Season 2 is live: what changed on 18 August
Midnight S2 opened on the week of 18 August 2026 in NA and 19 August on EU. That is 1 week after Patch 12.1 Curse of Ula'tek went live on 11 August. Season 1 closed at that 11 August maintenance. Rated PvP Season 1 had already ended the night before.
The Season 2 Mythic+ track is the live ladder now. A timed +10 still unlocks the
dungeon portal for that instance. End-of-dungeon item level and the Great Vault both jump at +10. The 1st full Season 2 Great Vault paid out at the 25 August reset. About 5 weeks of keys have already run on this pool.
Blizzard printed the Season 2 title track on the same announcement. 1500 rating awards the title the Venomous. 2000 awards Breath of Blight and is the Keystone Master line. 3000 awards Breath of Ruin and is the Keystone Legend line. The Keystone Myth title on this season is the Venomous Contender. Percentile titles Venomous Champion and Venomous Hero sit above the score track.
Blizzard has shown a Season 3 dungeon pool and named Eclipse as the last major Midnight update. Blizzard has not printed a Season 3 calendar day. Treat Season 2 as the live season until that day exists. Portals, Keystone Master, Keystone Hero, Keystone Legend, and Keystone Myth stay on this ladder until then. Full Season 2
raid and delve notes live on the Midnight Season 2 guide.
What this season kept from Season 1: the +2 to +12 affix ladder, Lindormi's Guidance on low keys, and a weekly Bargain at +5. What this season replaced: the 8-dungeon pool, the crest names, and the item-level numbers on every key. Dawncrests are gone. Mistcrests sit on the Season 2 upgrade track. A timed +10 is still the gear cap for the weekly vault. Keys above +10 raise rating, crests, and portals.
The Season 2 dungeon pool: 8 keys, 5 of them new to the ladder
The live pool is 8
dungeons.
Altar of Fangs is brand new this season.
Murder Row,
Den of Nalorakk,
Blinding Vale, and
Voidscar Arena are Midnight instances that sat out Season 1.
King's Rest and
Temple of Sethraliss return from Battle for Azeroth.
Ruby Life Pools returns from Dragonflight. Timers below are the Season 2 keystone clocks.
| Dungeon | Origin | Timer | Why groups pick it |
|---|---|---|---|
| new, 12.1 | 30:00 | 3-boss route. Shortest new-instance timer. Most groups learn this key on night 1. | |
| S2 debut | 34:00 | Longest clock in the pool. Pack density punishes sloppy pulls more than the timer does. | |
| S2 debut | 32:00 | Amu'dar / troll dungeon. Boss scripts are the week-1 wipe source. Trash is the easier half. | |
| S2 debut | 31:00 | Light-and-bloom route. Line and cone tells are the new visual set Blizzard shipped for S2. | |
| S2 debut | 30:00 | Arena layout. Tight rooms. Interrupt order decides whether a +10 stays inside the clock. | |
| BFA 8.x | 33:00 | Legacy return. Most players have a route in muscle memory. Still a 4-boss dungeon. | |
| BFA 8.x | 33:00 | Legacy return. The gauntlet and last boss still eat unprepared healers. | |
| DF 10.x | 28:00 | Shortest timer in the pool. Fastest weekly +10 once the group knows the 2-wing split. |
Altar of Fangs,
Murder Row,
Den of Nalorakk,
Blinding Vale, and
Voidscar Arena had no live keystone weeks before 18 August. That is why the pool still feels new at week 5.
King's Rest,
Temple of Sethraliss, and
Ruby Life Pools are the 3 keys a returning player can time on night 1. Use those 3 to fill the weekly vault while the group learns the 5 new routes.
Blizzard's Season 2 notes also changed how the dungeons play. Cone and line abilities now show the same precast look as the swirlies from The War Within. Creature health is higher, so target priority and damage checks matter more than they did in Season 1. Roleplay events were shortened. Enemy-forces contribution now sits on each mob tooltip. Read the tooltip before you skip a pack you think is optional.
A timed +10 on each of the 8 dungeons unlocks that dungeon's portal. Old-expansion portals you already earned stay on the character. The 5 new portals are the ones most players are still missing at week 5. Book the missing +10s before you spend the week on rating keys above the item-level cap.
Ask LFCarry for a key plan →A timed +10 for the 318 vault slot, +9s for cheap Myth crests, or a rating plan toward Keystone Master? Tell LFCarry your ilvl and score. We map the cheapest path for this affix week in about 30 seconds.
