Explore every episode of the podcast For Azeroth!: A World of Warcraft Podcast

The gang remembers BioWare fondly in the wake of the studio shutting down. Blizzard fixes the phantom damage bug and extends Fabled Let Me Solo Him while Lex breaks down the gearing struggles for solo players

The gang (minus Lex) has a spoiler-free 12.1.5 patch chat and discusses the latest discovery of a major bug. In Warcraft Forever news cross region is mentioned and what's up with horizontal progression?

Fiamma interview with Holly Longdale and Clay Stone:

https://youtu.be/r0xvPeM4Ohw?si=eFdSy4X_BUfjycKr

Sean is back from his adventures and Manny gets caught up on everything that's been happening in his life since 12.1 launched.

Lex and Manny dive into the debates over how classic or modern WoW Forever should be, talk about the upcoming 12.1.5, and discuss the art of mythic+.

Lex is recovering from BlizzCon and sits down with Manny to talk about all the announcements, the reveals, and surprises.

The BlizzCon schedule and floor plan are out but Lex and Manny are reading between the lines. The two discuss their progress through the Venomous Abyss raid. Is this the most difficult raid in modern Warcraft history?

Lex and Manny discuss the early phase of 12.1, what content is holding their attention and how they are enjoying the latest patch of World of Warcraft: Midnight.

With almost 10 years, 7 different hosts, 6 expansions and 1 amazing game, For Azeroth! celebrates 400 episodes and discusses BlizzCon and the future of Warcraft!

The gang dives into 12.1 and they have big feelings! From World Tours to Delve grinds, what should you be doing this week in Warcraft? The answer might surprise you

We also take a look at a pair of roundtables that were held with RaiderIO, Wowhead and IcyVeins

Paul Kubit and Rachel Vought:

https://youtu.be/LtHBc9R2mic?si=trjSGtZxV4UoAE-w

Taylor Sanders and Andrew De Sousa:

https://youtu.be/QLRFBIXeiFw

Manny is under the weather so Sean and Lex struggle bus their way through the news. Or do they?!?

Prepare for patch!Dyes are soulbound in preparation for the upcoming patch: https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/housing-dye-trading-temporarily-disabled/2332674The projected scores for Umbral Champion 1% and Umbral Hero 0.1% were posted:EU: 3962 / 4207NA: 3915 / 4183https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/m-umbral-champion-and-umbral-hero-scores-updated-august-4/2333001https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/m-umbral-champion-and-umbral-hero-scores-updated-4-august/625085

The Addon Arms Race continues:Azta'rec memory game had been trivialized by two add-ons. Blizzard has now revised the API to disable these addons.https://www.wowhead.com/news/completely-automated-addons-for-memory-game-broken-on-azratec-delve-boss-382356

Some World Activities will stay relevant in Season 2In the latest PTR build, the rewards from Invasions, Ritual Sites, Void Assaults, and their caches have been upgraded for S2. This should make alts that just hit 90 more options to gear up.https://www.wowhead.com/news/season-1-activity-rewards-updated-for-season-2-382324

Additional Reward details for early Season 2During the pre-season week, the Great Vault will offer rewards based on your activities during the final week of Season 1. Season 2 Great Vault credit starts accruing during the pre-season week, with the rewards from those efforts available to claim on August 18.Crafting Sparks will also begin dropping during the pre-season.Voidcore bonus rolls will not be available in the first Great Vault of Season 2. They will become available during the second week of Season 2 (August 25) and can be selected by anyone who has unlocked at least 3 panes.For the first Great Vault of Season 2, the maximum gear level attainable from the World row will be Champion 3/6. Subsequent Vaults can reward gear from the World row at a maximum quality of Hero 1/6.https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/midnight-season-1-ending-and-season-2-information/2331696

The gang dives in to Snake Island and everything coming in 12.1!

Blizzard Acts in GM Power Abuse IncidentLast week, we discussed the known details around an apparent abuse of admin powers. This week we get to tell you the fall out.

• The Blizzard employee was found to be in violation of their Code of Conduct and was dismissed from the company immediately.
• The players who were found complicit in the violation have had their accounts actioned upon. That has been reported to be a 30 day suspension of their accounts.

