changes that were made in the past. Now, five targets will be able to receive full Damage from any AoE damage and then anyone else caught in the mixer will take a reduced hit.

Allied Race Customisation

In addition to this, there’s going to be more character creation options for players looking to jump into WoW Shadowlands as a Nightborne, Lightforged Draenei, or a Void Elf. We don’t have too many details about what this will mean yet – but keep an eye out for more.

Covenant System Changes

Going forwards, players will be able to change between the four Covenants available in World of Warcraft Shadowlands at will – provided they have reached a high Renown threshold. You will also retain any gear you managed to get while as a part of another covenant!

EARLY PATCH NOTES – Subject to change…

Allied Races

• New character customization options for Nightborne, Lightforged Draenei, and Void Elves.
• The dungeon quests for unlocking Kul Tiran humans, Mechagnomes, and Dark Iron Dwarves are no longer required. After accepting the dungeon quest, speak to the NPC again to choose to skip the quest.

Art

• Added weather effects in Stormwind and Orgrimmar.

Classes

• All cooldowns of 2 minutes or longer now reset at the end of raid encounters or when starting a Mythic+ dungeon (was 3 minutes or longer cooldowns). This does not apply to Shaman’s Reincarnation or Warlock’s Ritual of Doom.
• The following area-of-affect abilities are no longer maximum target capped and instead deal reduced damage beyond 5 targets: (These features will be available in a later PTR build)
  • Death Knight
    • Sacrificial Pact
    • Abomination Limb (Necrolord Ability)
    • Reanimated Shambler (Runecarving Power)
    • Blood
      • Consumption (Talent)
      • Bonestorm (Talent)
    • Frost
    • Unholy
  • Demon Hunter
    • Havoc
      • Blade Dance
      • Fel Barrage (Talent)
    • Vengeance
      • Soul Cleave
      • Spirit Bomb (Talent) now deals reduced damage beyond 5 targets (previously was soft-capped at 20 targets).
  • Druid
  • Hunter
    • Soulforge Embers (Runecarving Power)
    • Beast Mastery
      • Beast Cleave
      • Multi-Shot
      • Barrage (Talent)
    • Marksmanship
      • Multi-Shot
      • Barrage (Talent)
      • Explosive Shot (Talent)
    • Survival
  • Mage
    • Arcane
    • Frost
      • Frozen Orb
      • Glacial Fragments (Runecarving Power)
  • Monk
    • Brewmaster
      • Rushing Jade Wind (Talent)
    • Windwalker
      • Fists of Fury
      • Rushing Jade Wind (Talent)
  • Paladin
  • Rogue
    • Assassination
      • Fan of Knives
      • Crimson Tempest (Talent)
    • Subtlety
      • Black Powder
      • Shuriken Storm
      • Secret Technique (Talent)
  • Shaman
    • Elemental
      • Storm Elemental’s (Talent) Eye of the Storm
  • Warlock
  • Warrior
    • Whirlwind
    • Arms
      • Bladestorm
      • Cleave (Talent)
      • Ravager (Talent)
      • Dreadnaught (Talent)
    • Fury
    • Protection
• Death Knight
  • Shackle the Unworthy (Kyrian Ability) damage reduced by 10%, but now has a 100% chance to spread to nearby enemies when triggered (was 50%).
  • Withering Ground (Night Fae Conduit) effect increased by 50%.
  • Impenetrable Gloom (Venthyr Conduit) damage effect increased by 50%.
  • Blood
    • Debilitating Malady (Conduit) effect increased by 600%.
• Demon Hunter
  • Sinful Brand (Venthyr Ability) cooldown has been reduced to 45 seconds (was 1 minute).
  • Blind Faith (Kyrian Runecarving Power) now grants 1% Versatility (was 1% Mastery) and 10 Fury when a Lesser Soul Fragment is consumed while Blind Faith is active.
  • Havoc
    • Dancing with Fate (Conduit) damage effect increased by 650%.
• Druid
  • Discover 4 new Travel Form appearances with 2 color variations each.
  • The Well-Honed Instincts conduit is now categorized for all specs (was Guardian only).
  • Adaptive Swarm (Necrolord Ability) jump range has been increased to 50 yards (was 25 yards) and will now jump to a friendly target if it expires on a friendly target and there are no valid hostile targets within 50 yards.
• Hunter
  • Aquilons, Corspeflies, and Gromits are now tameable as pets.
  • Flayed Shot (Venthyr Ability) now deals an additional hit of damage when cast. This damage also has 15% chance (increased with Empowered Release Conduit) to reset the cooldown of Kill Shot.
• Mage
  • Gift of the Lich (Necrolord Conduit) effect increased by 100%.
• Monk
  • Way of the Fae (Night Fae Conduit) effect increased by 100%.
• Paladin
  • Righteous Might (Necrolord Conduit) damage effect increased by 400% and healing effect reduced by 50%.
  • Blessing of Seasons (Night Fae Ability): Blessing of Spring now increases healing done by 15% (was 10%) and healing received by 30% (was 20%). Blessing of Winter now reduces the hostile target’s attack speed and movement speed by 5% per stack (was 3%) and its damage has been increased by 40%.
• Priest
  • Festering Transfusion (Necrolord Conduit) damage and healing effect increased by 100%.
  • Holy
    • Divine Star (Talent) damage increased by 40%.
  • Discipline
    • Divine Star (Talent) damage increased by 40%.
    • Contrition (Talent) healing increased by 15%.
    • Shadow Covenant (Talent) healing increased by 10%, mana cost reduced by 10%, and duration lowered to 7 seconds (was 9 seconds).
  • Shadow
    • Surrender to Madness duration increased to 30 seconds (was 25 seconds).
    • Psychic Link (Talent) deals 60% of Mind Blast’s damage (was 50%).
• Rogue
  • Septic Shock (Night Fae Conduit) effect increased by 50%.
• Shaman
  • Elysian Dirge (Kyrian Conduit) effect increased by 50%.
• Warlock
  • Impending Catastrophe (Venthyr Ability) chaotic anima cloud width has been increased 60%, now deals a tick of its periodic damage on impact and will more accurately apply its damage-over-time effect to hostile targets.
  • Decimating Bolt (Necrolord Ability) cast time reduced to 2 seconds (was 2.5 seconds).
  • Scouring Tithe (Kyrian Ability) instant and periodic damage increased by 20% and cast time reduced to 1.5 seconds (was 2 seconds).
  • Languishing Soul Detritus (Kyrian Runecarving Power) critical strike chance bonus increased to 45% (was 40%) and now also grants the Warlock a 33% movement speed buff and a 15% critical strike chance increase when Scouring Tithe (Kyrian Ability) expires.
• Warrior
  • Harrowing Punishment (Venthyr Conduit) effect increased by 50%.
  • Arms
    • Merciless Bonegrinder (Conduit) effect increased by 100%.
  • Fury
    • Hack and Slash (Conduit) increased by 50%.
  • Protection
    • Sinful Surge (Venthyr Runecarving Power) now extends the duration of Avatar (Talent) by 2.5 seconds when Condemn (Venthyr Ability) is cast (was Last Stand duration extended by 3 seconds).

