WoW Midnight Patch 12.1.5 is live. If you want the best return on your first few hours, start with Orin Straylight’s Ancient Depths, Ancient Venom quest, unlock the Labyrinth of Kindo’jan, and decide immediately whether you are chasing the first-week Fabled solo achievement. Then grab your easy Kith’ix quest reward and the weekly Aqir Invasion cache. The 3,600 Mythic+ rating grind and 5-million-gold mount can wait.
The patch launched on October 13, 2026 in North America, with the regional rollout continuing on October 14. The first-week Labyrinth title closes at the first regional reset; Ascendant Venomstone drops begin after the following reset, during the week of October 20 (October 21 for the usual EU reset). Those are two different deadlines.
Patch 12.1.5 Priority Checklist: What To Do First
| Priority | What To Do | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – Before other raid kills | Accept Ancient Depths, Ancient Venom from Orin in Silvermoon. | Collect the quest’s three motes now; the Venomstone system becomes available next reset. |
| 2 – First week | Unlock the Labyrinth of Kindo’jan and assess the Tier 11 solo challenge. | The Fabled title is only available before the first weekly reset. |
| 3 – First useful full clear | Save Restored Coffer Keys for rewarding Labyrinth runs at Tier 8 or higher. | A nine-chamber clear opens up to three Bountiful Coffers and Hero-track fragment progress. |
| 4 – Easy catch-up | Finish the Kith’ix story quest and defeat the raid boss on a suitable difficulty. | The quest offers a Hero-track ring or necklace; Story Mode is an option. |
| 5 – Weekly pickup | Do one Aqir Invasion boss kill and use Prey catch-up if needed. | Claim the weekly Champion gear cache and accelerate neglected progression. |
| 6 – Long-term | Push 3,600 Mythic+ rating and save for the Sporebearer Fungal Strider. | Neither goal requires you to abandon the time-sensitive activities above. |
1. Pick Up Orin’s Venomstone Quest Before Running Old Raids
Find Orin Straylight next to the Catalyst in Silvermoon City and accept Ancient Depths, Ancient Venom. It asks for three Primordial Venom Motes from Ancient Foes in the Vaults of Atal’Utek or bosses in the Venomous Abyss raid on Raid Finder difficulty or higher. Pick up the quest before doing that content so you do not waste a potential source of quest progress.
If the quest is missing, check the earlier Voidcore sequence: In the Catalyst’s Shadow from Decimus in Voidstorm, followed by Prismatic Potential from Orin and the research follow-up Umbral Blessings of the Catalyst. The sequence includes timed research, so do not assume every prerequisite can be skipped.
When Can You Actually Farm Ascendant Venomstones?
Not during the initial October 13/14 patch week. Orin’s follow-up, Ascending with Venomstones, opens during the week of October 20. Once you complete it, Blizzard lists four sources:
- Boss kills in Heroic or Mythic raids.
- Mythic+10 dungeons or higher.
- Tier 11 Bountiful Delves.
- Nightmare Prey Hunt Champion gear chests.
Every 10 Ascendant Venomstones can improve one eligible, fully upgraded Season 2 Hero-track or Myth-track weapon, trinket, or necklace; maximum-quality Tidal Crafted items in those slots are also eligible. This is not a general upgrade for every armor slot. The seasonal Crest cap is removed during the same week, so plan which eligible item is worth finishing first rather than spending resources blindly.
2. Unlock The Labyrinth Of Kindo’jan And Check The First-Week Deadline
The new nine-chamber mega-Delve is in southeastern Eversong Woods, north of Amani Pass. You can follow the new campaign toward it or pick up The Labyrinth from Kul’amara the Fierce at Tokka’s Landing. For a map waypoint, use /way #2395 63.0 72.2.
At the entrance, meet Valeera Sanguinar and start Dangers Untold and Hardships Unnumbered. Clear the opening Chamber of Rites, speak with Kinduru, and finish the remaining tutorial chambers. Hand in the quests instead of simply walking away after your first treasure room. Completing the introduction unlocks the full Labyrinth Warband-wide.
The Fabled Kindo’jan Achievement Is The Real First-Week Priority
To unlock the first Kindo’jan boss encounter, you must clear all nine chambers on Tier 8 or above in one run. The Fabled Let Me Solo Him: Kindo’jan achievement then asks you to defeat him solo on Tier 11 during the first week. Its reward is the Fabled Vanquisher of The First Hash’ey title, with the first-week completion recorded.
