World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

The raid testing schedule is very fluid and subject to the realities of a test environment. There’s the possibility of having to change the time of a testing session, change the bosses being tested, or cancel a test entirely due to bugs, server hardware issues, etc.

We’ll be updating this schedule with boss details as we get closer to their testing dates. Keep an eye on the Dragonflight Beta forum for the boss feedback threads and the latest information. Thank you in advance for testing and providing feedback.

Vault of the Incarnates Raid Testing Schedule

The final boss of Vault of the Incarnates, Raszageth the Storm-Eater, will not be available for testing.

Thursday, September 29

• Heroic
  
  • Eranog – 13:00 PDT (16:00 EDT, 22:00 CEST)
  • Terros – 14:00 PDT (17:00 EDT, 23:00 CEST)

Friday, September 30

• Heroic
  
  • Broodkeeper Diurna – 13:00 PDT (16:00 EDT, 22:00 CEST)
  • Dathea, Ascended – 14:00 PDT (17:00 EDT, 23:00 CEST)
  • Kurog Grimtotem – 15:00 PDT (18:00 EDT, 00:00 CEST)
• Normal
  
  • Start – 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST)
  • End – Monday, October 3 at 09:00 PDT (12:00 EDT, 18:00 CEST)

Friday, October 7

• Heroic
  
  • Boss TBD – 13:00 PDT (16:00 EDT, 22:00 CEST)
  • Boss TBD – 14:00 PDT (17:00 EDT, 23:00 CEST)
• Mythic
  
  • Boss TBD – 15:00 PDT (18:00 EDT, 00:00 CEST)
• Raid Finder
  
  • The Primal Bulwark: Eranog, The Primal Council, Dathea, Ascended
    
    • Start – 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST)
    • End – Monday, October 10 at 09:00 PDT (12:00 EDT, 18:00 CEST).

Thursday, October 13

• Mythic
  
  • Boss TBD – 13:00 PDT (16:00 EDT, 22:00 CEST)
  • Boss TBD – 14:00 PDT (17:00 EDT, 23:00 CEST)
  • Boss TBD – 15:00 PDT (18:00 EDT, 00:00 CEST)

Friday, October 14

• Mythic
  
  • Boss TBD – 13:00 PDT (16:00 EDT, 22:00 CEST)
  • Boss TBD – 14:00 PDT (17:00 EDT, 23:00 CEST)
  • Boss TBD – 15:00 PDT (18:00 EDT, 00:00 CEST)
• Raid Finder
  
  • Caverns of Infusion – Terros, Sennarth, Kurog Grimtotem
    
    • Start – 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST)
    • End – Monday, October 17 at 09:00 PDT (12:00 EDT, 18:00 CEST).

Q: How do I get into the raid zone?
A: In Valdrakken, Orgrimmar, or Stormwind, you may speak to Nexus-Lord Donjon Rade V in order to teleport into the raid zone while it is open for testing. (The option to teleport into a zone will not be available when the zone is not open for testing.)

Q: What character should I use to test the raid?
A: Whichever you prefer. We will be scaling players’ effective level to 70 for raid testing, and their item level to an appropriate threshold for the encounter(s) being tested.

Q: How long does testing last?
A: The primary purpose of testing is to give us the information we need to balance the encounters, evaluate how mechanics are playing out in practice, and identify bugs. Once we’re satisfied that we’ve received that information for a given boss, we’ll be shutting down testing. Usually this takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, but there are no guarantees.

Q: How do I report feedback or bugs?
A: We’ll be posting encounter feedback threads each week prior to the start of the raid tests. Additionally, you can also submit your feedback through the in-game Issue Reporter tool.

We feel it would be useful to let everyone know where we are in the development of Dragonflight classes and talent design. With the next Beta/PTR build, we’re transitioning away from spending the majority of our time on the design iteration of the new talent trees, and we’re now primarily focused on fixing bugs and tuning the game. This includes balancing talent choices against each other and tuning the throughput of each class. We want to ensure that we release an expansion of the highest quality for this incredible community.

That being said, the new talent systems constitute a tremendous change to the game and represent a fundamental overhaul to how classes and specializations are customized by players. It is our expectation that we will be making adjustments based on your feedback throughout the expansion’s lifetime. We greatly appreciate all of your testing and feedback thus far, and we’re looking forward to delivering improvements to all of the talent trees in content updates throughout Dragonflight.

Beta Updates - September 23, 2022

• Realm first Achievements are now unavailable for 24 hours after a player-character takes a free transfer to another realm (was 60 days).
  
  • Developers’ notes: This is intended to eliminate a concern that some players might have about using Free Transfers to move to a realm that isn’t overcrowded.

• Will of Sartharion now increases Sartharion’s health by 25% with 1 drake alive, 45% with 2 drakes alive, and 65% with three drakes alive (was 25%).
  
  • Developers’ notes: Sarth+3 should still be quite manageable, but the unintended strategy of simply burning down the boss should be much less viable. Please note that the in-game tooltip is currently incorrect and will be updated in the future.

• Raids will now count towards the 5 instance-per-hour limit.
  
  • Developers’ notes: The hourly instance limit prevents players from entering instances that they’ve entered at least once already within the last hour. With this change, farming a dungeon should not prevent you from entering a raid instance, so long as you don’t attempt to reset and re-enter that raid instance multiple times.

• The costs and availability of Season 5 Arena gear have been adjusted to their final values.
  
  • Developers’ notes: There were previously some inconsistencies on PvP gear from season to season, especially with rating requirements. This update fixes Savage and Hateful Arena gear so that they require both Honor Point and Arena Point costs (where intended). Previously in the Wrath Beta, they were sold for Arena Points only. As a reminder, the vendors that offer Arena gear in Dalaran, Area 52, Gadgetzan, and the PvP Barracks in capital cities will not sell Season 5 gear to you until Season 5 begins. Savage Arena gear will be purchaseable for only Honor in capital cities, but is sold for Arena Points + Honor in Gadgetzan, Area 52, and Dalaran. This is intended and corresponds with original Wrath of the Lich King.

In the next beta build, we are making some updates to address concerns regarding Preservation Evoker’s healing range. We have been reading feedback and observing playtests, and agree that the 25 yard range is a little too prohibitive when combined with the frequent casting requirements of empower spells. To address this, we’re doing the following:

• All of Preservation Evoker’s healing and utility spells will now be at 30 yards baseline.
• The cooldowns for Dream Breath and Spiritbloom are being increased slightly, with Preservation’s overall healing efficacy being increased to compensate.
  
  • This should mean you have to stand still and cast empower spells less often, but when you do they will be more impactful, and your healing in-between those moments will also be more impactful.
• Hover will now have a shorter lock-out time, so you can more quickly cast spells after using Hover.

We are interested in delivering on a mobile, mid-range healer. We want to make sure tools like Hover, Verdant Embrace, Echo, and Rescue are flexible and powerful enough to compensate for a lower range. Please continue testing and providing feedback, and let us know if these tools are working well alongside the changes above. We will continue to listen to feedback and make sure Evoker is a powerful and exciting new class to play!