WoW Patch 12.0.5 Roundup: Voidforge, Decor Duels and Hearthsteel

Patch 12.0.5 Lingering Shadows arrived April 21

Patch 12.0.5 "Lingering Shadows" went live on April 21, 2026, four weeks after Midnight Season 1 raids opened on March 17. The headline addition is The Voidforge, a warband-wide targeted-loot system built alongside the domanaar Decimus at the Howling Ridge in Voidstorm. The Voidforge finally lets endgame players spend currency on the specific raid, Mythic+, or delve drops they want. Two new world activities (Void Assaults and Ritual Sites), a hide-and-seek mode called Decor Duels, and a major Mythic+ rework round out the patch.

Key Takeaways

• The Voidforge uses Nebulous Voidcores (specific gear slots) and Ascendant Voidcores (upgrade fully-upgraded weapons and trinkets to Ascendant Voidforged); both drop from Season 1 raids, Mythic+, Bountiful Delves, and Nightmare Prey Hunts.
• Voidlight Marl is the tradeable resource that feeds Nebulous Voidcore exchanges, earned from world activities and consumed at the Voidforge.
• Void Assaults are rotating large-scale invasions in Eversong Woods and Zul'Aman that escalate into Void Incursion scenarios. Ritual Sites are 1-5 player instances with five challenge tiers (T1-T5), pitting you against naga or Twilight's Blade with Great Vault credit.
• Decor Duels is a 7v7 hide-and-seek mode in Silvermoon City (the PTR launched at 5v5; live shipped at 7v7). Queue from the Group Finder PvP tab.
• Mythic+ adds Lindormi's Glow (optional enemy highlighting), the Keystone Myth achievement at 3,400+ rating, and the seasonal Umbral Champion top-1% title and exclusive mount.
• Evokers gained the Battle Visage ability: the Dracthyr stays in Visage form unless casting a draconic spell.
• The Hearthsteel housing currency (live since Midnight launch in 12.0.1) continues to anchor the decor lane through 12.0.5, alongside the lingering "Zillow for Warcraft" promo.

The rest of this article walks through each of those changes in detail.

The Voidforge: how the targeted-loot loop works

Bonus rolls have not existed in modern WoW for years, but the player frustration they used to soak up (drop a raid boss eight times in a row with no trinket) is back. The Voidforge is Blizzard's answer for Midnight Season 1.

You build the forge alongside Decimus, a domanaar smith at the Howling Ridge in Voidstorm, and progression is warband-wide. Every character you raid or push with feeds the same currency pool. Two Voidcore tiers do the heavy lifting:

1. Nebulous Voidcore: exchange for a specific gear slot from a Season 1 raid boss, a Mythic+ dungeon, a Bountiful Delve, or a Nightmare Prey Hunt you have completed. The "I killed this boss eight times and never got the trinket" problem goes away once you have enough cores banked.
2. Ascendant Voidcore: promotes a fully-upgraded weapon or trinket to Ascendant Voidforged, with a stat bump and unique appearance.

Voidcores are not weekly-capped from a single source. Each pillar (raids, Mythic+, delves, Nightmare Prey) drops them on its own schedule, and the tradeable Voidlight Marl resource fills the gap when activity-specific drops do not line up with the slot you need.

✏️ Tip: Bank Nebulous Voidcores before spending them on a trinket. The Voidspire drops spec-specific trinkets from its final boss; sim each one against your current setup before locking the Voidcore exchange.

If you are chasing a specific Mythic+ piece or a raid trinket without grinding every reset yourself, you can clear all three Season 1 raids with experienced players who target-farm bosses on schedule.

Void Assaults and Ritual Sites: where the new outdoor currency drops

The Voidforge runs on Voidcores (from raids, Mythic+, delves, and Nightmare Prey Hunts) plus the Voidlight Marl filler. Two new outdoor systems in 12.0.5 feed the broader gear economy alongside it:

• Void Assaults rotate weekly through Eversong Woods and Zul'Aman as large-scale invasions. Successful events escalate into Void Incursion scenarios with stronger enemies, longer timers, and bigger payouts.
• Ritual Sites are 1-5 player instances with five challenge tiers. T1 and T2 are open-entry; T3, T4, and T5 require selecting one, two, and four challenges respectively. They scale against naga packs in Eversong Woods and Twilight's Blade cultists in Zul'Aman, count toward the Great Vault, and award the new Field Accolades currency.

