"Fated" raids
The final raid season starts on 3rd August 2022 and, instead of a new raid, it will be a "refresh" of the previous three raids.
On a rotating basis, each of the raids will become "Fated", gaining a Mythic+ type affix to increase difficulty levels and dropping higher level gear as a result. Each raid will be "Fated" for a week, before moving onto the next raid. Any raids that are not "Fated" that week, will remain as they have always been.
When a raid is "Fated", it will be fated for all difficulty levels and should be as follows:
LFR will drop Item Level 265 gear for the majority of the bosses, rising to 272 for the later ones. It appears there is a 240+ ilevel entry.
Normal will drop Item Level 278 gear for the majority of the bosses, rising to 285 for the later ones, with a 265+ ilevel entry requirement.
Heroic will drop Item Level 291 gear for the majority of the bosses, rising to 297 for the later ones, with a 278+ ilevel entry requirement.
Mythic will drop Item Level 304 gear for the majority of the bosses, rising to 311 for the later ones, with a 291+ ilevel entry requirement.
At some point prior to the start of the new expansion, the "rotation" of raids will stop, with all three previous raids remaining "Fated".
The affixes work on a per boss basis, with each boss having one of the affixes applied. The affixes remain static during any one week (the same boss will always have the same affix, during that week, on any difficulty level), however, they change each week. So for example the first boss in Castle Nathria on one week will not necessarily have the same affix in a different week.
Fated Powers
Summons a Chaotic Essence which casts Chaotic Destruction, inflicting 799 Cosmic damage to all players if successful.
Upon interaction, the essence becomes hostile and instead continuously manifests Chaotic Motes. These motes channel 3 Cosmic damage into targeted players every 0.5 sec. for 3 sec. When defeated each mote splits into additional motes.
After 15 sec the Chaotic Essence dissipates, granting all players 2% increased damage done, 2% increased healing done, and 2% absorbs done for 25 sec. This effect stacks for each Chaotic Mote slain.
Note - This affix doesn't seem too difficult and adds a little extra raid damage. Interact with the Essence to make it summon motes, kill the motes to get a bigger damage buff at the end of the effect!
Charges a player, inflicting 3 Cosmic damage every 1 sec. for 30 sec. This effect stacks.
Upon removal this charge jettisons Creation Sparks to nearby locations, infusing players within 0 yards of the impact location, increasing the flow of time by 15%, increasing casting, attack speed, cooldown recharge rate, and periodic tick rates and additionally increasing movement speed by 45% for 20 sec. This effect stacks.
If a Creation Spark impacts the ground with no player present to infuse the Creation Spark explodes, inflicting 10 Cosmic damage every 2 sec for 20 sec. This effect stacks.
Note - This affix seems like it's the most coordination intensive. Random players will be given a Creation Spark debuff which can be dispelled. When dispelled or timed out, multiple soaks will be throw out around the player. Catching it will give you a massive buff! Missing a soak will deal raid wide damage.
Empowers the caster, inflicting 1 Cosmic damage to all players every 3 sec.
Upon removal this barrier manifests as one attackable enemy, casting a shared 400 absorb shield with all other enemies for 15 sec. A second unit manifests that also can be healed to reduce the shared shield.
Upon expiration the barrier explodes, inflicting 50 Cosmic damage and an additional 5 Cosmic damage every 1 sec. to all players for 8 sec.
If broken this effect backfires, inflicting all damage done to each enemy during the barrier as Cosmic damage, and additionally grants all players up to 25% increased damage done, 25% healing done, and 25% increased absorbs done for 40 sec.
Note - This affix seems pretty straightforward: Break the absorb shield by dealing damage to all enemy targets before it expires. Healers can contribute by healing the new NPC!
Manifests an attackable enemy which continuously casts. This enemy remains immune to damage until the first successful cast or interrupt. Successful casts inflict 30 Cosmic damage to all players. Every 5 sec. the emitter gains 0% increased damage done. This effect stacks.
When successfully interrupted the emitter radiates, inflicting 5 Cosmic damage to all players.
Upon defeat this enemy infuses all players with power based on the energy level of the emitter, increasing mastery by up to 10, critical strike chance by up to 10%, versatility by up to 10%, and avoidance by up to 8.
