What the 2024 Roadmap Planned—and What Released
This page documents Season of Discovery’s original 2024 release cycle. Blizzard’s December 2023 roadmap showed four upcoming SoD milestones: level 40 in winter, level 50 in spring, level 60 in summer and further endgame content in autumn.
The completed year included five new numbered phases, Phase 2 through Phase 6, after Phase 1’s 2023 launch. The table distinguishes those actual launches from the earlier broad seasonal plan. It is not a forecast for the current game.
The Original Plan Covered Several Classic Games
Blizzard published The Road Ahead on December 19, 2023. The Classic graphic placed SoD beside Wrath Classic, Hardcore and Cataclysm Classic. Features under those other game labels were not all promised for Season of Discovery.
The SoD cards named level bands and content goals, rather than exact release dates for every raid. Reading “summer” as a day-one opening for every level-60 activity would lose that distinction.
Actual Phase Dates and Headline Content
These are the announced launch dates for the original cycle. Later balance changes and current realm rules are separate questions; dates after midnight in a player’s time zone can differ from the announcement’s calendar date.
| Phase | Launch | Level cap | Headline raid/content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1: starting point | Week of November 30, 2023 | 25 | Blackfathom Deeps level-up raid. |
| 2 | February 8, 2024 | 40 | Gnomeregan level-up raid; Blood Moon in Stranglethorn. |
| 3 | April 4, 2024 | 50 | Sunken Temple level-up raid; Nightmare Incursions. |
| 4 | July 11, 2024 | 60 | Level-60 progression. World bosses followed July 18; Molten Core/Onyxia July 25. |
| 5 | September 26, 2024 | 60 | Blackwing Lair and Zul’Gurub; redesigned Tier 2 progression. |
| 6 | November 21, 2024 | 60 | Ahn’Qiraj War Effort. Temple/Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj and Nightmare Grove opened December 6. |
The early level bands are established by Blizzard’s initial announcement, Phase 2 launch and Phase 3 overview. The Phase 5 announcement confirms the September raid opening.
Two Phase Starts Were Not Their Main Raid Openings
Phase 4: leveling to 60 began July 11. Instanced Lord Kazzak and Azuregos arrived July 18, followed by Molten Core and Onyxia’s Lair on July 25. Blizzard’s final Phase 4 schedule gives those separate dates. A July 11 preparation guide was not evidence that Ragnaros was already available.
Phase 6: the War Effort began November 21, after the Scepter of the Shifting Sands questline opened with November 12 regional resets. The official Ahn’Qiraj schedule placed the three raid openings on December 6. Preparation, the world event and raid access were separate milestones.
Use the Right Phase When Comparing Old Guides
A Phase 2 level-40 build, a Phase 3 Incursion route and a Phase 5 raid setup assume different runes, caps and available equipment. Establish which version an old guide describes before carrying its advice into another phase.
The same applies to teaser coverage: a hinted location or an unfinished loot preview is not a confirmed release date. For instance, the summer level-60 milestone was delivered through multiple July openings, while the autumn endgame period extended into the December raids. Use the specific release announcement when deciding which content an archived guide could actually cover.
Historical timeline reviewed October 24, 2026 against contemporary Blizzard announcements. The original roadmap image is a dated planning artifact; the table gives the later announced launches.
