WoW: Story Mode Unlocks for The Venomous Abyss Raid on August 25 Reset

Blizzard turned on Story Mode for The Venomous Abyss raid with the week of August 25 reset, giving players who don’t want a full raid group a way to see the cinematic ending of Patch 12.1’s campaign. The unlock arrived alongside Raid Finder Wing 2, covering Entombed Sentinels and Vashnik the Malignant, following the raid’s Normal, Heroic, Mythic and Raid Finder Wing 1 launch the week of August 18.

Some players spent the week between reset dates arguing over whether gating a story-focused difficulty behind a full week of waiting made sense at all:

Story Mode Requires Four Curse of Ula’tek Chapters First

Story Mode isn’t handed out for free. Players need to clear the opening chapters of the Curse of Ula’tek storyline on the Coiled Isle before the raid entrance NPC will offer the easier difficulty. According to a guide from allthings.how, players must complete the first four chapters of the Curse of Ula’tek campaign, pick up the main story quest “The Venomous Abyss” at Tokka’s Landing, then head to the raid entrance once the week of August 25 reset lands.

That gate is deliberate. Story Mode was never part of the raid’s opening week; it arrives on the same reset as Raid Finder Wing 2, one week after Normal, Heroic, Mythic and Wing 1 went live. Regional timing applies too, with North American servers getting the update roughly a day ahead of European realms on the standard weekly maintenance cycle.

Eight Bosses, One Five-Headed Goddess

The Venomous Abyss sits at the centre of Patch 12.1, subtitled Curse of Ula’tek. Blizzard’s own description frames the stakes plainly: within the depths of the Venomous Abyss, Ula’tek stirs once more, awakened by Zul’jan’s actions, an ancient force of hatred, corruption and venom threatening to unleash her brood from the heart of an eight-boss raid dungeon, with players told to gather allies, carve a path through the vaults, and prepare to face Ula’tek in her inner sanctum.

The eight-boss run is split across four Raid Finder wings that trickle out on a weekly cadence. Week of August 18 brought Normal, Heroic and Mythic difficulty plus Raid Finder Wing 1, The Soulcoilers, covering Nek’zali the Soulcoiler and The Twin Fangs; the week of August 25 added Story Mode and Raid Finder Wing 2, The Essence of Venom, covering Entombed Sentinels and Vashnik the Malignant.

Read also: WoW’s Venomous Abyss Race: Early Shift Nears First Mythic Kill on Day 4

Two Wings Still to Come in September

Two Raid Finder wings remain on the schedule. Week of September 1 brings Raid Finder Wing 3, The Serpent Warren, covering The Lost Explorers and Sszorak, while week of September 8 closes out the raid with Raid Finder Wing 4, The Tomb of Ula’tek, covering The Coiled Altar and Ula’tek herself. By early September, every player queueing through the automated system will finally reach the fight that gives the raid its name.

Guilds chasing achievement credit still need to look past Story Mode. Blizzard’s Ahead of the Curve title for Ula’tek requires defeating her in The Venomous Abyss on Heroic difficulty or higher, before the release of the next raid tier. Story Mode exists purely to close out the narrative for players who have no interest in chasing that title, or in queueing through four separate Raid Finder wings just to watch the ending land.

Reported from

• Blizzard Entertainment
• Wowhead
• Icy Veins