The Field Accolades loop is the actual reason to do Void Assaults at all. Maren Silverwing in The Bazaar sells Champion-track gear at 75 Accolades and Hero-track gear at 500 Accolades, which gives alt characters a much faster runway than the previous patch offered.

Decor Duels, Abyss Anglers, and the lighter activities

Not every 12.0.5 addition is endgame loot. The patch shipped two mode-of-the-month activities aimed at the broader player base:

• Decor Duels: a 7v7 hide-and-seek mode in Silvermoon City. The PTR ran 5v5, but Blizzard moved it to 7v7 for the live release. Queue from the Group Finder under the PvP tab. Each match runs two rounds: one team disguises as decor, the other hunts. Rewards include the Magister's Spell Bee mount (purchased with the new Illusionary Coins currency) and a small set of cosmetic toys.
• Abyss Anglers: a repeatable spear-fishing event off Zul'Aman's coast. Talk to Depthdiver Jeju to suit up and dive into a whirlpool zone with harpoons, steam vents, and progression tied to dive depth.

The Battle Visage evoker change also lands in 12.0.5: Dracthyr stay in Visage form by default and only shift back to dragon form when casting a draconic spell. Plenty of visual fidelity for evoker mains who never wanted to spend combat as a giant lizard.

📌 Common mistake: Decor Duels matches reward Illusionary Coins, not standard PvP currency. If you are after the Magister's Spell Bee mount, the only currency source is the mode itself; rated PvP and Honor grinding do not contribute.

Hearthsteel and "Zillow for Warcraft": the housing-decor side

The premium housing currency Hearthsteel has been live since Midnight launch on February 10, 2026 (Patch 12.0.1), but it is the system most often confused with new 12.0.5 additions, so it is worth restating the rules:

• Hearthsteel is purchased with Battle.net Balance (which means WoW Tokens roundtrip: gold to Balance to Hearthsteel for players who never spend real money).
• The currency buys housing decor only: no mounts, transmog, companions, or Trading Post items. The shop UI lists Hearthsteel separately from Balance so the spend stays explicit.
• Existing Battle.net Balance still works for any other in-shop purchase. Hearthsteel is purely the decor lane.

The marketing promo "Zillow for Warcraft" (zillowforwarcraft.com, not the misremembered "Zillow for Azeroth") quietly seeded a free decor item in early March. Click through the Horde/Alliance toggle on the parody site, find Greener's Plant Nursery in the listings, log into Battle.net via the sidebar, and the Simply Adorned Vase and Flowers drops into your housing catalog. Duplicates of the vase appear in Stormwind from Tuuran, in Orgrimmar from Gabbi, and in Silvermoon from Dennia Silvertongue if you missed the original promo window.

Separately, a March 26 hotfix cut Voidlight Marl decor prices substantially across the board. Players who held off on early purchases now get more decor per Marl spent, ahead of the prices stabilising deeper into Season 1.

Mythic+ Season 1 changes and Lindormi's Glow

Three additions worth flagging for Mythic+ pushers in Season 1:

• Lindormi's Glow: an opt-in visual layer that highlights priority enemies in the active pull. Toggle from the Mythic+ UI. Useful for routes with stealth packs or for groups assigning interrupts on the fly.
• Keystone Myth: the new 3,400+ rating achievement. Once earned, exchange the achievement with Lindormi in Silvermoon or The Timeways for the Timelost Saddle mount appearance.
• Umbral Champion: top 1% seasonal achievement awarding a title and exclusive retired mount, only secured if you stay above the regional cut-off through the season's last week.

If you are chasing Keystone Myth and need consistent runs to push rating, you can push your Mythic+ Season 1 rating with key-pushing players who time on schedule.

⚠️ Warning: Lindormi's Glow can be visually busy on lower-end displays. Pair it with NameplateSCT or a similar trimmed UI before raiding with it on; the default settings overlap nameplate bars on pulls with six or more enemies.

Tracking profession knowledge across alts: WeeklyKnowledge

One quality-of-life recommendation for anyone juggling professions on multiple characters: the WeeklyKnowledge CurseForge addon (search the exact name on curseforge.com or in your addon manager) now ships Midnight profession data. The addon shows, per alt, which knowledge points are still farmable this week and where the points are gated (Treatise, treasures, faction renown, weekly drops, hidden masters).

