[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":580},["ShallowReactive",2],{"site-settings":3,"article:\u002Fresources\u002Fguides\u002Fwhitemane-gilneas-firelands-protocol-inferno-guide":16,"article-surround:\u002Fresources\u002Fguides\u002Fwhitemane-gilneas-firelands-protocol-inferno-guide":569},{"id":4,"description":5,"email":6,"extension":7,"footerNote":8,"legalNotice":9,"locale":10,"meta":11,"name":12,"stem":13,"url":14,"__hash__":15},"settings\u002Fsettings.yml","Compare World of Warcraft realms by expansion, region, population and play style.","listings@realmlist.org","yml","An independent realm directory.","Not affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment.","en",{},"RealmList","settings","https:\u002F\u002Frealmlist.org","QXaYspLUSxnrVumL6oFir6PInhNsRw-yJchxEYSe1AU",{"id":17,"title":18,"author":19,"body":20,"category":535,"description":536,"draft":537,"extension":538,"featured":537,"meta":539,"navigation":540,"path":541,"publishedAt":542,"seo":543,"sitemap":544,"sources":547,"stem":560,"tags":561,"updatedAt":567,"__hash__":568},"articles\u002Fresources\u002Fguides\u002Fwhitemane-gilneas-firelands-protocol-inferno-guide.md","Firelands Opens Its Heroic Week on Whitemane's Gilneas — and the Protocol Inferno Dungeons Are Already Live","RealmList Editorial",{"type":21,"value":22,"toc":524},"minimark",[23,40,43,48,156,163,167,178,184,187,191,201,204,297,312,344,355,359,366,381,384,388,399,402,406,473,476,480,518],[24,25,26,27,31,32,35,36,39],"p",{},"While most of the private-server conversation this month has been about Forever's beta and the October launch cluster, ",[28,29,30],"strong",{},"Whitemane's Cataclysm realm has quietly had one of the busiest weeks of any established network",": Firelands Normal opened October 10, ",[28,33,34],{},"Heroic opens Saturday, October 17 at 20:00 server time",", a new heroics difficulty went live midweek, Arena Season 10 began, and anyone who played Gilneas before October 9 can claim a ",[28,37,38],{},"free level 85 boost",".",[24,41,42],{},"Everything below comes from Whitemane's own Gilneas announcements, checked October 15. Nothing here has been play-tested by RealmList, and a private server can change any of it at short notice.",[44,45,47],"h2",{"id":46},"the-week-at-a-glance","The week at a glance",[49,50,51,64],"table",{},[52,53,54],"thead",{},[55,56,57,61],"tr",{},[58,59,60],"th",{},"Date",[58,62,63],{},"What happened",[65,66,67,81,98,112,125,135,148],"tbody",{},[55,68,69,75],{},[70,71,72],"td",{},[28,73,74],{},"October 10, 12:00",[70,76,77,78],{},"Arena Season 9 disabled; ",[28,79,80],{},"Valor reset to 0\u002F1,600 and Conquest to 0\u002F2,000",[55,82,83,88],{},[70,84,85],{},[28,86,87],{},"October 10, 20:00",[70,89,90,93,94,97],{},[28,91,92],{},"Firelands Normal"," opens; ",[28,95,96],{},"Arena Season 10 (Ruthless Gladiator)"," begins; Ruthless vendors available",[55,99,100,105],{},[70,101,102],{},[28,103,104],{},"October 10 onward",[70,106,107,108,111],{},"Free ",[28,109,110],{},"level 85 boost"," claimable from the character select screen",[55,113,114,119],{},[70,115,116],{},[28,117,118],{},"October 12 announced",[70,120,121,124],{},[28,122,123],{},"Elemental Rune Dungeons: Protocol Inferno"," — target date Wednesday, October 14",[55,126,127,132],{},[70,128,129],{},[28,130,131],{},"October 14 onward",[70,133,134],{},"Season 9 (Vicious Gladiator) rewards distributed \"over the next few days\"",[55,136,137,142],{},[70,138,139],{},[28,140,141],{},"October 17, 20:00",[70,143,144,147],{},[28,145,146],{},"Firelands Heroic"," opens",[55,149,150,153],{},[70,151,152],{},"Following days",[70,154,155],{},"Season 9 rewards finish distributing",[24,157,158,159,162],{},"Gilneas itself is Whitemane's Cataclysm Classic realm, and the network's realm list currently shows it at roughly ",[28,160,161],{},"2,500 players online"," alongside Frostmourne's Wrath realm at over 7,000 — so this is a large, active population, not a side project.",[44,164,166],{"id":165},"firelands-in-its-hardest-version","Firelands, in its hardest version",[24,168,169,170,173,174,177],{},"The