Deadline: before the first weekly reset after the patch – October 20 for North America or October 21 for the usual European reset. If you do not care about the exclusive title, you can pursue the regular Let Me Solo Him: Kindo’jan Tier 11 solo achievement and its Loa-Blessed Wayfarer mount later in Midnight Season 2. Do not confuse those two reward windows.
One practical detail: after the initial nine-chamber unlock, later Kindo’jan attempts can take a shorter route to his chamber. You still need to reach the door. For a timed solo push, learn the route and unlock the necessary tier before you spend the evening practicing the boss.
Going After Kindo'jan Before The First Reset?
The first-week Fabled title is the urgent target. Choose focused help only if the Tier 11 solo requirements or the Labyrinth unlock are holding you back.
3. Use Your Coffer Keys Where The Labyrinth Pays Off
The Labyrinth is always Bountiful. A full nine-chamber clear awards up to three Bountiful Coffers (each requires its own Restored Coffer Key) plus smaller reward chests. The Tier 8-or-higher reward loop is especially useful for catch-up gearing: Bountiful Coffers can award Champion-track equipment and Heroic Soul Fragments.
- Three Heroic Soul Fragments combine into a random Hero 2/6 item. It is not a guaranteed item in your preferred slot.
- Defeating Kindo’jan unlocks an additional bounty, including another Heroic Soul Fragment.
- Wah’du’s weekly quest in the Chamber of Rites awards one Mythical Soul Fragment for its designated Tier 8+ task. Three fragments can be exchanged for a chosen Myth 1/6 armor, cloak, or jewelry slot. The six-stage quest series yields enough fragments for two Myth-track items; missed weekly stages have catch-up.
- Every three chambers count as one Delve completion for the Great Vault; a full nine-chamber clear plus Kindo’jan can count as four activities.
Keep your keys for the strongest Labyrinth tier you can clear reliably, rather than opening low-tier rewards on autopilot. If your only goal is the first-week Fabled title, prioritize the Tier 11 unlock and boss practice over farming every chest. If your goal is gearing an alt, full Tier 8 clears and the weekly Wah’du quest are the more practical route.
4. Do The Unbinding Of Kith’ix Quest For A Fast Hero-Track Upgrade
Continue The Promise of Tomorrow story to The Unbinding of Kith’ix, the new one-boss raid inside the Vaults of Atal’Utek. Its quest rewards your choice of a Hero 1/6 ring or necklace, even if you are not aiming for a serious raid progression night. The Story Mode encounter is available for the campaign, making it a straightforward way to complete that objective; Raid Finder, Normal, Heroic and Mythic are separate options for boss loot and higher-level progression.
The raid is worth another look if its cantrip-effect weapons, armor, ring or role-specific trinkets suit your character. Heroic drops Hero-track gear; Mythic offers stronger drops and uses flexible raid sizing of 15-25 players. However, it is a single-boss loot table, not a replacement for every existing Season 2 raid or dungeon. Check the boss’s actual items before spending a lockout on a difficulty that offers no meaningful upgrade.
For a fresh alt, take the ring or neck quest reward first. For an established raider, decide whether the boss’s effects or higher-difficulty drops justify the run.
Choose The Progress You Actually Need
A quick Story Mode quest completion and a geared raid clear serve different purposes. Match the run to your loot goals, or keep farming keys at your own pace.
5. Unlock Aqir Invasions, Then Do One Weekly Boss Kill
Start the campaign with The Aqir Swarm from Lor’themar Theron in Silvermoon City and complete the introduction to unlock Aqir Invasions. The active invasion rotates between Eversong Woods and Zul’Aman. Events start on the hour: 10 minutes of objectives, followed by up to five minutes to kill the Aqir Monstrosity.
Your first Monstrosity kill of the week awards an Aqir Research Satchel with a Champion-track gear piece and useful currency. Extra participation is mainly for Aqir Research Enclave reputation, Voidlight Marl, catch-up tokens and cosmetics. The Enclave has its own reputation ladder and rewards such as pets, a toy, housing decor and the Corrupted Swarmer mount.
If you only need gear, do the weekly kill and move on. If you want the collection, stay for repeat invasions and visit Estelia Archtender, the event quartermaster, once you have the required reputation and currency.