Covenants

• Players who reach a high Renown threshold will be able to freely switch among any of the four Covenants without cooldown or restriction, as well as use cosmetic rewards that they have earned from one covenant even if they are currently a member of a different one. Both the Covenant switching and the use of cosmetic rewards will also apply to alts once the Renown threshold is reached on one character. (This feature will be available in a later PTR build)
• Conduit Energy has been removed and Conduits will be freely swappable without any restrictions. (This feature will be available in a later PTR build)
• Completing the Shadowlands or Korthia Covenant Campaign on any character allows alternate characters joining that same Covenant to be eligible to receive the Renown associated with that Campaign from all available catch-up sources.
• Completing the Shadowlands Campaign on any character allows alternate characters joining that same Covenant to immediately unlock their third Soulbind. (This feature will be available in a later PTR build)
• New Covenant toys to discover.
• Night Fae
  • New Soulshapes to collect.
  • New Crittershapes – Due to their tiny appearances, they are only usable in rested areas.
  • Option to Soulshape and Crittershape into randomly collected appearances.
• Sanctums
  • Adventures
    • Maw missions unlocked by maximum adventurer level appear more often and are gated by fewer requirements.
  • Anima Conductor
    • Enhancement buffs now persist past daily reset and work as a buff within all non-instance zones in Shadowlands.
  • Night Fae: Queens Conservatory
    • All seeds now stack to 200 (was 20).
    • All previous locations that award uncommon quality seeds now award rare quality seeds.
  • Redeemed Souls
    • All players will now have the 20 Redeemed Souls version of the weekly quest “Return Lost Souls” regardless of Renown level.
    • Added a repeatable quest to gather 20 additional Redeemed Souls for players looking to progress their Covenant Sanctum faster.

Dungeons and Raids

• Timewalking (These features will be available in a later PTR build)
  • New: Legion Timewalking
    • This event will run for two weeks the first time it runs within the game and then will resume a regular one week schedule for subsequent bonus events.
    • Timewalking Dungeons: Black Rook Hold, Eye of Azshara, Darkheart Thicket, Vault of the Wardens, Neltharion’s Lair, and Court of Stars.
  • The list of available dungeons during Timewalking holidays has been adjusted.
• Timeworn Keystones (This feature will be available in a later PTR build)
  • While Legion Timewalking is active, players can speak to Ta’hsup in Oribos to acquire a Timeworn Keystone, allowing access to max-level, Mythic+ difficulty for the 6 Legion dungeons.
  • Legion Mythic+ dungeons accessed in this way have their own set of affixes, reward loot of the same item level as Shadowlands Mythic+ dungeons, and count toward weekly Great Vault reward options.
    • Items acquired from Legion Mythic+ dungeons can be upgraded with Valor points, but will not appear in the Great Vault.
• Legacy loot rules are now in place for Battle for Azeroth raids and dungeons. These encounters will now drop a fixed quantity of class-agnostic loot, regardless of group size.
• The prompt to enter into the Timewalking Campaign random dungeon queue for all expansions will now occur after 5 minutes in the queue (was 15 minutes).