headline detail is not the date; it is which Firelands Gilneas is running. Whitemane uses the ",[28,171,172],{},"Legacy version"," of the raid, which means ",[28,175,176],{},"Magma Geyser is in the fourth phase of Heroic Ragnaros"," — and the interaction is the one that makes this the hardest published version of the encounter:",[179,180,181],"blockquote",{},[24,182,183],{},"Stacking too many players in a single Breath of Frost triggers Magma Geyser, devastating the raid and destroying the frost patch. Players must split into separate groups to handle the mechanic.",[24,185,186],{},"In practice, this is a positioning contract for the whole raid, not a tank-and-heal problem. If your group's Habit of standing in the frost patch together was learned on a server that removed Magma Geyser, the first Heroic pull on October 17 will teach it again. Expect the classic split: ranged spread across two frost groups with assigned healers, melee rotating through the middle, and a call-out for who owns which half of the platform on each Breath.",[44,188,190],{"id":189},"protocol-inferno-nine-heroics-turned-into-a-gear-farm","Protocol Inferno: nine heroics turned into a gear farm",[24,192,193,194,196,197,200],{},"Alongside the raid, Whitemane announced ",[28,195,123],{}," — a new difficulty layered onto familiar five-player content, with a target date of ",[28,198,199],{},"Wednesday, October 14",". At the time of writing, no follow-up post confirms the activation, so treat that date as the plan and check the realm news before you queue.",[24,202,203],{},"The concept traces back to Cataclysm's own Elemental Rune dungeons — a heroic variant with a damage-and-health aura and a currency that buys raid gear — which is a sensible fit for a realm at this point in its progression. On Gilneas it works like this:",[49,205,206,216],{},[52,207,208],{},[55,209,210,213],{},[58,211,212],{},"Rule",[58,214,215],{},"Detail",[65,217,218,226,237,249,263,271,289],{},[55,219,220,223],{},[70,221,222],{},"Who can run it",[70,224,225],{},"Level 85 characters",[55,227,228,231],{},[70,229,230],{},"Dungeon Finder queue",[70,232,233,234],{},"Requires ",[28,235,236],{},"item level 346",[55,238,239,242],{},[70,240,241],{},"Premade entry",[70,243,244,245,248],{},"Activate the ",[28,246,247],{},"Mysterious Elemental Device"," near a Heroic dungeon entrance, select Protocol Inferno, and have all five players channel the summoned object",[55,250,251,254],{},[70,252,253],{},"The aura",[70,255,256,259,260],{},[28,257,258],{},"Fury of the Firelord"," — enemies gain ",[28,261,262],{},"+100% health and +25% damage",[55,264,265,268],{},[70,266,267],{},"Which dungeons",[70,269,270],{},"Blackrock Caverns, Throne of the Tides, The Stonecore, The Vortex Pinnacle, Grim Batol, Halls of Origination, Lost City of the Tol'vir, The Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep",[55,272,273,276],{},[70,274,275],{},"The currency",[70,277,278,281,282,285,286],{},[28,279,280],{},"Fissure Stone Fragments",", earned individually: ",[28,283,284],{},"2 per boss",", plus ",[28,287,288],{},"5 in total from the final boss if every other boss was defeated",[55,290,291,294],{},[70,292,293],{},"Loot tables",[70,295,296],{},"Bosses keep their regular Heroic loot — raid gear comes from the fragments instead",[24,298,299,300,303,304,307,308,311],{},"The reward vendor is ",[28,301,302],{},"Kyanite Stonetender",", found at the ",[28,305,306],{},"Command Center in Stormwind"," and ",[28,309,310],{},"Grommash Hold in Orgrimmar",":",[313,314,315,325,335],"ul",{},[316,317,318,321,322],"li",{},[28,319,320],{},"Item level 359"," — selected weapons, plus Normal ",[28,323,324],{},"Tier 11 helm and shoulder tokens",[316,326,327,330,331,334],{},[28,328,329],{},"Item level 372"," — selected ",[28,332,333],{},"Heroic Tier 11"," raid equipment",[316,336,337,330,340,343],{},[28,338,339],{},"Item level 379",[28,341,342],{},"Sinestra"," rewards",[24,345,346,347,350,351,354],{},"Two design choices are worth noticing. The fragments are earned ",[28,348,349],{},"per player",", not per group, so a full clear