The full testing schedule and difficulty-by-difficulty breakdown follows below.
PTR raid testing schedules are always subject to change. Blizzard may shift session times, swap bosses, or cancel a test entirely if server issues arise during Patch 10.2 development. Keep an eye on the official PTR forum for the latest updates and per-boss feedback threads — your reports directly influence tuning decisions before the raid goes live.
Every confirmed testing window is organized by date, mode, and difficulty. All times are PDT unless otherwise noted. Fyrakk is not included in any phase.
| Date | Mode | Content | Time (PDT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, September 14 | Heroic | Gnarlroot | 13:00 |
| Thursday, September 14 | Heroic | Igira the Cruel | 14:00 |
| Friday, September 15 | Heroic | Council of Dreams | 13:00 |
| Friday, September 15 | Heroic | Smolderon | 14:00 |
| Thursday, September 21 | Heroic | Larodar, Keeper of the Flame | 13:00 |
| Thursday, September 21 | Heroic | Volcoross | 14:00 |
| Friday, September 22 | Heroic | Nymue, Weaver of the Cycle | 13:00 |
| Friday, September 22 | Heroic | Tindral Sageswift, Seer of the Flame | 14:00 |
| Sept 22 – Sept 25 | Normal | Full Normal wing (Friday 15:00 open / Monday 09:00 close) | 15:00 |
| Thursday, September 28 | Mythic | Gnarlroot | 13:00 |
| Thursday, September 28 | Mythic | Igira the Cruel | 14:00 |
| Friday, September 29 | Mythic | Council of Dreams | 13:00 |
| Friday, September 29 | Mythic | Smolderon | 14:00 |
| Sept 29 – Oct 2 | Raid Finder Wing 1 | Incarnate's Wake: Gnarlroot, Igira the Cruel, Smolderon | 15:00 |
| Thursday, October 5 | Mythic | Larodar, Keeper of the Flame | 13:00 |
| Thursday, October 5 | Mythic | Volcoross | 14:00 |
| Friday, October 6 | Mythic | Nymue, Weaver of the Cycle | 13:00 |
| Friday, October 6 | Mythic | Tindral Sageswift, Seer of the Flame | 14:00 |
| Oct 6 – Oct 9 | Raid Finder Wing 2 | Molten Incursion: Volcoross, Larodar, Keeper of the Flame | 15:00 |
| Oct 13 – Oct 16 | Raid Finder Wing 3 | The Viridian Weave: Council of Dreams, Nymue, Weaver of the Cycle | 15:00 |
With the full schedule outlined, a few common tester questions come up repeatedly — answers are below.
Speak with Nexus-Lord Donjon Rade V, who is stationed in Valdrakken, Orgrimmar, and Stormwind during active testing windows. He provides a direct teleport into the raid zone. This option is only available while the specific boss or wing is open for testing.
Any character at any gear level works. Blizzard scales all PTR testers to effective level 70 and adjusts item level automatically to provide a balanced challenge. There is no gear requirement — just show up and pull.
Sessions typically run 45 minutes to 2 hours per boss. Blizzard ends testing once it has collected sufficient balance and bug data for that encounter. There are no guaranteed minimums — if Blizzard gets what it needs in 30 minutes, the session ends early.
No. Fyrakk, the final boss of Amirdrassil, is not part of any PTR testing phase. Blizzard typically reserves final bosses to preserve the surprise and freshness of the first-kill experience on release day.
Blizzard posts encounter-specific feedback threads on the PTR forums ahead of each week's testing. Use those threads for encounter balance feedback. For bugs, the in-game Issue Reporter (default shortcut: F8 on live) is also available on the PTR and is the fastest path for technical reports.
The schedule covers all four modes: Heroic (weeks 1–2), Normal (one full weekend), Mythic (weeks 3–4), and Raid Finder (Wings 1, 2, and 3 across three separate weekends). Each mode tests the same boss roster but at tuned difficulty levels appropriate to the mode.
The official World of Warcraft PTR forum (us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow) is the primary channel for schedule changes. Blizzard posts updates there when sessions are rescheduled, cancelled, or added. Third-party sites like Wowhead also track schedule changes in near-real time.
