World of Warcraft: Midnight Season 2 doesn't officially begin until August 18.
Apparently, nobody told the loot.
When Patch 12.1: Curse of Ula’tek goes live, players can immediately start running the new Season 2 dungeon pool on Heroic and Mythic 0 difficulty.
And Mythic 0 is already dropping Champion 1/6 gear at item level 292.
So yes: there is an entire week where you can begin gearing for Season 2 before Season 2 technically begins.
Mythic 0 Drops Item Level 292 Gear This Week
During the Patch 12.1 pre-season week, all eight dungeons in the Season 2 rotation are available on Mythic 0.
That includes:
- Altar of Fangs
- Murder Row
- Den of Nalorakk
- The Blinding Vale
- Voidscar Arena
- King's Rest
- Temple of Sethraliss
- Ruby Life Pools
Mythic 0 bosses drop
item level 292 Champion 1/6 equipment.
That is particularly noteworthy because most fully upgraded Season 1 Myth-track equipment stops at item level 289.
There are exceptions, including some higher-level Sporefall items and Ascendant Voidforged weapons and trinkets, but for a lot of characters, Mythic 0 suddenly contains genuine upgrades.
Which is not normally what you expect from content containing a zero.
There Is One Catch: Mythic 0 Has a Weekly Lockout
For this pre-season week only, Mythic 0 uses a
weekly lockout.
That means you cannot endlessly farm the same dungeon looking for the correct weapon, trinket or pair of trousers.
Kill the bosses, receive your loot chances, and that dungeon is finished for the week.
When Midnight Season 2 officially begins on August 18, Mythic 0 switches back to a
daily lockout.
So this week isn't an infinite Champion-gear fountain.
It is more like Blizzard handing you eight lottery tickets and politely asking you not to come back until next reset.
Your Runs Also Count Toward the First Season 2 Great Vault
There is another reason to run Mythic 0 before Season 2 begins.
Dungeon activity during the pre-season week already contributes toward your
first Season 2 Great Vault.
That means the things you do after Patch 12.1 launches aren't merely giving you immediate 292 gear.
They're also preparing next week's Vault.
The first Season 2 Vault rewards become available with the August 18 reset in North America.
European players follow with their normal weekly reset on August 19.
That makes this pre-season week considerably more useful than the traditional awkward gap where everyone mostly stands around asking when the real season begins.
Mythic+ Still Has to Wait
There is an important distinction.
Mythic 0 is available immediately.
Mythic+ is not.
Keystones and the actual Mythic+ Season 2 begin when the season launches the following week.
The Venomous Abyss raid also waits until Season 2 begins, as do rated PvP and several of the season's higher-end Delve and Prey rewards.
So Mythic 0 sits in a useful little window.
The serious endgame race hasn't started yet, but the new gear already has.
This Could Be Especially Good for Alts
For a well-equipped main sitting near the top of Season 1 gearing, item level 292 may not transform your character.
For alts?
This week could be excellent.
A character that missed much of Season 1 can enter the new dungeon pool and immediately start collecting Champion-track equipment before Mythic+, Venomous Abyss and the main Season 2 gearing loop even begins.
It is also an opportunity to learn the new rotation without a timer shouting at you.
King's Rest hasn't been in the Mythic+ rotation for a while.
Temple of Sethraliss has been waiting patiently for another opportunity to remind everyone where that snake goes.
And Altar of Fangs is completely new.
Learning them now while simultaneously collecting useful gear seems considerably more appealing than discovering every mechanic during your first timed key next week.
The Pre-Season Is Actually Worth Playing
That is probably the biggest takeaway from Blizzard's Season 2 rollout.
This isn't merely a dead week between Patch 12.1 and the actual season.
You can explore the Coiled Isle, begin the new outdoor systems, run the Season 2 dungeon pool, earn Champion gear and start filling next week's Great Vault.
The raid doors are still closed.
The Mythic+ timers haven't started.
But the gearing treadmill?
Oh, that's already running.
Azeroth would hate for us to spend an entire week relaxing.
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