This delay gives time for the Race to World First and other high speed guilds to progress through the zone naturally, before kicking in at the presumed halfway point between Patch 12.1 and 12.1.5. Assuming it follows the same pattern as Season 1, the Fury of the Dead quest should grant the initial buff, most likely starting at just +1%, with the Fury of the Dead buff automatically increasing by an additional 1% each week, up to +15% total.
28 days from now would give us a start date of September 15th.
Although lacking specifics at the time, the developers also mentioned during a group interview with Wowhead, Icy-Veins, and Raider.IO.
Group Interview
Icy-Veins: So many raids in the past ended up having perpetual nerfs due to either an increasing power gain for players or a renown track that kind of just reduced health and damage of the bosses. Will there be a passive nerf system like that in the Venomous Abyss? And how do you decide as a team in general whether a numerical nerf to a boss will suffice to just make it more accessible to more players over time versus needing mechanical changes like, for example, the glaives on L’ura who got… both reduced in count and I think in the travel speed.
Taylor Sanders: Yeah, this is a really interesting question. So first of all, to answer your question about what system will be coming in Season 2 of Midnight, there will be a similar system to what exists in Voidspire, Dreamrift, and March on Quel’Danas. that will slowly nerf the raid over time. Or rather, buff players, I should say, more specifically. So that every week, you feel like you have a leg up from the week before, so to speak.
