The Venomous Abyss Story Mode is now live in World of Warcraft: Midnight. The August 25 weekly reset also opened the raid's second Raid Finder wing, The Essence of Venom. This gives players a new way to follow the raid story and adds two more bosses to the matchmaking version of the Season 2 raid.
Raid Finder Wing 2 contains the Entombed Sentinels and Vashnik the Malignant. Players need a minimum item level of 273 to queue. The raid is located on the Coiled Isle and has eight bosses in total, but Raid Finder continues to unlock in stages rather than opening every encounter at once.
The next Raid Finder wing, The Serpent Warren, is scheduled for the week of September 1. It includes The Lost Explorers and Sszorak. The final wing, The Tomb of Ula'tek, follows during the week of September 8 with The Coiled Altar and Ula'tek.
Blizzard has confirmed the current unlocks, item-level requirement and full schedule. Story Mode is also listed as active, but the announcement does not describe every difference between Story Mode and the regular raid difficulties. Claims about its exact challenge level or rewards beyond Blizzard's published information would therefore be inference.
For players who have avoided organized raiding, this is the best time to continue the Venomous Abyss storyline without waiting for the final Raid Finder wing. Those focused on loot can now add two encounters to their weekly queue. Source: Official World of Warcraft source
Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment.