WoW Midnight Patch 12.0.5 was released on North American servers on April 21, with European and other servers updating within the same week. This update brings a wealth of new gameplay and system adjustments, including new open-world events and a new gear catch-up mechanic.

The patch provides a further boost to character item level, while also adding a catch-up path for those whose gear has fallen a bit behind. Let's take a closer look at what this update actually brings to the table.

Void Forge

On patch day, before you dive into any other new content, your absolute first step should be completing Void Forge questline located in Voidstorm. This system is designed to raise your item level as swiftly as possible.

Nebulous Voidcores

After finishing Void Forge questline, you will receive Nebulous Voidcores. This is a brand-new version of an extra loot mechanic.

When you complete endgame activities such as Mythic+ dungeons, Bountiful Delves, or Prey Hunts, you may consume one Voidcore to obtain an additional piece of loot from that specific run.

More importantly, each time you use a Voidcore to acquire an item, that item is temporarily removed from the activity's loot pool for that difficulty. Over time, this means the pool gradually shrinks until you are nearly guaranteed to target the exact piece of gear you want.

If you use a Voidcore after finishing a Mythic Keystone +10 dungeon, the reward will scale according to your Great Vault item level, which means you also stand a chance to receive Mythic Track gear from it.

You can trade WoW Midnight gold, sidelight Marl, and Veteran Dawncrests for Nebulous Voidcores, but the number of cores you can obtain and use each week is capped. So do not waste them carelessly.

It is strongly advised not to use them on Hero Track gear; whenever possible, reserve those opportunities for Mythic Track loot.

Ascendant Voidcore

The second part of this system is Ascendant Voidcore, which allows players to upgrade a Hero Track item that has already reached its cap further into Mythic Track. This applies equally to weapons and trinkets, giving top-tier gear even more room to grow.

Gear Acquisition

In Patch 12.0.5, Mythic+ dungeons currently yield significantly more Crests than raids. Players have discovered that even if the sole goal is to farm Crests for upgrading raid gear, the most efficient method is simply to run Mythic+.

Furthermore, Void Forge provides two bonus loot rolls per week; using one in a raid consumes two rolls, whereas using one in a Mythic+ dungeon consumes only a single roll. This means Mythic+ players have three chances each week to obtain Mythic-level items, while Heroic raiders only get two.

Although some best-in-slot trinkets and weapons remain exclusive to raid drops, when it comes to overall character item level progression, players who focus on Mythic+ have a clear advantage.

Disrupt Ritual Sites

First, make sure to pick up the introductory quest for the ritual sites in Silvermoon to kick off the whole process. After that, clear all the side quests along the way; their primary purpose is to help you unlock the various Affixes for Ritual Sites.

When you first enter a Ritual Site location, you will begin with a lower difficulty challenge and no Affixes active. Completing and turning in those basic tasks unlocks Affixes and gradually advances you through the challenge tiers. The entire system rewards Field Accolades. You can use these tokens at the vendor to obtain caches containing Champion or Hero Track gear.

The higher the challenge difficulty and the more Affixes you activate, the more Accolades you will earn from a single run. Therefore, the core strategy is to tackle the highest difficulty you can handle while activating as many Affixes as possible. Additionally, the random transmog caches from the vendor can also grant Tier 2 Recolored appearances.

Void Assaults

Void Assaults are essentially the open-world version of Ritual Sites, offering nearly identical rewards.

Void Assaults spawn smaller events called Void Strikes in specific zones. These events can be completed solo and take about five minutes each.

Once enough Void Strikes have been completed within a zone, a Void Incursion begins. This is a large-scale group event that requires server-wide player coordination to finish. Completing it yields substantially better rewards.

To be honest, if your item level is already above 270 and you possess Heroic or Mythic Track gear, these activities will not contribute much to character power progression. However, they are an excellent option for gearing up alts. Farming them efficiently in a group provides decent experience and, upon reaching max level, lets you quickly exchange accumulated tokens for starter gear, preparing you for raids and Mythic dungeons.

Abyssal Anglers

Abyssal Anglers is a purely recreational activity with no impact on character combat power. It primarily rewards transmog appearances, housing decorations, and a currency used for crafting epic-quality profession tools.

Simply head northeast of Zul'Aman to find the quest NPC and accept the introductory quest to unlock the diving system. The gameplay involves diving underwater and catching as many fish, finding as much treasure, and gathering as many resources as possible before your oxygen runs out. If you complete the associated achievements, you can obtain better diving gear to extend your time underwater, thereby improving your collection efficiency.

Decor Duel

Decor Duel is a 7v7 game of hide-and-seek from which you can earn transmog items, toys, and decorative rewards. While it is a limited-time event, the developers have confirmed that the repeatable decorative rewards will be made available through other means in the future.

Transmogrification

Beyond the new sheathed weapon stance adjustment, the transmog system has introduced more automation and context-sensitive features.

The new outfit command added in Patch 12.0.5 allows players to bind transmog sets to macros, letting you swap entire outfits with a single keypress without opening the interface.

