WoW Shadowlands 9.2.5: Release Date, Patch Notes, Cross-Faction Play, & Latest News


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Although World of Warcraft Shadowlands 9.2 was the last major update for the expansion, adding its final raid Sanctum of Domination, Shadowlands 9.2.5 is set to bring some more interesting content as well!

This update is set to be the last hurrah of the expansion before the eventual arrival of WoW Dragonflight. It adds tons of new content including more Renown catch-up mechanics, a new Arena, Shadowlands Season 4, and most notably, cross-faction play.

Without any further introduction, here's everything you need to know about WoW Shadowlands 9.2.5.

UPDATED - WoW Shadowlands 9.2.5 releases in just a few hours!

In just a few short hours, WoW Shadowlands 9.2.5 will be live!

This means that players will be able to try out several new features in-game such as Cross-Faction Instances, the new Arena, Enigma Arena, an improved reporting system, and more.

It's set to be the final patch of the expansion so make sure you don't miss out!

For more information on the maintenance schedule for Shadowlands 9.2.5 visit here.

WoW Shadowlands 9.2.5 Release Date Revealed

After months of waiting, Blizzard has finally revealed the WoW Shadowlands 9.2.5 release date, which will be Tuesday, May 31, 2022.

After launch day all of the update's content will be available at once, and there's plenty to try out.

This new content includes cross-faction instances, the new arena, new quests for certain races, and more!

READ MORE: WoW Classic TBC Phase 5: Sunwell Plateau Guide, Class Rankings & Latest News

WoW Shadowlands 9.2.5 Patch Notes

Thanks to Blizzard themselves, we know what's in store for WoW Shadowlands 9.2.5

Here are the official patch notes.

Achievements

  • All Covenant Sanctum feature achievements are now visible and count towards your character's total achievement points, regardless of which covenant your character currently belongs to. Nonetheless, all characters must belong to a Covenant to earn that Covenant’s specific achievements.
  • Tower Ranger criteria now requires The Jailer's Gauntlet: Layer 4 (was Layer 8).
  • The Dancing Machine achievement text now specifies that the reward is a toy.
  • Anima Cannisters required for Kaal-ed Shot now respawn after General Kaal resets and the Slammed! debuff is no longer removed by immunity effects.
  • Fixed an issue that was causing The Enlightened faction to not count towards the Exalted Reputations achievements.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Azeroth at War achievements to not be obtainable by players.

Characters

  • Removed the experience point reduction that is applied to level 51–60 characters while in Party Sync.

Cross-Faction Instances

  • Players are now able to directly invite members of the opposite faction to a party if you have a BattleTag or Real ID friendship, or if you are members of a cross-faction WoW Community.
  • Premade Groups in the Group Finder listings for Mythic dungeons, raids, or rated arena/RBGs are now open to applicants of both factions, though the group leader may choose to restrict the listing to same-faction applicants if they so choose.
WoW Shadowlands 9.2.5: Release Date, Patch Notes, Cross-Faction Play, Latest News - Cross-Faction play
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Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
CHANGING: Although bitter rivals, Horde and Alliance will be able to team up with cross-faction play
  • WoW Communities now have the option to be cross-faction, while Guilds will remain single-faction.
  • Random matchmade activities like Heroic dungeons, Skirmishes, or Random Battlegrounds will all remain same-faction.
  • The following instances are not cross-faction:
    • Trial of the Champion
    • Trial of the Crusader
    • Vault of Archavon
    • Icecrown Citadel
    • Baradin Hold
    • Siege of Boralus
    • Battle of Dazar’alor
    • Darkmaul Citadel (Exile’s Reach dungeon)

Dungeons and Raids

  • Sepulcher of the First Ones
    • Cross-Realm raiding is now available on Mythic difficulty.
  • Mythic+
    • With Cross-Faction Instances becoming available, the Cryptic Hero: Shadowlands Season 3 achievement now requires a Mythic+ Rating in the top 0.1% of all players in your region.

Items and Rewards

  • Broker Mark of Distinction now increases the Renown of your currently active Covenant to 60 (was 40).
  • Renown catch-up is accelerated through Renown 60 (was 48).
  • These activities will now have a 100% chance to reward 1 Renown upon completion:
    • Mythic and Mythic+ dungeons
    • Torghast Layers 9-16
    • Defeating a Shadowlands raid boss encounter
    • Winning a Rated Battleground
  • Reward boxes from Callings now contain twice as many Grateful Offerings, still scaling with your covenant sanctum's Anima Conductor level.
  • The Zereth Mortis weekly quest "Patterns Within Patterns" now awards Grateful Offerings.
  • Fixed an issue that sometimes caused Blizzard Shop transmog cosmetics to temporarily disappear from your collection.
  • Fixed an issue where Jingles battle pet would display as "Unknown" when summoned and its wreath and candy cane accessories were the incorrect size in the Pet Journal

READ MORE: WoW Shadowlands 9.2 World First Race: Mythic Sepulcher of the First Ones awaits

Player versus Player (PVP)

  • New Arena: Enigma Arena
    • The mysterious Enigma Arena from Zereth Mortis was created by the Progenitors and serves as an ever-changing battlefield. A switch located at the center of the Arena can be used to create cover for yourself and your allies—or deny it from your opponents. Clever strategists will control and dictate the flow of battle; those who cannot adapt will surely be defeated.
WoW Shadowlands 9.2.5: Release Date, Patch Notes, Cross-Faction Play, Latest News - Enigma Arena
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Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
NEW TAKE: The new Enigma Arena will be a take on the popular PvP mode's maps
  • Solo Shuffle Brawl
    • The minimum item level requirement to queue has been raised to 252 (was 239).
    • Fixed an issue that caused some abilities to not be removed from players in between rounds.
    • Fixed an issue that caused a round to not reset properly if a player on each side of the brawl died at the same time.
  • PvP Talents
    • In 9.2.5 we’re planning adjustments to a few PvP talents for specs that could benefit from mechanical changes, beyond the scope of our standard balancing (which will continue separately, as needed). Since these will be limited and the changes are aimed at addressing specific concerns, feedback on your experiences with these classes and effects during 9.2.5 will be valuable for informing future development.
  • Warlock
    • Demonic Embrace now increases your Stamina by 20% (was 10%) in PvP Combat.
    • Demon Armor (PvP Talent) has been removed.
    • Affliction
      • New PvP Talent: Shadowfall – Gain the Nightfall talent with 100% increased chance to cause your next Shadow Bolt to be instant. If you already have this talent, you may select another in the same row.

Professions

  • Increased the experience points earned when crafting Specialized Armor and Jewelry for creating Runecarving items by 400%.

Quests

  • Blood Elves can start a quest to earn a new mount, weapon appearance, and the Blood Knight armor set for Blood Elf Paladins by speaking to Liadrin in Oribos. Requirements: Level 60 and Exalted with Silvermoon.
  • Dark Iron Dwarves can start a quest to earn a new mount and weapon appearances by speaking to Anvil-Thane Thurgaden in Shadowforge City, Blackrock Depths (accessed via Mole Machine). Requirements: Level 50.

Torghast, Tower of the Damned

  • All wings are now open (was 2 wings available per week).
  • Layers 1–8 are now unlocked by default.
  • Layers 9–12 now unlock after completing Layer 8.
  • Layers 13–16 now unlock after completing the previous Layer.

User Interface and Accessibility

  • All search filter dropdowns now have a button that lets you easily remove all active filters.
  • The default hand cursor now has new, higher resolution art for its larger sizes under Interface Options → Accessibility.
  • The Report Player pane has been redesigned, with new categories added.

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