Keystone levels, loot, and the Great Vault
Season 2 item level sits about 46 levels above the Season 1 track. The end chest and the Great Vault both scale with key level through +10. From +10 upward the chest stays 311 Hero 3/6 and the vault stays 318 Myth 1/6. Keys above +10 still pay Myth crests and rating. Item level does not climb again.
| Key | End chest | Crest | Great Vault |
|---|---|---|---|
| +2 / +3 | 295 Champion 2/6 | Champ. crest | 305 Hero 1/6 |
| +4 | 298 Champion 3/6 | Hero crest | 308 Hero 2/6 |
| +5 | 302 Champion 4/6 | Hero crest | 308 Hero 2/6 |
| +6 / +7 | 305 Hero 1/6 | Hero crest | 311 / 315 Hero |
| +8 / +9 | 308 Hero 2/6 | Hero, then Myth at +9 | 315 Hero 4/6 |
| +10 / +11 / +12+ | 311 Hero 3/6 | Myth crest | 318 Myth 1/6 |
The +9 row is the cheapest Myth-crest farm. The chest and vault on a +9 still pay Hero-track gear. A timed +10 is the 1st key that puts Myth 1/6 in the weekly vault. Most vault
hunters stop the gearing keys there and spend leftover nights on rating.
+6 is the 1st key that puts Hero-track gear in the end chest. Push to +6 in week 1 if your ilvl is still Champion-track. Then hold +10 as the weekly vault key for the rest of the season. Crest upgrades from Champion to Hero to Myth use the Mistcrest currencies on this table. Crest counts per key have not been printed as a public number. Plan around the track. A crest-per-run count is a guess.
The Great Vault still asks for 1, 4, and 8 timed keys in the week. 1 timed +10 already unlocks the Myth slot. 4 and 8 timed keys add choices. They do not raise the item-level cap above 318. If you only have 2 nights, spend both on timed +10s you can finish. A depleted +12 that misses the clock still drops the end chest. It does not score as a timed key for rating.
Season 2 keys on the live ladder
Timed +10 for the 318 Myth vault. Keystone Master at 2000. Same packages as the Midnight Mythic+ builder.
Vault +10Mythic +10 Timed
Timed +10. 311 chest, 318 Myth vault slot, portal on that dungeon.
Timed +10
Great Vault
2000+Keystone Master
Keystone Master at 2000 rating. Breath of Blight on the Season 2 track.
2000+ rating
Mount & title
3000+Keystone Legend
Keystone Legend at 3000 rating. Breath of Ruin.
3000+ rating
Mounts & teleports
Custom keysWoW Midnight Mythic+ Boost: Season 2 keys from +2 to +12
Season 2 keys from +2 to +12 on the same mega ladder. Opens at $29.96.
The affix ladder: +2 through +12
Affixes still stack by key level. The names are the same ladder Season 1 used. The weekly Bargain rotation is what changes each reset.
| Key | What turns on |
|---|---|
| +2 to +5 | Lindormi's Guidance. Highlighted, weakened trash. Deaths do not cut the timer. |
| +5 | Xal'atath's Bargain joins. 1 of 4 weekly variants: Ascendant, Voidbound, Pulsar, Devour. |
| +6 | Lindormi's Guidance drops. Trash is full health and full damage. Tanks can still ask Lindormi for Glow, which highlights packs and does not weaken them. |
| +7 | Fortified or Tyrannical, 1 per week, rotating. |
| +10 | Fortified and Tyrannical both on. |
| +12+ | Bargain is replaced by Xal'atath's Guile. Each death cuts 15 seconds until the last minute. |
Lindormi stands near The Timeways portal in Silvermoon City and at the end of a key. Speak to her after +6 if your tank still wants pack highlights. The Group Finder Mythic+ tab shows which of Fortified or Tyrannical is up this week.
Ascendant spawns orbs that you interrupt for Haste and speed. Missed orbs buff the pack. Voidbound spawns a shielded emissary. Break the shield for Versatility and cooldown rate. Pulsar tethers orbs to every player for 15 seconds. Walk into a teammate's orb for Mastery and Leech. Devour is the 4th Bargain. Soak or dispel the devour pools so the pack does not get the damage buff. All 4 Bargains last 30 seconds on a success and 20 seconds on a fail for the enemy buff.
A +12 is also the floor for Resilient Keystones. Time every
dungeon in the pool at +12 or higher and that keystone will not drop below 12 on a deplete. There is a matching achievement at every level above 12. You can still lower a key by talking to Lindormi. Push past +12 for rating and resilient floors. The gear track has already capped.
Mythic+ rating: Season 2 milestones
Rating reset to 0 when Season 2 opened. Each timed key writes a score for that
dungeon and affix pair. Your season rating is the sum of those best scores across the 8-dungeon pool. A higher key on the same dungeon replaces the old score. A deplete does not.
| Rating | What it unlocks |
|---|---|
| 1500 | Title: the Venomous. The 1st public Season 2 title most players hit. |
| 2000 | Breath of Blight. Keystone Master. This is the line most weekly players buy a program for. |
| 2500 | 2500 rating. The step between Master and Legend. |
| 3000 | 3000 rating. Keystone Legend. Mount-track prestige for the season. |
| ~3400 | Keystone Myth score band. Title: the Venomous Contender. |
Dungeon portals unlock per dungeon at a timed +10. Rating plays no part in that unlock. A 2000-rating character can still be missing 2 portals. Finish the missing +10s. Then spend nights on the dungeons that still have a low score.