Additionally, transmog sets can now be tied to weather and time conditions. You can configure different appearances to switch automatically between day and night, or even trigger specific cosmetic ensembles when it begins to rain or snow in-game.

That covers most of what Patch 12.0.5 has to offer. If your goal is to strengthen your character, your best course of action is to prioritize completing Void Forge questline first.

In MLB The Show 26, player cards are not merely indispensable elements for building and strengthening your lineup; they can also be viewed as collectibles in their own right.

Different cards belong to different series. When you complete the collection for an entire series, you can even unlock additional elite rewards, typically, these take the form of even more powerful player cards!

Among all the available series, Legends & Flashbacks Collection requires you to acquire the largest number of players, but it also offers the most substantial rewards. Most importantly, it is set to launch this coming Friday!

With this in mind, we will guide you on how to prepare for the new Legends & Flashbacks Collection, as well as offer our predictions regarding its rewards and other key details.

What is Legends & Flashbacks Collection?

You can think of this collection as a special Diamond Dynasty program that requires you to gather various non-Live series cards, specifically Legends and Flashbacks cards, in order to unlock high-tier diamond rewards.

Generally speaking, this collection encompasses a wide array of specific series, many of which span the entire season. Consequently, it serves as a core, milestone-based collection that you must progress through while simultaneously working on completing various specific card series.

What are vouchers?

To help alleviate the pressure of collecting, MLB The Show 26 has introduced vouchers that can be applied toward collections.

These vouchers are awarded to you upon the completion of smaller, specific collections; they act as substitutes for a certain number of individual cards, allowing you to obtain the final rewards without needing to achieve 100% card completion.

How should you prepare?

In fact, several of the relevant series collections are already underway. You can choose to skip, or simply not prioritize, certain series that may not hold much appeal for you personally, and then utilize vouchers to acquire the necessary cards later on.

Here are the series currently available at this stage:

• Jackie Robinson Day
• New Threads
• Spring Breakout
• World Baseball Classic
• 2nd Half Heroes
• All-Star
• Contributor
• Postseason
• Jolt

If you haven't already started collecting well in advance, it may be quite difficult to complete Legends & Flashbacks Collection in the short term, at least, that was the case in last year's iteration of the game.

If you absolutely must choose one to skip, consider passing on All-Star series; many of the cards within it are merely Rare tier, and the quality of the cards themselves often leaves much to be desired.

Based on the information above, we present the following specific strategies to help you prepare.

Do not indiscriminately sell your cards

Sometimes, whether out of a need for stubs or simply because you don't want your inventory cluttered with cards that seem to have little immediate utility, you might be tempted to sell them off.

Admittedly, this is an effective method for ensuring the circulation of stubs and player cards; however, the catch is that Legends & Flashbacks Collection requires almost every non-Live series card released during the early stages of the season.

Even if you possess player cards that aren't specifically required for this collection, you can still use them to redeem Vouchers, which help advance your overall collection progress.

Consequently, no experienced MLB 26 player would ever hastily sell off their cards during the early game. But if you've already done so, don't worry, you can currently buy MLB 26 stubs at IGGM to redeem those useful players within the game.

However, a crucial point to note is this: if you are an experienced player who put in sufficient effort during the early stages, you may find yourself with duplicate copies of the player cards required for the collection.

In that case, you absolutely must wait until Legends & Flashbacks Collection goes live before selling them!

This is because at that specific time, market demand for these cards will skyrocket, generating significantly higher stub returns for you than before. By earning stubs without delaying your collection progress, you will emerge as the ultimate winner!

Complete more programs

As a core gameplay feature of MLB The Show 26, the game releases various programs almost continuously. Each program offers a diverse array of rewards, most notably player cards and card packs.

Therefore, whether your goal is to complete smaller series collections or to start working toward Legends & Flashbacks Collection right from the start, you should always prioritize completing as many programs as possible.

To achieve this, you must earn a sufficient amount of XP while a program is active; once you accumulate enough XP to reach specific thresholds, you will unlock the corresponding rewards.

As for how to earn XP, the primary method involves completing designated missions, such as performing specific actions in-game using particular players, or earning a specific amount of PXP during matches.

Occasionally, certain programs also allow you to earn XP by completing specific Moments or smaller collection series. Since these types of programs typically have shorter durations, they offer additional XP sources to ensure you can unlock all the rewards before the program expires.

Create your own collection strategy

Thanks to the existence of vouchers, you do not necessarily need to acquire every single card within certain series collections.

However, this strategy is contingent upon your effective utilization of vouchers, specifically by using them to redeem the specific players that are otherwise the most difficult to obtain.

Furthermore, as we touched upon when discussing programs, the specific tasks required for each individual program vary.

Moreover, you often do not need to complete every single task listed within a program; you simply need to earn enough total XP to reach the necessary reward thresholds.

Therefore, you need to combine the two points mentioned above to select the card-collecting path that best suits you, thereby maximizing your collection efficiency within the constraints of your limited time and energy.

With only three days remaining until the launch of MLB 26 Legends & Flashbacks Collection, be sure to make the most of your time and prepare according to the guide we have provided! We wish you the best of luck in unlocking the ultimate rewards as soon as possible!