Mythic Nerub-Ar Raid Launches In World Of Warcraft Today And The Race To World First Begins

Season 1 of World of Warcraft's The War Within expansion kicked off last week. Most of the top tier guilds used the week to get ready by farming some gear from the heroic version of the Nerub-Ar raid, delves, and mythic dungeons, but today the prep ends and the official race begins.

When maintenance is complete, at approximately 1 PM EST time (UPDATE: Delayed until 3 PM EST), the Race for World First gets underway as guilds all over the globe attempt to be the first to take down the new raid on its Mythic difficulty setting. Usual names like Liquid, Method, and Echo will, of course, be vying for the top spot, but there's always a chance that a lesser-known guild could jump out in front early and hang on for the win. It's always pretty exciting to watch, and I'm curious to see just how long the first raid of the Worldsoul Saga takes to fall.

There's multiple places to watch the race, so I'll give you Wowhead's breakdown to guide you along the way.

If you're more of a casual player, today's update to the MMORPG does have something for you, too. The story mode of the same raid also drops today. This mode allows private groups of 1-5 to enter a slimmed down version of the raid that focuses on delivering the story beats for those that may otherwise not have been able to experience them due to a lack of interest in actually raiding or the lack of a group with which to raid. It's a nice inclusion and one that probably should have been a thing a long time ago.

Don't forget, the first Great Vault offering and the Mythic+ dungeons release today, too. We'll also get the second wing of the LFR mode to the latest raid.