How a Season Unfolds
A patch does not open everything at once. This is what is locked, what pays less than it will, and exactly when each of those changes.
A season does not start all at once
A patch does not open everything on day one. Some content arrives a week or two late, and some of what is open pays less than it eventually will — deliberately, so the season has somewhere to go.
Nobody tells you this in game. You find out by running something for a reward that turns out to be capped, which is a wasted evening and an avoidable one.
What opens when
These activities do not run from the first day of the season. This is the date each one opens:
| Opens | What | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 18 August | Mythic+ and Raiding | Mythic+ and The Venomous Abyss open in week 2 (Aug 18) |
| 18 August | Uncapped currency sources | Coffer Keys, Bountiful Delves and Nightmare Prey open in week 2 (Aug 18) |
| 25 August | Bonus rolls | Voidcore bonus rolls open in week 3 (Aug 25) and need at least 3 filled vault panes |
| 29 September | Bonus rolls | Orin Straylight appears beside the Catalyst in Silvermoon in week 8 (Sep 29) and hands out a free Bonus Roll every week |
Ahead of its date the activity simply is not there — no partial version, no reduced reward. Plan around what is open on the day rather than around what you remember from last season.
What pays less than it will
These rewards are held below their eventual ceiling until the date shown. The content runs and is worth doing throughout — it simply does not pay its full amount before then.
| Until | What is held back | Capped at |
|---|---|---|
| 18 August | Pre-season delves cap at Adventurer 3/6 gear and Veteran crests, Bountiful Delves are not yet available, and the Tidebound Grotto Lair runs at World difficulty only | Adventurer 3/6 |
The thing to protect here is anything finite. A limited weekly key or a one-off source spent while its reward is capped cannot be spent again once the cap lifts — so save those, and keep doing the repeatable content in the meantime.
Vault rows that are held back
| Row | Held at | Until |
|---|---|---|
| World | Champion 3/6 | 25 August |
A capped vault slot is still a free item, so fill it anyway. Just do not reorganise a week around a row that cannot yet pay what you are chasing.
How a season generally unfolds
The shape repeats patch to patch, and knowing it is most of the battle:
- Week 1 — the outdoor layer and solo content open first. Gear up on whatever is available; this is
the week catch-up content matters most.
- Weeks 2–3 — group content and the harder currency sources come online. Your first real vault week.
- Mid-season — everything is open, caps have lifted, and the week is decided purely by what is worth
your time.
- Late season — extra content and the ranks above the normal ceiling arrive; catch-up gets faster,
so a character started now moves quicker than one started at launch.
How ResetReady uses this
The planner reads the same dates this page does, and it applies them rather than just reporting them. Activities that have not opened are left out of your week entirely, and rewards that are currently capped are priced at what they actually pay today — not at what the reward table says they will pay later.
That is why a plan in week one looks different from the same character's plan in week four, and why a recommendation can quietly change value without you touching your gear.
All gearing systems