Venomous Champion and Venomous Hero are percentile titles. They sit on the live ladder above the score titles. They move as the region cutoff moves. Do not treat a screenshot from August as the September cutoff. Ask in chat for the live cutoff if that title is the buy.
A clean Keystone Master plan on this pool is 8 timed keys around +10. That is 1 timed +10 per dungeon, plus a few repeats on the keys you already route. Keystone Legend wants the same pool at a higher key. Keystone Myth is a score push, often into the +14 / +15 band, and is sold as its own package.
Open the Mythic+ builder →Portals, weekly +10 vault fills and Keystone Master programs. From $29.96 per timed +10. Run by vetted PROs, self-play or piloted.
How to pick keys at week 5
The season is about 5 weeks old. Soft-timer week is over. Groups know
Altar of Fangs and
Ruby Life Pools.
Murder Row and
Temple of Sethraliss still eat pugs on Tyrannical weeks. Pick the key you can time, then pick the key that fills a hole in your score.
Vault night: time a +10. Any
dungeon you can finish inside the clock. Crest night: time +9s if you still need Myth Mistcrests and your group is not ready for both Fortified and Tyrannical. Portal night: the 5 new dungeons, 1 timed +10 each. Rating night: repeat the dungeon whose current score is your lowest. Raise that key 1 or 2 levels.
Skip Bargain entirely by running +12. Guile's 15s death penalty is the trade. If your group dies more than twice, a +10 with Bargain is the cheaper vault key. If your group never dies, +12 is the cleaner night and starts the resilient floor.
Spec meta on a 5-week-old pool is a starting prior. Retunes and the 5 new instances have already moved it. Read the live Midnight tier list for the current S / A / B rows. Bring the spec you play well on this week's Bargain. A mid-row Augmentation Evoker who knows
Murder Row will time a +10 faster than an S-row pickup who does not.
Tanks who still want pack highlights after +6 should take Lindormi's Glow. Healers should expect higher creature health than Season 1. DPS should kick the Bargain orbs and the emissary shield before the next pack pull. That is the week-5 habit that separates timed +10s from depleted +10s.
What a Mythic+ carry costs on the live menu
Live LFCarry from-prices, read from the Midnight Mythic+ mega packages on 20 September 2026. These are the numbers checkout charges on the default configuration today.
| Service | Live from-price | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Timed +10 | $29.96 | 318 Myth vault slot, 311 chest, portal on that |
| Timed +12 | $33.96 | Same gear cap. Guile instead of Bargain. Resilient floor starts here |
| Timed +14 / +15 | $59.96 / $75.96 | Rating keys above the item-level cap |
| Keystone Master (~2000) | $199 | Breath of Blight. The usual season program |
| Keystone Hero | $240 | 2500-rating step |
| Keystone Legend (3000+) | $399 | Breath of Ruin |
| Keystone Myth (~3400) | $429 | the Venomous Contender score band |
Self-play puts you in the group. A PRO team plays around you. Zero account sharing. Piloted puts a vetted PRO on your character. The session is streamed start to finish. Rating, loot, crests, and portals stay on your character either way. Pick self-play when you want the route. Pick piloted when you want the weekly lock done on a night you cannot sit.
The old $7.49 +10 and $69 Keystone Master rows are gone. Do not use a July or mid-August quote. Open the Mythic+ builder and read the live package price. Custom key bundles and the catalog row WoW Midnight Mythic+ Boost: Season 2 keys from +2 to +12 sit on the same ladder. End-of-season spikes are normal. Book the season track while Season 2 is the live ladder.
From the source
Official“Season 2 live week of 18 August 2026. Pool: Altar of Fangs, Murder Row, Den of Nalorakk, Blinding Vale, Voidscar Arena, Ruby Life Pools, King's Rest, Temple of Sethraliss. Titles: 1500 the Venomous, 2000 Breath of Blight, 3000 Breath of Ruin, Keystone Myth the Venomous Contender. Portals at timed +10.”
“Season 2 timers, affix ladder +2 to +12, loot table 295 to 318, Bargain variants, Resilient Keystones from +12.”
“Loot rows agree with the +2 to +12 chest and vault table. Portals at timed +10.”
FAQ
Plan my Season 2 push in chat →Tell LFCarry your rating, ilvl and goals. We know this page, the Season 2 ladder and current from-prices, and scope the cheapest route to your vault, portals or Keystone Master in seconds.
- Season treated as 5 weeks live. $7.49 +10 / $69 Keystone Master rows replaced by live mega packages ($29.96 +10, $199 Keystone Master, $240 Hero, $399 Legend, $429 Myth). Added the Venomous Contender Keystone Myth title. Dropped the 3-days-in meta section.