WeeklyKnowledge is not a Blizzard tool, but it covers the gap left by the in-game Profession Codex, which only tracks the currently logged-in character. For players with three or more crafters across the Warband, the time saved per reset is real.

Season 1 raid and Mythic+ schedule (for context)

The reset cadence that brought 12.0.5 to where it is now:

• March 17, 2026: The Voidspire and The Dreamrift open on Normal, Heroic, and Raid Finder Wing 1. PvP Season 1, Delve Season 1, world bosses, and Nightmare Prey go live.
• March 24, 2026: The Voidspire and The Dreamrift open on Mythic; Mythic+ Season 1 begins; Story Mode unlocks. Race to World First starts the Mythic raid clear.
• March 31, 2026: March on Quel'Danas opens on Normal, Heroic, and Mythic.
• April 7, 2026: March on Quel'Danas Raid Finder and Story Mode wings finalize.
• April 21, 2026: Patch 12.0.5 "Lingering Shadows" goes live, adding the Voidforge, Void Assaults, Ritual Sites, Decor Duels, Abyss Anglers, and the Mythic+ Season 1 changes documented above.

If you are catching up to Season 1 four weeks behind and want a structured path through the new systems, you can cover the 12.0.5 Season 1 launch with bundled raid, Mythic+, and Voidforge progression in a single arrangement.

FAQ

When did Patch 12.0.5 Lingering Shadows go live?

Patch 12.0.5 "Lingering Shadows" released on April 21, 2026, four weeks after Midnight Season 1 raids opened on March 17. It is a content update rather than a major patch, but it added the Voidforge, two world activities (Void Assaults, Ritual Sites), Decor Duels, Abyss Anglers, and the Mythic+ Season 1 ladder changes.

What is the Voidforge and how do Voidcores work?

The Voidforge is the warband-wide targeted-loot system built alongside Decimus at the Howling Ridge in Voidstorm. Nebulous Voidcores are exchanged for specific gear slots from raids, Mythic+, Bountiful Delves, or Nightmare Prey Hunts you have completed. Ascendant Voidcores upgrade a fully-upgraded weapon or trinket to Ascendant Voidforged status with a stat bump and unique appearance.

What is Voidlight Marl used for?

Voidlight Marl is the tradeable resource that fills Nebulous Voidcore exchanges when activity-specific drops do not line up with the slot you need. It also buys housing decor, and a March 26 hotfix substantially reduced decor prices, so existing stockpiles go further.

Is Decor Duels actually 5v5 or 7v7?

Decor Duels is 7v7 on live. The PTR ran 5v5, but Blizzard moved the live release to 7v7. Queue seven-per-side from the Group Finder PvP tab in Silvermoon City. Each match runs two rounds (hide, then seek), and matches reward Illusionary Coins toward the Magister's Spell Bee mount.

Did Hearthsteel launch with Patch 12.0.5?

No. Hearthsteel went live with Patch 12.0.1 on February 10, 2026, the same day Midnight launched. It is the real-money housing-decor currency, purchased with Battle.net Balance, and continues to anchor the decor lane through 12.0.5. The 12.0.5 update did not add Hearthsteel; it added new decor available to spend it on.

Does Hearthsteel replace Battle.net Balance for shop purchases?

No. Hearthsteel only buys housing decor. Battle.net Balance still covers any other in-shop purchase (mounts, pets, transmog, Trading Post items, services). The Hearthsteel UI is explicit about the spend, separated from the Balance display so the cost stays visible.

Where do I get Field Accolades?

Field Accolades are awarded by Void Assaults (in Eversong Woods and Zul'Aman) and Ritual Sites. Maren Silverwing in The Bazaar in Silvermoon spends them: 75 Accolades for a Champion-track piece, 500 for a Hero-track piece. The currency is the actual reason to grind the new world activities long-term, since overland Champion-track gear is unusual this early in an expansion's lifecycle.

What does the Battle Visage evoker change actually do?

Battle Visage keeps your Dracthyr in Visage form by default during combat. The character only shifts to dragon form when casting a draconic spell (the ones that mechanically require it), then drops back to Visage automatically. Evokers who preferred the humanoid silhouette in combat finally get it for free.

Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team. Last reviewed 2026-05-19 against Patch 12.0.5 Lingering Shadows.