A common question from anyone joining a Vanilla realm: which raids are open, and when does the next one come? Here is how Stonetavern handles it.
We open content in order, at the community’s pace
Raids open one tier at a time, in the original Vanilla order. A new tier opens when the community has settled into the current one and the realm is ready for the next, not on a fixed calendar date. Every opening is announced on the Changelog and in Discord well in advance. There are no surprise changes and nothing gets rushed out or held back to manufacture urgency.
The order
- Molten Core and Onyxia
- Blackwing Lair
- Zul’Gurub and the Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj (AQ20)
- The Temple of Ahn’Qiraj (AQ40)
- Naxxramas
This is the real Vanilla sequence. Each tier raises the gear ceiling, which is what makes the next one doable, so the order is the point rather than a formality.
Why no hard dates
Fixed dates either rush a community that is not ready or bore one that cleared early. Pacing to where the realm actually is keeps every tier meaningful when it opens. It also means the answer to “when is the next raid” is honestly “when we are ready”, and we would rather tell you that than invent a date we might miss.
Where to watch
- The Changelog on the website for the formal record of what opened and when.
- Discord for the heads-up before each opening and the discussion around it.
If you want to know the current open tier as you read this, check the Changelog. Use this thread to ask about progression in general.