Island Expeditions and Warfronts

• You are now able to set sail on a Normal, Heroic, or Mythic Island Expedition alone or with a party of up to three players. Speak with Captain Rez’okun in Dazar’alor (Horde) or Flynn Fairwind in Boralus (Alliance) to begin your solo seafaring voyage!
• Lowered the amount of players required to queue for Normal Battle for Stromgarde and Battle for Darkshore Warfronts to 5 (was 15).

Items and Rewards

• Players now only need to complete the achievement Breaching the Tomb on one character per account to begin the Legion class mount quests on the Broken Shore. Each character must still complete their class hall campaign, complete quests, and recruit their final order hall champion.
• Show off your complete transmog outfit to chat or online by easily sharing a link to it from the Dressing Room. Players will be able to mouse-over these items to see how they can be collected, if they’ve already collected the appearance, or if it’s an appearance that is accessible to the character viewing it.
• The transmogrification appearance of cosmetic items is now learned when the item is used.
• A new rank of heirloom gear has been added and all heirloom gear is now usable in Shadowlands and outside of Threads of Fate. (These features will be available in a later PTR build)
• Heirloom Scouting Maps that instantly explore all areas and grant all viable flight paths to your alt are now available for all expansions (was only Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms).

Korthia and the Maw

• Unlock access to additional fast travel options from Ve’nari’s Refuge to Perdition Hold and Desmotaeron within the Maw.
• Completing quests from Archivist Roh-Suir will provide access to an Anima Diverter within Korthia where Anima can be directly deposited.

Player versus Player

• Lower item-level PvP gear will now scale to a higher item-level in PvP situations than before. This should reduce the power level gap so that new characters can feel that they’re able to compete in Battlegrounds and Arenas more readily. This change will not affect high item-level PvP gear.
• Additional PvP Titles and Item Level Ranks have been added to provide a more granular upgrade path for players climbing up the ranks.

Quests

• Alternate characters on an account can now choose to skip the introductory Shadowlands questline that takes place in the Maw by speaking to Highlord Darion Mograine after accepting the quest “Shadowlands: A Chilling Summons”. Please note that to enable the skip, you will need to have logged into a level 60 character who has completed the Maw introduction.

Runecarving

• The Runecarver will now offer to destroy an existing legendary item and return all of the Soul Ash or Soul Cinders that were spent to create the item. (This feature will be available in a later PTR build)
• Drop rates for Runecarving recipes increased to 100% drop rate on any difficulty.

Threads of Fate

• Tal-Inara now offers a Torghast, Tower of the Damned daily quest for experience and Soul Ash.
• Tal-Inara now offers a PvP Battlegrounds daily quest for experience and gear.
• Threads of Fate Bonus Objectives are now significantly shorter and award Renown.
• Threads of Fate Zone Objectives now reward higher item level gear and anima.

User Interface and Accessibility

• Updated the requirements to participate in the newcomer guide system, players can now opt-in after completing 3000 quests and reaching max-level.
• Improved gamepad compatibility, including support for touchpad and gyro.
• Mythic+ and PvP Ratings can now be shared through a chat link with Shift-Click.
• Item Upgrade UI has been reworked.
• Group Finder Improvements
  • Accounts now require an attached Battle.net 6 Authenticator to post custom text when listing a group for Dungeons, Raids, or Rated PvP activities. All players may still search for and join others’ groups.
  • Search now allows a numeric range (i.e. search “5-9” finds M+ key levels from 5 to 9).
  • Autofill group finder information based on the creator’s keystone. The information can still be manually entered.
  • Group creators can now set a minimum Mythic+ or PvP rating requirement for applicants.
  • Group creators can now select a playstyle to set expectations for their group.
  • PvP Rating will now display when browsing for Rated PvP entries and in the applicant window.
• Reporters will receive a message when their report results in action being taken. Offenders will receive a message of any current and future penalties if their behavior is not corrected.
• Text-to-Speech settings saved on server and added an option to also save the settings account-wide.
• Option to add voice transcription output to any chat frame and change the font color.
• Summon Random Favorite Mounts will now summon a random mount if no mounts are favorited.
• Added a flying mount filter in the Mount Collection.
• New Transmogrifier cursor icon.
• New default backpack bag icon.