Links

• Prohibited Gameplay Incident and Response - General Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums
• https://x.com/jdotb/status/2080799736915775742

S2 Date Announced

• August 11th the patch goes live!
• New Outdoor Zone: The Coiled Isle
• New Activities:
• Vaults of Atal’Utek
• Public Events
• Curse Surges
• Cursed Fishing
• New Eight-Boss Raid: The Venomous Abyss
• New Three-Boss Dungeon: Altar of Fangs
• New Lairs for Normal, Heroic, and Mythic World Boss Encounters
• Three New Delves including a new Nemesis Delve
• Midnight Season 2 Begins August 18th
• Mythic+ Dungeon Updates
• New Players vs. Bots Arena
• Prey Season 2
• New Arcantina Quests
• User Interface Updates for Cooldown Manager and Ping System
• Housing Updates:
• Save, Export, and Import Blueprints
• Welcome Pets!
• Four New Endeavors
• Class Updates

Links

• Curse of Ula’tek Goes Live August 11! Journey to the Coiled Isle.
• The Clock is Ticking on Midnight Season 1 Achievements and Rewards

Sean sat down with Neek of Fates Reforged, RollieRodz from Dayglow, Broccoliz of Euphoric and FTM and Luka from This is Fine to talk about the challenges of being a GM.

Recruiting, raid prep and why do they put in so much extra work for a video game. It's a great talk!

Follow Guests:

Neek: https://x.com/NeeK2323

Rollie: https://x.com/RollieRodz

Broccoliz: https://x.com/yeslikeagirlz

FTM: https://x.com/Ftmjgtde

Luka: https://x.com/lukaripnw

The gang gets excited for Blizzcon with the release of the in-game bundles! Everyone is talking about Mythic+ this week as a potential breach of trust took place in a Nexus Point Xenas 23 with a GM and some title pushers.

BLIZZCON BUNDLE REVEALED

With Blizzcon now less than 2 months away, Blizzard has unveiled the in-game bonuses that all ticket holders will be receiving. For those of us not attending, these are now purchasable on the bnet store.

There are 6 bundles:

- The Warcraft Bundle

- Overwatch BlizzCon Bundle

- Diablo IV BlizzCon Bundle

- Diablo Immortal BlizzCon Bundle

- Hearthstone BlizzCon Bundle

- World of Warcraft: Murk'atath Pet

Overwatch: Lich Queen Mei Player Icon and Name Card

Diablo IV: Indigo's Light Trophy and Indigo's Master Trophy

Diablo Immortal: Astral Celebration Portrait Frame

Hearthstone: 5 Standard Card Packs

Celebrate BlizzCon® 2026 with the World of Warcraft BlizzCon Bundle!

DARKNESS DESCENDS UPON DECOR DUELS

Decor Duels will end with the release of the 12.1 patch. With this week's reset Blizzard has made a few additional changes to help players looking to earn rewards.

- Hiders will no longer be automatically revealed when thirty seconds remain in the match.

- Flies have been removed from Hiders who stay in one location for too long.

- The energy increase rate for Seekers has been reduced by 20%.

- Players will earn double the rate of Illusionary Coins

Once the dust settles and Decor Duels is no longer available, players will still be able to purchase Decor items from the vendors in Silvermoon City.

Join the Final Surge for Decor Duels

GM FOUL PLAY?

A redditor on a supposed burner account, called attention to suspicious entry in warcraft logs. Acrobatic_Pianist688 points to the allegedly unsalvageable key, which then had many mobs dying due to GM admin abilities.

Blizzard GM death touching mobs in M+23 for their favorite streamer. LOG linked. : r/wow

https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports/JcfwTd4L19Agx3NX?fight=4&type=resources&hostility=1&source=100.4&eventstart=4705300

Alleged Cheating in +23 Nexus Point Xe'nas Log - Wowhead News

Kaivax responds

This week the gang talks lore clarifications, 12.1 dungeon tuning and they discover the identity of FAZ Dev - or did they?

News

The Truth is out There!

