The upcoming Embers of Neltharion patch introduces Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible, as the latest World of Warcraft raid, and Blizzard has unveiled the testing schedule for eight of its nine bosses. The successor to Vault of the Incarnates takes players to the secret research facility of Deathwing during his days as the Earth-Warder, and even has them go up against a visage of Neltharion as the penultimate encounter. World of Warcraft revealed the boss list for Aberrus shortly after announcing Patch 10.1, and though many players are disappointed they won’t be facing the Primal Incarnates, the tier set from the raid has impressed just about any class except Monk.
Whereas Mythic players can look forward to Dragonflight Season 2 removing seasonal affixes and giving The Vortex Pinnacle its Keystone debut, World of Warcraft raiders can expect to see what Aberrus has in store for them a lot sooner on the Public Test Realms than they might think. Blizzard Entertainment has posted a testing schedule for Patch 10.1’s raid, and with the sole exception of Scalecommander Sarkareth, World of Warcraft players will be able to test each of its other eight bosses firsthand.
The first batch of testing on the World of Warcraft PTR starts on March 16, and will feature Kazzara, the Hellforged (13:00 PDT), and The Amalgamation Chamber (14:00 PDT). Raid testing will immediately continue on March 17 with The Vigilant Steward, Zskarn (13:00 PDT), and Rashok, the Elder (14:00 PDT). While Blizzard has made mention of it including other difficulties, the first set of encounters will primarily focus on Heroic mode.
World of Warcraft players can expect to test the remaining bosses a week later, on March 23 and 24, with the schedule listed all the way to April 21. Though it remains to be seen which encounters will feature in the next phase, Blizzard has mentioned that more details will emerge as the day of testing gets closer. In order to enter the raid zone for the purposes of testing, the ever-reliable Nexus-Lord Donjon Rade in Valdrakken, Orgrimmar, or Stormwind will teleport raiders directly into the instance as soon as it opens. Under normal circumstances, players can expect to enter Aberrus through the new Zaralek Cavern zone in Embers of Neltharion.
It is important to note that the primary purpose of World of Warcraft raid testing is to help Blizzard identify bugs and collect valuable feedback on how complex boss mechanics play out in practice. While the duration is tentatively listed at 60 minutes, it is not beyond the realm of possibility for testing to be extended by an extra hour. Players interested in taking a firsthand look at Aberrus can also check the official Blizzard post on the World of Warcraft forums, as the developers will keep updating it in the coming weeks.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC.
Source: World of Warcraft
Source: Gamerant