World of Warcraft unlocks

Do these first — they gate this patch's progression and power systems.

• Unlock the Omnium Folio

  Find the Magister's Missive in Silvermoon (~/way 48.3 49.6) → 'The Magisters' Call' → complete the Sunstrider Omnium questline → 'The Omnium Reawakens'. Begins the 5-week Folio upgrade sequence

  Reward Omnium Folio (permanent rune power)
• Unlock the active Showdown destination

  Riftblade Maella in Silvermoon (~/way 47.6 51.0) → 'The Time to Strike' → 'Veterans of the Great Dark' + 'Stalkers of the Stars' → open the Greater Void Portal in Voidstorm → establish the zone's Umbral Base Camp

  Reward Access to the active Showdown zone
• Unlock the second Showdown zone

  Val and Naigtal rotate weekly; complete the second zone's intro when it's available. Completing a zone enables a Warband skip for that zone

  Reward Access to both Showdown zones
• Unlock Heroic World Tier

  Defeat a Showdown world boss on Normal → complete the 'Heroic Tendencies' achievement. Heroic then applies to both zones

  Reward Heroic World Tier (higher difficulty + loot)
• Unlock Rank 6 Ritual Sites (if not already progressed)

  Progress the Ritual Sites system to Rank 6

  Reward Myth Dawncrest access

• Complete the Sporefall raid (defeat Rotmire)

  Single-boss raid in Harandar; clear at least once on your chosen difficulty

  Reward Sporefused gear, mount progress, decor
• Complete the Zul'jan Midnight campaign chapter

  Available since July 7; the campaign bridge into Patch 12.1 (Zul'jan + Kinduru, Amani legacy mystery)

  Reward Campaign progress, story rewards
• Complete the Jan'alai egg-hatching story (Zul'Aman)

  'A Fiery Blast from the Past' chain from Loa Speaker Brek in Zul'Aman; short questline

  Reward Emberlyn companion pet
• Complete 'Lorewalking: Loa'

  With Assistant Lorewalker Li Li; covers the Darkspear, Drakkari, Gurubashi and Zandalari

  Reward Lore, achievement

Situational — for collectors and achievement hunters.

• Val & Naigtal exploration + meta-achievements

  Discover rares, treasures, bonus objectives; complete both zones' exploration and meta-achievements

  Reward Achievements, collectibles
• Collect new mounts, pets, transmog & housing decor

  Purchase or earn the new 12.0.7 collectibles

  Reward Mounts, pets, transmog, decor
• Configure expanded UI options

  Review the expanded Personal Resource Display and other 12.0.7 UI settings

  Reward Quality-of-life
• Complete revised Harandar Moth Hunt rewards

  The updated Moth Hunt reward track

  Reward Collectibles, rewards

• Complete the 12.1 campaign and unlock Coiled Isle
• Unlock Vaults of Atal'Utek and the Altar of Corrosion
• Unlock Captain Tokka and Cursed Fishing
• time-gatedSpirit of Tok'jara mount questline

  Unlocks at Zul'jarra's Forces Renown 10. Deliberately time-gated across at least six days, so it is a one-time chain rather than a daily — but it will not finish in one sitting.
• Progress Zul'jarra's Forces Renown 1–20

  The spine of 12.1 progression. Renown 4 and 8 gate the Curse Surge daily rewards, and Renown 10 opens the mount chain.

One-time steps that open on August 18 and gate the rest of the season. The Delve starter keys and the ?? Azta'rec crest rewards in particular are one-time and do not repeat weekly.

• Unlock the Silvermoon to Coiled Isle portal

  Start "Prey: A Slithering Threat" at Astalor's Sanctum. The chain introduces Nightmare Prey and opens a permanent fast-travel link to the Coiled Isle, where Venomous Abyss, the Altar of Fangs, Prey and the rest of the 12.1 content sit. Worth doing even if you never farm Prey

  Reward Permanent fast travel
• one-timeComplete the Season 2 Delve introduction

  Introduces Valeera's three new Season 2 Delve poisons/tools and awards the one-time Delver's Starter Kit — 2 Restored Coffer Keys on top of the 6 you can create from the weekly shard cap. The starter keys do NOT repeat weekly

  Reward 2x Restored Coffer Key, Valeera's Season 2 Delve tools
• uncapped crestsDefeat ?? Azta'rec

  The Season 2 Delve Nemesis, summoned with an item from Prey progression. The higher difficulty awards 30 Hero and 30 Myth Mistcrests as one-time progression, plus another 30 Hero if you never took the lower-difficulty reward — up to 60 Hero and 30 Myth, all OUTSIDE the weekly crest cap. A group kill counts; the solo kill only matters for separate achievements

  Reward Up to 60 Hero + 30 Myth Mistcrests
• Complete the Venomous Abyss campaign quest

  On the Coiled Isle campaign, after the 12.1 story. It asks you to clear the raid and rewards a choice of two Champion-track rings with different secondary combinations. Pick it up BEFORE you enter the raid

  Reward Champion-track ring (choice of two)
• high-endEarn the Serpent Scion Catalyst charge

  An extra Venomblight Manaflux charge from the Season 2 Serpent Scion achievement path — Heroic or Mythic Ula'tek, 2,000 Mythic+ rating, or 1,600 rated PvP rating

  Reward Extra Catalyst charge