Senior Quest Designer, Keith Riley went to X to clarify some misconceptions about last week’s Lore debate. The cinematic at the heart of the controversy depicts the in-game Haranir perspective. The thread goes on to point out that the visions of the Haranir paints can have gaps, and/or inaccuracies. Keith concludes that a definitive account was not presented.

Links

• https://x.com/Boogily_Woogily/status/2076007096341192929

Season 2 Dungeon Testing Continues

Blizzard has taken a look at the feedback provided over the first 2 weeks of dungeon testing and made many of the adjustments players were asking for including increased difficulty on bosses like Mchimba and The Golden Serpent in Kings Rest. As well they continue to tweak the final boss in Sethraliss to make it more engaging and require a higher level of group coordination. All dungeons are available for mythic+ testing this week.

Links

• Feedback: Midnight Season 2 Dungeon Test July 14th - July 20th

iTunes // Bonus Roll Production Directory Thanks

Special thanks to Rak and all our patrons. FAZ will always be free, but if you enjoy the content we produce, consider pledging to our Patreon at Patreon.com/FAZ

Subscribe to For Azeroth! 

PCGamesN

Lauren Bergin of PCGamesN sat down with Game Director, Ion Hazzikostas to check in on the state of WoW.

• Ion reiterates that the story of modern WoW is broadening what is on offer for different audiences.

• The team was fixing bugs too close to release without reviewing to see if there were knock-on effects of the last minute pokes at the code. Fixing an elevator bug in SoO caused a major issue in housing.

• The Team prioritizes issues based on a number of factors including the severity of the issue, the number of people affected, and balances that against the efforts required to address that issue vs others. They gave an example of “ghost-town” Silvermoon.

• Ion spoke on loud voices in the community not understanding who content is directed to and dismissing the content outright.

• As the team iterates on WoW, they are worried about being too formulaic.

• 12.1 might at first seem like a side story but Ion reassures that it ties into the overarching plot of the World Soul Saga.

Links

• Ion Hazzikostas on Midnight, addons, housing, and the state of World of Warcraft in 2026

Outro

Be part of the conversation and join us on Discord bit.ly/fazdiscord

Thank you so much for supporting the show!

Microsoft cuts 20% of it's workforce harming many of the very employees it had brought under its control. Lex and Manny discuss the immediate fallout and what it could mean for the future of Blizzard and Warcraft.

Lex discovers new abilities due to her upcoming tier set and the fate of Sean's mage alt hangs in the balance.

Aliandras returns to talk about the Lore of Midnight with Manny. How has the story been so far, what is next, and where does it all lead?

12.1 has been announced and Sean is overjoyed. The devs are seemingly answering prayers with the features coming in the Curse of Ula'tek patch!

In this special bonus episode, Sean sits down with Race to World Last Raid Leader, Casey to talk about the challenges of running a late CE guild.

Sean and Manny discuss the launch of patch 12.0.7 Revelations, the impact of a seemingly new mythic loot lockout, and the traders post's role as a solution to the regional mount chase.

Mount collecting has been a passion of many players. Multiowl talks about her journeys in mount hunting along with Manny in the Patron Special.

A Decor Duel Toy unlocks powerful strategies in M+, Curseforge wants to reward new add-ons with cash prizes, and those seeking the challenge of Heroic World Tier content have one less obstacle in their way.

12.0.7 has an official release date. Lex and Sean discuss the staggered release schedule, the latest in add-on power clawing back functionality, and at some point Manny makes an appearance.

Sporefall gear ditches the chaos, Turbulent Timeways gets a truncated timetable, and borrowed power stretches on longer than initially suspected. Lex and Sean talk about how 12.0.7 is shaping on this episode.

Sean and Lex sit down without Manny this week to talk HOF closing, L'ura nerfs. and discuss the recent Customer Service talking points from Twitter. If you're not a fan of mushrooms or foraging, maybe skip the last 8 minutes. Or, if you're looking for a new hobby, dive right in!

There is so much content in Warcraft! Yet some are not satisfied. Is it that our lobster is too buttery, our steak is too juicy, or is there only sizzle in the 12.0.5 meal? A returning Lex_Rants discusses keeping up with the content in the Midnight mid-season patch.