pays every member and there is no loot-council argument over who takes the currency run. And because the reward list is ",[28,352,353],{},"selected"," rather than the full vendor stock, the mode is a targeted fix for specific slots — weapons, tier tokens, the Sinestra items — not a full gearing path.",[44,356,358],{"id":357},"what-it-is-actually-for","What it is actually for",[24,360,361,362,365],{},"Whitemane's own framing is the useful one: Protocol Inferno is a way to ",[28,363,364],{},"gear alternate characters, fill missing equipment slots, and prepare for Firelands through five-player content",". Read as a catch-up ladder, the week's sequence is coherent:",[367,368,369,372,375,378],"ol",{},[316,370,371],{},"Hit 85 — free if you played Gilneas before October 9, otherwise the usual route.",[316,373,374],{},"Run regular Heroics to roughly item level 346.",[316,376,377],{},"Queue into Protocol Inferno, bank Fissure Stone Fragments, and buy the 359 weapon or tier tokens you are missing.",[316,379,380],{},"Walk into Firelands Normal with a full kit instead of a half-empty character sheet.",[24,382,383],{},"For alt-heavy rosters this is the difference between an alt that can raid in two weeks and one that cannot raid at all.",[44,385,387],{"id":386},"dragonwrath-without-the-queue","Dragonwrath, without the queue",[24,389,390,391,394,395,398],{},"The other piece of the Firelands package solves a classic raid-night problem. The ",[28,392,393],{},"Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest"," legendary questline on Gilneas uses ",[28,396,397],{},"individual, parallel collection",": every eligible player collects their own materials at the same time, including players on the same quest stage.",[24,400,401],{},"In the original release, a guild's legendary staff was a scheduling exercise — one player's collection gated by everyone else's. On Gilneas, the whole caster bench can progress simultaneously, which turns what used to be a single-character reward into something closer to a roster-wide project. If you are planning who gets the staff first, the answer on Gilneas is that the question does not apply.",[44,403,405],{"id":404},"pvp-and-currencies-in-one-table","PvP and currencies, in one table",[49,407,408,417],{},[52,409,410],{},[55,411,412,415],{},[58,413,414],{},"Item",[58,416,215],{},[65,418,419,430,440,451,462],{},[55,420,421,424],{},[70,422,423],{},"Valor cap",[70,425,426,429],{},[28,427,428],{},"1,600 per week",", resets weekly, starting from 0 on October 10",[55,431,432,435],{},[70,433,434],{},"Conquest cap",[70,436,437,429],{},[28,438,439],{},"2,000 per week",[55,441,442,445],{},[70,443,444],{},"Arena Season 10",[70,446,447,450],{},[28,448,449],{},"Ruthless Gladiator"," — began October 10 at 20:00 with the Ruthless vendors",[55,452,453,456],{},[70,454,455],{},"Season 9 rewards",[70,457,458,461],{},[28,459,460],{},"Vicious Gladiator"," titles, mounts and gear distributed in the days after October 10",[55,463,464,467],{},[70,465,466],{},"Boost",[70,468,107,469,472],{},[28,470,471],{},"level 85 with starter gear",", claimed from the character select screen, for anyone who played Gilneas before October 9",[24,474,475],{},"The Valor and Conquest reset on October 10 is the one to plan around: it wiped both currencies to zero rather than carrying them over, so any stockpile from the previous season is gone and the weekly caps — which increase over time, following the same system as the previous season — are the pace.",[44,477,479],{"id":478},"before-you-log-in","Before you log in",[313,481,482,488,494,500,506,512],{},[316,483,484,487],{},[28,485,486],{},"Claim the boost first."," It is on the character select screen, it includes starter gear, and it is only for characters who existed before the October 9 post.",[316,489,490,493],{},[28,491,492],{},"Check whether Protocol Inferno actually activated"," on October 14 before you build a gearing plan around it. The announcement gives a target date, not a confirmation.",[316,495,496,499],{},[28,497,498],{},"Book your Firelands Heroic pull for October 17 at 20:00",", and