World of Warcraft Reveals Plans for The War Within Alpha Test

World of Warcraft just announced the plans for its public alpha testing period for The War Within, with the first public build going live on April 18. Each week after that, new parts of the next World of Warcraft expansion will be available to test for players lucky enough to receive an invitation.

The War Within, the first expansion of World of Warcraft’s Worldsoul Saga, is getting closer and closer to launch. According to the roadmap World of Warcraft shared for 2024, the alpha test for The War Within was planned to begin before WoW: Dragonflight Season 4 on April 23, so fans have been expecting an announcement for the last few weeks.

Now, the wait for this first glimpse of The War Within is almost over. World of Warcraft just announced the alpha for the new expansion begins its first wave of testing on Thursday, April 18. The lucky players who receive invites to the public alpha will be able to explore the Isle of Dorn – the first of the four zones from The War Within – and experience some of the quests, dungeons, and delves found within. Most of the class specializations will have at least one Hero Talent tree to try out during this wave, with more coming in future tests.

World of Warcraft: The War Within Public Alpha Plans

• Isle of Dorn Quests – Most of the leveling campaign quests, plus many side quests
• Two Dungeons – The Rookery and Cinderbrew Meadery
• Three Delves – Earthcrawl Mines, Fungal Folly, and Kriegval’s Rest
• Profession Updates – Herbalism
• Hero Talents – All classes except Assassination Rogue, Enhancement Shaman, and Brewmaster Monk will have at least one World of Warcraft Hero Talent tree available
• Each week focus tests a new zone, and adds more features.

According to its recent WoWCast episode about the alpha, the World of Warcraft alpha will focus its testing on a different zone each week. After the Isle of Dorn, players will test the Ringing Deeps, Hallowfall, and finally Azj-Kahet, with subsequent weeks jumping around or having multiple zones available until it transitions into the beta, and finally, the full release of World of Warcraft: The War Within. Additional accounts will be added to the alpha each week, giving more fans the chance to check out the new expansion.

Players can request access to The War Within beta on the World of Warcraft website. While this doesn’t guarantee access to the alpha or beta, it can only help one’s chances at being selected for both playtests. While it won’t get them access to the alpha, fans can guarantee themselves a place in beta if they pick up The War Within Epic Edition, so players who want in as soon as it starts might consider buying the premium version of the expansion.

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight was developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the ninth expansion pack for the iconic massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft.

Dragonflight features an overhauled user interface, raises the level cap to 70, and introduces a new race and class. 

Released

November 28, 2022