Whether you are pushing towards Keystone Hero, Master, Legend, or Beyond, making that initial push can be daunting. Layria sits down to inform about the obstacles, the resources to overcome, and the mindset needed to succeed in Midnight.

12.0.7 is already up on the PTR. Sean is done with upgrading gear and Manny expresses frustration with the new power system coming with Midnight: Revelations.

Has the World of Warcraft fulfilled the promise as a big tent game that can engage players outside of instanced content? Joce returns to give her perspective of Midnight as a returning player forgoing Keystone Dungeons or Raids.

Sean and Manny discuss content, cadence, and catastrophe. Blizzard apologizes for a rough 12.0.5 launch and looks to improve preemptive bug corrections.

Sean and Lex are loving Decor Duels but much of 12.0.5 and it's disruptive launch has been found wanting.

Latest episode of the For Azeroth! podcast is now out. The development of WoW is providing a wide spread of activities but also adding stretch goals for existing content. Lex, Sean, and Manny discuss flexible-sized mythic raiding, new keystone dungeon rewards, and all the offerings coming in 12.0.5.

The Race to World First concludes. Lex and Sean break down the March through this race, the effect at all levels in raiding and what this means for the upcoming AWC and MDI.

The Race to World First has the conversation focused on hot fixes and balance. As guilds around the globe march on Quel'danas, does uneven progress threaten to overshadow the launch of Midnight?

Sean leads the conversation with Lex and Manny. The trio discuss the joy of the Prey system, the glow up of this expansions delves, and the decreased difficulty of raiding.

Heroic Week for the World of Warcraft. Lex and Manny discuss class balance, exploits, bans, and more as Season 1 of Midnight begins.

There may be issues in Midnight but are we too in to the honeymoon phase to notice? Decor becomes the center of controversy, The Key to the Arcantina teleport proves difficult not to be exploitive, and more news floods in before Season 1 even begins.

Early Access is the new normal for Lex, Sean is casually throwing his life at all the tanks, and the gang is wondering where all the time went as we give our first impressions of Midnight.

Lex, Manny, and a returning Sean discuss upgrade costs, player power in player housing, and the dream of greater character customization.

Lex and Manny swap conspiracy theories about the new animated short Xal'atath: Supremacy, contrast against the first Midnight Trailer, and then discuss the Disney-fication of the World of Warcraft. 

Is this the best or worst prepatch ever? It seems to depend on who you ask. Lex and Sean discuss their takes on the lead up to the next expansion, and then discuss the future of the Warcraft IP as hinted at by Ion Hazzikostaz and Holly Longdale.

Lex and Sean are joined by Manny to cover what is coming for the World of Warcraft in 2026. There are reveals and raids coming between all Blizzcon and all the bosses.

Has Elemental Shaman been turned up to 11 or has the spark faded from the spec in Midnight? Theorycrafter and guidewriter, HawkCorrington explores the shocking truth as we head into Midnight.

Sean and Lex carry on without Manny this week. Lex looks back at Warcraft 1, and the evolution of Warcraft's story telling. The duo gives first impressions of the new reality in the pre-launch patch of Midnight, including transmog trauma, having their UI usurped, and housing endeavors.

Midnight looms on the horizon. Is the future of Mistweavers clear? Manny sits down with guide writer, Swirl in this deep dive into the throughput healer spec.

The gang is feeling the hype after a PC Gamer Housing interview and a new affix for Midnight season 1!

Details concerning the end of the season and data-mined changes paint a more clear picture of the Midnight Pre-patch. We go through the rework of transmog to discuss the pros, the cons, and the new fit.

Wordup lends shares his insights into the state of Enhancement Shaman on the Midnight Beta.

Lex, Sean, and Manny discuss the last Midnight Beta Build of the year, hopes for the 2026, and all the latest Warcraft news.

The spirit of player housing has inspired Lex, Manny, and even Sean to decorate. Midnight Raid testing may have broken the crew; but, dungeons give hope to the improvements through Midnight Beta testing.