#1 - Aug. 6, 2014, 9:36 p.m.
Note that this test in particular may end up being canceled. We're hoping to push a new build tonight. If that doesn't happen due to technical reasons, I'll post to reschedule the test.
Remember that Heroic difficulty scales for any group size between 10 and 30 players, so feel free to assemble and bring a group of any size within that range. Our general plan is to test every encounter on Heroic difficulty first, and then test sections of the raid on Normal and Raid Finder, alongside targeted Mythic tests.
Each encounter should be available at approximately the listed times below on all Beta servers.
Thurday, August 7
Brackenspore- Heroic Highmaul
13:30 PDT (16:30 EDT, 22:30 CEST)
Imperator Mar'gok - Heroic Highmaul
16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST)
Friday, August 8
Tectus - Heroic Highmaul
11:00 PDT (14:00 EDT, 20:00 CEST)
Iron Maidens - Heroic Foundry
14:00 PDT (17:00 EDT, 23:00 CEST)
As always, this testing schedule is very fluid and subject to the realities of a beta environment. We might have to change the time of a testing session, change the boss being tested, or cancel a test entirely, due to bugs, fire, server hardware issues, etc. Keep an eye on this forum for the latest information, and thank you in advance for testing and providing feedback.
Important Testing Notes
Q: How do I get into the raid zone?
A: In Stormwind, Orgrimmar, Dalaran, Shattrath, the two Vale Shrines, and your garrison, you may speak to Nexus-Lord Donjon Rade 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.) Note that new teleport NPC locations have been added to other expansions' capital cities, as well as near the zone portals in Stormwind and Orgrimmar.
Q: What character should I use to test the raid?
A: Whichever you prefer. We will be scaling players' effective level to 100 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.