PTR 3.3: Raid Testing Schedule 10/26-10/30

Over the past couple of testing periods, players on both the US and European realms have only had a chance to try out a total of three encounters. And even then, they’ve been limited to two nights of about and hour of testing each. Well, if you’ve been itching to dip your hands in Arthas’ cookie jar, you’re going to have a much easier time of it with almost an entire week of raid testing. I don’t know if it’s because they were set back last week by bugs with the Gunship Battle or if they’re really ready to push this far forward with the content, but I know I’m happy at it. Let’s take a brief look at the encounters that each region will be facing this time around:

US Realms

• Monday, October 26 at 7PM EDT / 4PM PDT – Festergut: Festergut, along with his abominable buddy Rotface, are already back on the docket. I relish the chance to get another shot at his ugly mug, as a couple of bad PuG groups last week prevented me from getting any farther than the trash. From what I know, though, Festergut’s encounter involves a giant cloud of noxious gas which he inhales and eventually expels again, killing the raid. The solution? Some players will get a Gas Spore that explodes after a set amount of time, and give nearby players a limited immunity against the poison. Oh, and he can also cause your raid members to projectile vomit, damaging others around them. Gross!
• Wednesday, October 28 at 7PM EDT / 4PM PDT – Icecrown Gunship Battle: Not having tested it last week, I couldn’t tell you precisely how this encounter works, but I’m pretty sure it will be cool. Going on details provided at BlizzCon, the Gunship Battle is a fight with NPCs of the opposite faction, similar to Faction Champions in theme if not necessarily mechanics. Both bombardment and on-deck fighting should be a part of this event.
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  Sindragosa in Icecrown Citadel

  Thursday, October 29 at 7PM EDT / 4PM PDT – Sindragosa: With the next two encounters, we move into a previously unexplored section of the dungeon: The Frostwing Halls. Even if you don’t know Sindragosa by name, I bet you’re already familiar with her. She’s that Frostwyrm you see flying around the screen every time you log in and she’s got a bone (many bones, in fact) to pick with you. Effectively killed by Cataclysm baddie Deathwing many years ago, and left to rot in the frozen wastes of Icecrown, she’s since become bitter about pretty much everything. She now serves the Lich King after having been raised from the dead. Little is known about the mechanics of this fight, but I imagine the closest analog to be Sapphiron in Naxxramas. I’m sure there will be tons of Frost damage being tossed about and, if you’ve ever fought a dragon boss before, I’m sure you’re already aware of a few other things to look out for.

• Friday, October 30 at 7PM EDT / 4 PM PDT - Valithria Dreamwalker: This one’s more or less a mystery right now, but Valithria’s last name might imply that she is a member of the Green Dragonflight. It’s unknown whether she will be in dragon or humanoid form, or even if you fight her directly. Chances are Arthas is trying to dirty his hands with the blood of another Dragonflight, and the achievement associated with this section of Icecrown Citadel simply says that you need to “rescue” her.

EU Realms

• Tuesday, October 27 at 19:30 CEST – Lord Marrowgar: Lord Marrowgar was the first ICC boss to be tested, but as far as I know, this is the European players’ first crack at him. I’m afraid I didn’t get a chance to go toe-to-bony-toe with this villain, either, but that was due to some nasty spawning bugs (he just wouldn’t appear for my group, and the trash was acting weird, too). As he’s also the initial encounter in the instance, I’ve heard he’s not all that tough, either. And that makes sense, because he’s one of the possible targets in the weekly raid quests (meaning that even PuGs should be able to annihilate him after a few weeks). Hey, every raid needs a Flame Leviathan, right?
• Wednesday, October 28 at 19:30 CEST – Lady Deathwhisper: As the “supreme overseer” of the Cult of the Damned, Deathwhisper could be called Kel’Thuzad’s second-in-command. It’s unclear whether she is a fellow Lich or something else entirely, but this foul mistress acts as something of a recruiter for the cult, promising her followers eternal service to the Lich King through undeath.
• Thursday, October 29 at 19:30 CEST – Professor Putricide: The good doctor is one of Arthas’ best plague scientists, constantly finding new ways to further corrupt the living and turn the existing Scourge into more gruesome creatures than they already are. You have him to thank for Festergut and Rotface, and you’ll get your shot at him after those two go down (or, if you got online this Thursday, you’ll be able to mainline the pain to him directly).
• Friday, October 30 at 19:30 CEST - Rotface: I’m not entirely sure why Blizzard didn’t switch him with Festergut, so that each region would have another new fight to lock forward to, but the European raid week tapers of with another go at Rotface. With his slime spawning abilities, he sounds an awful lot like old Naxxramas “fave” Grobbulus, only with less poison clouds and more vicious slime spawns.

So players on both side of the Atlantic clearly have lots to look forward to on the PTR this week. Four brand new baddies to test, and three repeats. If I, or any of the Project Lore crew, actually gets the chance to experience these encounters, we’ll be sure to bring you some in-depth coverage of said fights.

Keeping in mind that while both 10 and 25-man versions of each boss are available, you cannot currently activate their Hard modes. Is anyone else going to make the trip to the test realms this week?