Note - As long as you have a Death Knight, this affix seems easy. interrupt the add once to make it attackable, have your Death Knight grip the add in and kill it, interrupting anymore casts. Players can opt to leave the emitter alive for longer, but it will deal more damage but give you a bigger buff when you do kill it!
World Bosses
In Season 4, when a raid is Fated for that week, its corresponding World Boss will also be Fated:
When Castle Nathria is Fated for the week, the corresponding World Boss available in the 4 Shadowlands zones will become Fated as well: Valinor, Mortanis, Oranomonos the Everbranching or Nurgash Muckformed.
When Sanctum of Domination is Fated for the week, the World Boss Mor'geth in the Maw will become Fated as well.
When Sepulcher of the First Ones is Fated for the week, the World Boss Antros in Zereth Mortis will become Fated as well.
Fated World Bosses will likewise scale higher in difficulty, but will drop ilvl285 loot to compensate.
Fated Raid Vendors
As Fated raids are on a three-week rotation, you might experience increased bad luck when aiming for specific items. To counteract this, Blizzard is experimenting with specific loot vendors, that will sell Trinkets and Weapons purchasable with Puzzling Cartel Dinar. In addition to this, you will be able to upgrade Fated items via Cosmic Creation Impetus and Sacred Creation Impetus. How the system works:
There's a 3-part questline in Shadowlands Season 4.
The questline involves killing a certain amount of bosses. Numbers for the quest are 30, then 15, then 5.
For players joining later into Season 4, the quest requirements will be reduced over time.
The Rewards are a currency in which you can buy the exact piece of Normal raid gear that you want ( Puzzling Cartel Dinar). Each quest awards 1 Dinar, for a total of 3 Diners at the end of the questline.
The vendors sell trinkets and weapons from their respective raids, and are located to the right of the Great Vault in Oribos. All items cost 1 Puzzling Cartel Dinar each.
Once you buy 3 items, the vendors leave. You cannot obtain more than 3 items with the Dinar vendors.
This is to help curb the extreme bad luck that players may experience.
Heroic and Mythic gear updates will drop by combining a certain number of shards (currently 20).
Shards have a 100% drop rate and drops from all Fated raid bosses.
These items work on any Fated item, including those bought off the vendors.
Fated Raid Achievements
As there are no new raids in Season 4 of Shadowlands, there are no new Ahead of the Curve or Cutting Edge achievements. However, there are new achievements for defeating all bosses in Fated raids for each difficulty:
Fate of Nathria: Kill all bosses in Castle Nathria on any difficulty while Nathria is a Fated raid.
Heroic: Fate of Nathria: Kill all bosses in Castle Nathria on Heroic difficulty while Nathria is a Fated raid.
Heroic: Fate of Nathria: Kill all bosses in Castle Nathria on Mythic difficulty while Nathria is a Fated raid.
Fate of Domination: Kill all bosses in Sanctum of Domination on any difficulty while Sanctum is a Fated raid.
Heroic: Fate of Domination: Kill all bosses in Sanctum of Domination on Heroic difficulty while Sanctum is a Fated raid.
Mythic: Fate of Domination: Kill all bosses in Sanctum of Domination on Mythic difficulty while Sanctum is a Fated raid.
Fate of the Sepulcher: Kill all bosses in Sepulcher of the First Ones on any difficulty while Sepulcher is a Fated raid.
Heroic: Fate of the Sepulcher: Kill all bosses in Sepulcher of the First Ones on Heroic difficulty while Sepulcher is a Fated raid.
Mythic: Fate of the Sepulcher: Kill all bosses in Sepulcher of the First Ones on Mythic difficulty while Sepulcher is a Fated raid.
There are also meta achievements for completing all three Shadowlands raids while they're Fated raids:
Fates of the Shadowlands Raids: Complete all three Fated raids in Shadowlands Season 4. Mount Reward: Jigglesworth Sr.
Jigglesworth Sr. is the Gooey Slimesaber mount, one of the mounts that did not win the free mount poll at the beginning of Shadowlands.
Heroic: Fates of the Shadowlands Raids: Complete all three Fated raids on Heroic difficulty in Shadowlands Season 4. Title Reward: %s, Hero of Fate
Mythic: Fates of the Shadowlands Raids: Complete all three Fated raids on Mythic difficulty in Shadowlands Season 4. Reward: Shadowlands Raid Teleports
Completing this achievement grants the teleport spells Path of the Sire, Path of the Tormented Soul and Path of the First Ones.