The War Within Season 1: Mythic+ and Nerub-ar Palace Open

Key Takeaways

The War Within Season 1 opened in North America the week of September 10, 2024 (Patch 11.0.2), unlocking the Mythic+ dungeon pool and, one week later, Mythic Nerub-ar Palace.
The Season 1 rotation ran eight dungeons: four new War Within maps (Ara-Kara, City of Echoes; City of Threads; The Stonevault; The Dawnbreaker) and four returning ones (Mists of Tirna Scithe, The Necrotic Wake, Siege of Boralus, Grim Batol).
Nerub-ar Palace held eight bosses and ended on Queen Ansurek, with the route branching after Rasha'nan between Broodtwister Ovi'nax and Nexus-Princess Ky'veza.
Mythic difficulty, Story Mode, and Raid Finder Wing 2 all opened together the week of September 17, 2024.
Story Mode scaled for 1-5 players with simplified mechanics, letting any player reach the Queen Ansurek finale after clearing the first campaign chapter.
Raid Finder split into three wings, not four: The Skittering Battlements, Secrets of Nerub-ar Palace, and A Queen's Fall.

Here is how that launch week broke down, from the dungeon rotation to the raid roster and the difficulty schedule.

The Season 1 Mythic+ Dungeon Pool

When keys went live, the Season 1 rotation settled on eight dungeons: four fresh from The War Within and four pulled forward from earlier expansions. The four new maps all tied into the Azj-Kahet and Khaz Algar storylines players had just finished in the campaign, which made them feel current rather than recycled.

Dungeon	Setting	Origin
Ara-Kara, City of Echoes	Nerubian hive beneath Azj-Kahet	The War Within
City of Threads	Sureki ascension complex, Azj-Kahet	The War Within
The Stonevault	Void-touched Earthen vault, The Ringing Deeps	The War Within
The Dawnbreaker	Airborne Arathi assault over Hallowfall	The War Within
Mists of Tirna Scithe	Ardenweald	Shadowlands
The Necrotic Wake	Bastion / Maldraxxus border	Shadowlands
Siege of Boralus	Tiragarde Sound	Battle for Azeroth
Grim Batol	Twilight Highlands	Cataclysm

With the rotation set, groups jumped straight into pushing keys. Players who wanted a specific dungeon cleared without the pug lottery could explore our Mythic+ key carries to lock in a run.

Mythic Nerub-ar Palace and Its Eight Bosses

The raid that anchored Season 1 was Nerub-ar Palace, the seat of Queen Ansurek at the heart of Azj-Kahet. It ran eight encounters in a mostly linear order with one split near the end:

Ulgrax the Devourer
The Bloodbound Horror
Sikran, Captain of the Sureki
Rasha'nan
Broodtwister Ovi'nax or Nexus-Princess Ky'veza (branch)
The remaining branch boss
The Silken Court
Queen Ansurek

After Rasha'nan the path forked, so groups could take Broodtwister Ovi'nax or Nexus-Princess Ky'veza in either order before converging on The Silken Court and the Queen Ansurek finale. As Mythic opened, the Race to World First played out over the following days as the top guilds pushed for the first Mythic Ansurek kill. Guilds that wanted a guaranteed clear rather than a Mythic roster of their own could compare our WoW raid carries for the tier.

📌 A common launch-week mistake was reading the roster as fully linear. The fork after Rasha'nan meant two bosses could be tackled in whichever order suited the group's comp, which mattered for Mythic pull planning.

Story Mode and the Three Raid Finder Wings

Nerub-ar Palace also shipped with a Story Mode, a story-focused difficulty scaled for 1-5 players with simplified mechanics. It let any player see the Azj-Kahet finale and defeat Queen Ansurek without assembling a full raid group, and it required clearing the first chapter of the max-level campaign to queue. It did not award standard raid loot; the draw was the conclusion of the story, not the gear.

Raid Finder rolled out across three wings rather than four:

Wing 1, The Skittering Battlements (week of September 10): Ulgrax the Devourer, The Bloodbound Horror, and Sikran, Captain of the Sureki.
Wing 2, Secrets of Nerub-ar Palace (week of September 17): Rasha'nan, Broodtwister Ovi'nax, and Nexus-Princess Ky'veza.
Wing 3, A Queen's Fall (week of September 24): The Silken Court and Queen Ansurek.

The second wing to open was Wing 2, and it arrived the same week as Mythic difficulty and Story Mode, which is what made September 17 the real "everything is now live" moment of the launch.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did The War Within Season 1 open?

Season 1 launched in North America the week of September 10, 2024 with Patch 11.0.2. Mythic+ keystones and the normal and heroic difficulties of Nerub-ar Palace opened first, followed by Mythic difficulty, Story Mode, and Raid Finder Wing 2 the week of September 17.

How many bosses are in Nerub-ar Palace?

Eight: Ulgrax the Devourer, The Bloodbound Horror, Sikran, Captain of the Sureki, Rasha'nan, Broodtwister Ovi'nax, Nexus-Princess Ky'veza, The Silken Court, and Queen Ansurek as the final boss. The route branches after Rasha'nan, so two of those bosses can be cleared in either order.

Which dungeons were in the Season 1 Mythic+ pool?

Four War Within dungeons (Ara-Kara, City of Echoes; City of Threads; The Stonevault; The Dawnbreaker) and four returning dungeons (Mists of Tirna Scithe, The Necrotic Wake, Siege of Boralus, Grim Batol), for eight total in the rotation.

What was Nerub-ar Palace Story Mode?

Story Mode was a low-pressure difficulty scaled for 1-5 players with simplified mechanics. It let any player reach and defeat Queen Ansurek to see the Azj-Kahet finale, required completing the first chapter of the max-level campaign, and did not drop standard raid gear.

How many Raid Finder wings did Nerub-ar Palace have?

Three: The Skittering Battlements, Secrets of Nerub-ar Palace, and A Queen's Fall. They opened on a weekly schedule across September 10, 17, and 24, 2024.

Who is the final boss of Nerub-ar Palace?

Queen Ansurek, the nerubian ruler of Azj-Kahet who allied with Xal'atath. Every difficulty, including Story Mode, ends on her encounter.

Last reviewed 2026-07-20 against Patch 11.0.2 The War Within. Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team.