6. Use The New Prey Catch-Up If You Fell Behind
Patch 12.1.5 makes early Prey Journey progression faster. Below rank 4, each hunt grants 4,000 Journey progress, a full rank, and does not consume the progress from your first four weekly hunts. At ranks 4 through 9, the first four hunts of the week grant 2,000 progress each. Higher-rank players continue at the regular pace.
That makes Prey a sensible side activity for returning players and undergeared alts, especially if they still need its rewards. Do not mistake the catch-up for an unlimited high-rank farm: the enhanced gains are tied to your current rank and, at the middle ranks, the weekly four-hunt allowance.
7. Start Your 3,600 Mythic+ Push, But Do Not Treat It As A Day-One Deadline
Midnight Keystone Myth: Season 2 now requires 3,600 Mythic+ rating, not the earlier 3,400 target. The achievement awards the Venomous Contender title and a Timelost Saddle that can be exchanged for eligible past Keystone mounts. You have the rest of Season 2 to build the rating.
Once the Venomstone system unlocks during the week of October 20, +10 keys and higher also enter the stone-farming rotation. So the sensible route is to improve gear and dungeon consistency now, then combine rating pushes, crests, Vault progress and Venomstone farming. If you only have a limited evening, a key that improves your score or upgrades is more useful than repeatedly failing one that does neither.
If your next goal is steady dungeon progress, choose a key level you can complete consistently or compare available Midnight Mythic+ run options rather than committing blindly to an end-of-season rating package.
8. Put The 5-Million-Gold Mount On Your Long-Term List
The Sporebearer Fungal Strider is sold by Showena in The Den, Harandar. Its base price is 5,000,000 gold and includes mail and repair utilities. An auctioneer costs another 1,500,000 gold, and a transmogrifier costs 500,000 gold. Buying the complete set therefore costs 7,000,000 gold; only two active utility NPCs can be selected at a time, using Hoshena nearby.
The mount itself is available until the end of the Midnight expansion, whereas Blizzard has said the interchangeable NPC unlocks will remain purchasable after that. Unless you already have the gold, this is a savings goal, not a reason to miss the first-week Labyrinth achievement or weekly gearing rewards.
The Fastest Route For Your Type Of Character
| Your Goal | Best First Session | What Can Wait |
|---|---|---|
| Competitive solo Delver | Orin’s quest, Labyrinth introduction, tier unlock, and Tier 11 Kindo’jan practice before the first reset. | Gold mount, repeat invasions, routine cosmetics. |
| Fresh level-90 alt | Orin prerequisites, Kith’ix Story Mode quest reward, weekly Aqir satchel, Prey catch-up, then Tier 8 Labyrinth gearing. | 3,600 rating and the Tier 11 solo title unless you intend to push immediately. |
| Raid or Mythic+ main | Collect the three venom motes, target useful Kith’ix cantrip loot, get your weekly Vault progress, prepare +10 sources for next reset. | Reputation cosmetics and an unnecessary low-tier key grind. |
Patch 12.1.5 FAQ
What Is The First Thing I Should Do In Patch 12.1.5?
Accept Ancient Depths, Ancient Venom from Orin Straylight before doing the raid or Ancient Foe content that supplies its three quest motes. If you want the time-limited Fabled Kindo’jan title, make the Labyrinth Tier 11 solo challenge your next priority.
Can I Get Ascendant Venomstones Right Now?
Not in the patch’s first week. Complete Orin’s first quest now, then pick up Ascending with Venomstones after the October 20/21 regional reset. Eligible endgame activities begin awarding stones after the unlock.
Do I Need To Finish The Story Before Entering The Labyrinth?
No full campaign clear is required. The campaign leads you toward the entrance, but The Labyrinth quest from Kul’amara the Fierce provides another route. Finish the three-chamber introduction to unlock regular Labyrinth runs for your Warband.
Does The Kindo’jan Mount Disappear After The First Week?
No. The Fabled first-week title has the immediate deadline. The Loa-Blessed Wayfarer mount comes from the regular Tier 11 solo Kindo’jan achievement during Midnight Season 2.
Can I Get The Kith’ix Hero-Track Ring Or Necklace In Story Mode?
Yes. The campaign’s Kith’ix quest can be completed through Story Mode and offers a Hero 1/6 ring or necklace. Higher raid difficulties are for their own gear drops and progression.