brief the raid on the Magma Geyser split before the pull, not during it.",[316,501,502,505],{},[28,503,504],{},"Spend your first Valor week deliberately"," — with the cap at 1,600 and the reset already past, the first week after October 10 is the cheapest time to close a specific slot gap.",[316,507,508,511],{},[28,509,510],{},"Do not bank Conquest before October 10's reset"," if you are reading this late; it is gone.",[316,513,514,517],{},[28,515,516],{},"Set the Sinestra 379 items as a long-term fragment goal"," rather than an early purchase — they are the top of the vendor's list and the fragments accumulate slowly at 2 per boss.",[519,520,521],"note",{},[24,522,523],{},"This article reflects Whitemane's Gilneas announcements as of October 15, 2026. Protocol Inferno was announced on October 12 with Wednesday, October 14 as a stated target and no confirmation post had appeared at the time of writing; dates, fragment values, item levels and vendor stock are the operator's own and can change at short notice. Realm population figures are Whitemane's own self-reported counters.",{"title":525,"searchDepth":526,"depth":526,"links":527},"",2,[528,529,530,531,532,533,534],{"id":46,"depth":526,"text":47},{"id":165,"depth":526,"text":166},{"id":189,"depth":526,"text":190},{"id":357,"depth":526,"text":358},{"id":386,"depth":526,"text":387},{"id":404,"depth":526,"text":405},{"id":478,"depth":526,"text":479},"guides","Whitemane's Cataclysm realm opened Firelands Normal on October 10 with Heroic following on October 17, a free level 85 boost for returning players, and a new Elemental Rune difficulty that turns nine heroics into a raid-gear farm.",false,"md",{},true,"\u002Fresources\u002Fguides\u002Fwhitemane-gilneas-firelands-protocol-inferno-guide","2026-10-15",{"title":18,"description":536},{"loc":541,"changefreq":545,"priority":546},"weekly",0.6,[548,551,554,557],{"label":549,"url":550},"Whitemane Gilneas — Firelands Launch, Free 85 Boost, and PvP Season 10 (October 9, 2026)","http:\u002F\u002Fgilneas.whitemane.gg\u002Fen\u002Fnews\u002Ffirelands-launch-free-85-boost-and-pv-p-season-10",{"label":552,"url":553},"Whitemane Gilneas — EMERGENCY: Protocol Inferno activation imminent (October 12, 2026)","https:\u002F\u002Fgilneas.whitemane.gg\u002Fen\u002Fnews\u002Femergency-protocol-infermo-activation-imminent",{"label":555,"url":556},"Whitemane — realm list and news index (checked October 15, 2026)","https:\u002F\u002Fwhitemane.gg\u002Fen",{"label":558,"url":559},"Warcraft Tavern — Elemental Rune Dungeons Guide (Protocol Inferno \u002F Protocol Twilight Heroic)","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.warcrafttavern.com\u002Fcataclysm\u002Fguides\u002Felemental-rune-dungeons-guide-protocol-inferno-heroic\u002F","resources\u002Fguides\u002Fwhitemane-gilneas-firelands-protocol-inferno-guide",[562,563,564,565,566],"Private Servers","Whitemane","Cataclysm","Firelands","Guides",null,"2yG4bWlS--_Dr49Hcygidcf-Q4NvjlraqoghtFfabYY",[570,575],{"title":571,"path":572,"stem":573,"description":574,"children":-1},"uWoW's Mists of Pandaria x10 Realm Opens October 16 — Raid Schedule, Staged Content, and What's Still Unannounced","\u002Fresources\u002Fguides\u002Fuwow-mop-x10-launch-guide","resources\u002Fguides\u002Fuwow-mop-x10-launch-guide","The Russian network behind the Legion x100 realm opens a fresh 5.4.8 Pandaria realm with x10 experience tonight: level cap 90, content unlocking in stages, Mogu'shan Vaults five days after launch, and a starter competitive season running until December 2.",{"title":576,"path":577,"stem":578,"description":579,"children":-1},"Lordaeron Opens Rimeheart on October 16: A WotLK Realm Where Every Drop Can Rank Up","\u002Fresources\u002Fguides\u002Flordaeron-rimeheart-launch-guide","resources\u002Fguides\u002Flordaeron-rimeheart-launch-guide","The team behind Lordaeron.eu launches a second Wrath realm on Friday at 17:00 UTC, with five three-month phases, a heroic-mode switch inside four early raids, a new Artifact quality above epic, and Burning Crusade raids returning at level 80.",1793551959957]