The War Within Season 1: Heroic Week Returns for Nerub-ar Palace

Key Takeaways

Heroic Week returned for The War Within Season 1, the first time it had run since Dragonflight dropped it.
Production Director Michael Bybee confirmed the return in a pre-launch group interview.
Season 1 opened on September 10, 2024 with Nerub-ar Palace on Normal and Heroic, Mythic 0 dungeons, and Heroic seasonal dungeons.
Mythic Nerub-ar Palace and Mythic+ keystones opened a week later, on September 17, 2024, starting the Race to World First.
The Epic Edition's three-day early access on August 22 let players level to 80 but locked out Mythic 0 and gear sets.
A pre-Mythic window of Mythic 0 dungeons let players gear up before the season's keystones went live.
Heroic Week gave guilds a structured gear-up and class-tuning gap before Mythic Nerub-ar Palace opened.

Before The War Within launched, Blizzard confirmed that Heroic Week would come back for the new expansion's first raid season. It was a small scheduling detail with a big effect on how the opening month played out, and it answered one of the louder complaints from the Dragonflight years. Here is what Heroic Week is, why it left, and how it returned for Nerub-ar Palace.

What Heroic Week Is

Heroic Week is the first week of a raid season, run before Mythic raid difficulty and the full Mythic+ loot pool are available. During that week the group content on offer is Heroic raid and a capped version of Mythic+, so guilds gear up and learn fights without the Mythic tier open yet. When the week ends, Mythic raid and keystone Mythic+ unlock together, and the season shifts into high gear. The point of the gap is a shared on-ramp: everyone gears at a similar pace before the hardest content arrives.

Why It Left in Dragonflight

Dragonflight changed the raid release model so that each new tier opened on Normal, Heroic, and Mythic at the same time. That collapsed the staggered window Heroic Week depended on, so the concept quietly disappeared. The change had upsides, since it removed some arbitrary weekly caps, but it drew steady criticism. Players argued that opening every difficulty at once pressured guilds into grinding Mythic+ for every spare hour of the first week to gear for Mythic bosses, which widened the gap between those who could play all day and those who could not. Many also felt the old staggered week gave Blizzard a cleaner read on class tuning before Mythic locked in.

The Return for The War Within Season 1

The pre-launch interview circuit confirmed Heroic Week was coming back. Production Director Michael Bybee framed the goal plainly: the team wanted the staggered start without letting it hand anyone an edge, "especially in any power race." Nerub-ar Palace, the expansion's first raid, was built around that schedule, with Heroic available at the season's start and Mythic following a week later.

Early Access and Leveling

The War Within's Epic Edition granted a three-day early-access head start: the standard launch was August 26, 2024, and early access opened on August 22. During those days players could run the story and level a character to 80, but they could not enter Mythic 0 dungeons or pick up gear sets. Holding back the gearing systems kept the head start from turning into a power-race advantage.

The Pre-Mythic 0 Window

After early access and before Season 1 went live, players had a window to run Mythic 0 dungeons. That let groups gear up and learn pulls without the pressure of a live keystone ladder, smoothing the jump into the season proper. It is the "pre-Mythic" stretch that the original post mislabelled, and it mattered because it spread out the early gearing instead of cramming it into one frantic week.

The Season 1 Schedule

The dates turned the vague "one week" framing into a concrete two-step open:

September 10, 2024: Season 1 began. Nerub-ar Palace opened on Normal and Heroic, alongside Mythic 0 dungeons, Heroic seasonal dungeons, new world bosses, and PvP Season 1. This was Heroic Week.
September 17, 2024: Mythic Nerub-ar Palace and Mythic+ keystones opened, ending Heroic Week and starting the Race to World First.
September 24, 2024: the final Raid Finder wing opened, completing the rollout.

That cadence is what Heroic Week looked like in practice: a Heroic-only raid week from September 10, then the Mythic floodgates on September 17. Guilds chasing the cutting edge can book a Nerub-ar Palace raid clear rather than wait on a pug.

FAQ

What is Heroic Week in WoW?

Heroic Week is the first week of a raid season, run before Mythic raid difficulty and the full Mythic+ loot pool unlock. Only Heroic raid and a capped Mythic+ are available, giving guilds a shared gear-up window before the hardest content opens.

When did Heroic Week return?

It returned for The War Within Season 1. The season began on September 10, 2024 with Nerub-ar Palace on Normal and Heroic, which was the Heroic Week itself before Mythic opened the following week.

When did Mythic Nerub-ar Palace open?

Mythic Nerub-ar Palace and Mythic+ keystones opened on September 17, 2024, one week after the season started. That date ended Heroic Week and marked the start of the Race to World First.

Who confirmed Heroic Week's return?

Production Director Michael Bybee confirmed it in a pre-launch group interview, saying a major goal was to bring back the staggered start without giving anyone an advantage in a power race.

What could you do during the three-day early access?

Epic Edition owners got early access from August 22, 2024. They could play the story and level a character to 80, but Mythic 0 dungeons and gear sets stayed locked until later to protect the power race.

Why was Heroic Week removed in Dragonflight?

Dragonflight opened each raid tier on Normal, Heroic, and Mythic simultaneously, which removed the staggered window Heroic Week relied on. The War Within Season 1 brought the staggered schedule back.

Last reviewed 2026-06-23 against Patch 11.0.2 The War Within — Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team.