Midnight isn’t even live yet, but Blizzard may have already dropped hints about Patch 12.1’s setting, and it looks like we’re headed deep into troll territory!
History Repeats Itself
During The War Within expansion, Blizzard leaked the Goblin and Ethereal raids through icon names, and the same thing happened right now with the Midnight expansion. There’s a new icon in the game files called INV_Shoulder_Cloth_RaidWarlockUlatek_D_01.blp.
Who or What Is Ula-Tek?
According to Wowpedia, Ula-Tek is a widely worshipped serpent goddess among the forest trolls in Zul’Aman. The icon references a shoulder piece of the Warlock set from an upcoming raid.
Where Are We Headed in Patch 12.1?
There was an island off the coast of Zul’Aman initially called Isle of Fangs that got renamed into Atal’Utek at some point during Midnight Alpha, as spotted by MrGM.
Here’s a better look at the updated map of the Eastern Kingdoms with Atal’Utek visibly marked.
What Does the Zone Look Like?
Obviously, the zone is inaccessible right now on the Alpha, but that didn’t stop players from making a few screenshots of the mist/poison-shrouded Atal’Utek zone before the usual teleport kicked in. Thanks to Steve Troughton-Smith for the screenshots.
It seems we’ll enter the zone through an underground cave.
It appears the zone may even feature an underwater dungeon.
Here’s Steve’s original Reddit post with a full gallery of all the screenshots.
Are you looking forward to a Troll-themed patch?
