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A pirate ship docked in the city of Freehold in WoW Battle for Azeroth
Image via Blizzard Entertainment
Category:
World of Warcraft

WoW Dragonflight Patch 10.2.6 countdown: Exact time and start date

The shrouded-in-secrecy pirate patch is coming very, very soon.
Michael Kelly
  and 
Gökhan Çakır
|

Published: Mar 19, 2024 02:50 pm

Blizzard has announced the release date for World of Warcraft Dragonflight Patch 10.2.6, and players around the world should start getting ready as its launch is imminent. 

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WoW Dragonflight Patch 10.2.6 will go live first in North America, with players getting access to the patch on March 19. European players will be able to play it one day later. There will not be a global release for this patch.

Patch 10.2.6 is the highly anticipated “pirate patch” that was teased originally at the end of last year with the release of the latest edition of WoW‘s roadmap. Today, we learned exactly what’s going to be in the patch, with Blizzard announcing an all-new game mode for WoW called Plunderstorm, a full-blown battle royal game mode that takes place entirely within World of Warcraft.

Here’s everything you need to know about the impending release of WoW Dragonflight Patch 10.2.6, including its exact launch time, as well as what to expect from Plunderstorm. 

When does WoW Dragonflight Patch 10.2.6 go live? Exact worldwide launch dates

WoW Dragonflight patch 10.2.6 patch release information.
This will be one of the final patches we spend in the Dragon Isles. Screenshot by Dot Esports

WoW Dragonflight Patch 10.2.6 is expected to go live on Tuesday, March 19 for North American players and on Wednesday, March 20 for European players. These launch dates correspond with the usual weekly server resets across the two regions.

Blizzard officially announced the maintenance hours for WoW Dragonflight Patch 10.2.6. The developer started preparing the servers for a new patch at 9am CT, and the patch is expected to go live around 5pm CT.

What’s coming in WoW Dragonflight Patch 10.2.6?

Ludwig the Tortollan boss in Freehold WoW Dragonflight
Blizzard has been teasing us with a pirate theme, but is it a ruse? Image via Blizzard Entertainment

This pirate-themed event teased by Blizzard turned out to be a WoW battle royale game mode, Plunderstorm. The limited-time game mode will be filled with cosmetic rewards that players can unlock by getting renown with Keg Leg’s Crew, the event faction.

Plunderstorm is an entirely separate game mode from traditional World of Warcraft as none of the progress you’ve made in the base game will have any effect on the way you play the battle royale. You don’t need to have a max-level character or any of the expansions purchased to play Plunderstorm, just an active WoW subscription.

Keep in mind that Patch 10.2.6 is not the start of the newest season of Dragonflight. Season four is expected to go live in a few weeks, and Plunderstorm is only going to be available to play for a little over a month, considering it’s a limited-time event.

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Author
Image of Michael Kelly
Michael Kelly
Staff Writer covering World of Warcraft and League of Legends, among others. Mike's been with Dot since 2020, and has been covering esports since 2018.
Author
Image of Gökhan Çakır
Gökhan Çakır
Gökhan is a Staff Writer and Fortnite Lead at Dot Esports. Gökhan graduated as an industrial engineer in 2020 and has since been with Dot Esports. As a natural-born gamer, he honed his skills to a professional level in Dota 2. Upon giving up on the Aegis of Champions in 2019, Gökhan started his writing career, covering all things gaming, while his heart remains a lifetime defender of the Ancients.
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