AFK Journey 1.7.4 Preview: Full September Calendar, Banner Dates and Phase 3 Guide

The official Journey Calendar for Patch 1.7.4 covers 3–23 September and carries one label that matters more than any event on it: Season Phase 3.

Phase 3 is the final phase of Crown of Ashes, the Season 7 that launched on 29 May and runs roughly four months. When it closes, seasonal systems reset. That makes this three-week block the last chance to convert seasonal currency, finish Handbook progress, and clear phase-gated content — not a normal patch window.

Two banners are dated explicitly on the calendar. Everything else is drawn as a bar, so the ranges below are read from bar position rather than stated text. All times are UTC, which the calendar states directly and which trips up more players than any other detail.

The two dated banners

Banner 1 — 9/3 after patch update to 9/22 23:59. Runs almost the full calendar window and closes before the calendar ends.

Banner 2 — 9/17 08:00 to 10/7 23:59. This one is worth noting: it runs fifteen days past the end of the calendar, deep into October and past the point where Season 7 is expected to close.

A banner crossing the season boundary changes how you budget. If you're saving pulls, the second banner is not a Phase 3 decision — it's a decision that spans into the next season, when your resource situation and roster needs may look different. Don't spend Phase 3 income on it as though the window closes with the season.

UTC converted

The calendar's note is easy to skim past. Every time on it is UTC, and for most of Asia that pushes deadlines onto the following day.

Banner 1 closes at 22 September 23:59 UTC. In local time that is:

• UK (BST) — 23 September, 00:59
• Indonesia (WIB) — 23 September, 06:59
• Japan (JST) — 23 September, 08:59
• US Pacific (PDT) — 22 September, 16:59

Banner 2 closes at 7 October 23:59 UTC:

• UK (BST) — 8 October, 00:59
• Indonesia (WIB) — 8 October, 06:59
• Japan (JST) — 8 October, 08:59
• US Pacific (PDT) — 7 October, 16:59

Banner 2's start is the one to watch — 9/17 at 08:00 UTC is mid-afternoon in Southeast Asia, not a server-reset hour. If you're planning to pull at open, that's 15:00 WIB, not midnight.

What's running, and roughly when

Eight tracks share the window. Approximate ranges, read from the calendar bars:

• Savannah Cup — from the 3rd through roughly mid-month
• Undying Aria — starting around the 7th, running to roughly the 21st
• New Side Quest — a short block right at the start, 3rd to around the 6th
• New Season Preview — from around the 7th to roughly the 21st
• Ravaged Realm — the full window, structured as Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4 and a Final
• Guild Duel — roughly the 6th to the 20th
• Pearl Tycoon — from the 3rd through roughly mid-month
• Relentless Rumble — roughly the 8th to the 19th

Ravaged Realm is the one with a hard structure. Five sequential stages across three weeks means missing early rounds isn't recoverable by playing harder later — the rounds are gated in sequence, not by cumulative effort. If you only commit to one track, commit to that one from day one.

Savannah Cup ties to the season's setting. Crown of Ashes takes place in Savannah, the Lightbearer Empire's royal capital, so this reads as the season's culminating competitive event rather than a generic tournament.

The Phase 3 problem nobody plans for

Here's the part the calendar implies but doesn't say.

Seasonal systems reset at season end. Crown of Ashes introduced Soul Pact and Phantimals, seasonal artifacts and charms, and a phase-gated Resonance cap. Progress in seasonal systems does not carry into the next season in the way account-level progress does.

That inverts normal priorities for three weeks. In a mid-season patch, banking currency is sensible. In Phase 3, banking seasonal currency means throwing it away. Anything that only spends inside the season should be spent inside the season.

A practical order for the window:

1. Empty seasonal stores first. Season Store stock, Soul Sigils, anything that takes seasonal currency. Check what your balance can still buy before it becomes worthless.
2. Clear Season Handbook phase quests. Phase 3 quests are the last set, and Handbook rewards are among the densest free income in the season.
3. Commit to Ravaged Realm from Round 1. Sequential gating punishes late starts.
4. Treat Banner 2 as next-season spending. It outlives the season; your pull budget for it shouldn't come from Phase 3 urgency.

The new season being previewed

The New Season Preview track is the calendar's namesake, and there's a mystery-character teaser marked around the 9th–10th.

Developer commentary has signposted an eighth season themed on life and death, set in the Graveborn kingdom of Bantus — a mortality theme built around the line between living and dying. That has not been formally tied to this calendar, so treat the connection as likely rather than confirmed until the preview event runs.

What the season structure does tell you: AFK Journey seasons typically bring 7–8 heroes across the four factions, plus 2–3 Celestial and Hypogean heroes. If you're deciding whether to save for the next season instead of spending now, that's the rough shape of what you'd be saving for — though seasonal currency, again, won't make the trip.

For context on the current crossover still running alongside all this, our Digimon Adventure collab coverage covers what landed on 18 August.

What the calendar doesn't tell you

• Exact start and end times for six of the eight event tracks — only the two banners carry stated times.
• Which heroes the two banners feature. Portraits appear on the calendar but aren't named.
• The Season 7 end date. Phase 3 runs to at least the 23rd, but the season's close isn't marked.
• Reward specifics for each track.

The calendar itself carries Farlight's standard caveat: the schedule is subject to change, and the in-game version is authoritative. Check the Events tab on patch day rather than planning to the day off a preview image.

A season ending is the worst time to be under-built

Phase 3 gates content behind Resonance caps and seasonal progression. Players who arrive at the final phase under-levelled spend it catching up instead of clearing, and seasonal progress doesn't roll over to try again.

Browse verified AFK Journey accounts if you'd rather enter the next season with Celestial and Hypogean depth already built, keep dailies and event tracks moving with AFK Journey hourly services, or clear specific Ravaged Realm and Dream Realm targets through AFK Journey boosting.

GameMarket.gg is a trusted digital marketplace for everything gaming-related. We serve