During The War Within beta, Blizzard ran structured raid testing for Nerub-ar Palace across three difficulty tiers. The schedule was revised partway through after community feedback, and speedrunning tests were discontinued entirely, a notable change from prior raid testing cycles.
Heroic testing kicked off on two consecutive days in June with the following boss slots:
Five bosses across two days gave testers a broad look at the early palace encounters before Mythic testing began.
Mythic testing was spread across two separate windows:
✏️ Tip: Mythic testing during the beta served as the primary tuning pass. Blizzard collected structured feedback through the in-game Issue Reporter tool, and several boss abilities were adjusted before the raid went live.
Raid Finder testing for both wings ran July 12–15:
Both wings ran in back-to-back sessions, giving lower-item-level players access to the encounter flow before the raid's full release.
Here is the condensed timeline across all three difficulties:
| Dates | Difficulty | Bosses Tested |
|---|---|---|
| June 13–14 | Heroic | Ulgrax the Devourer, The Bloodbound Horror, Sikran, Rasha'nan, Bloodtwister Ovi'nax |
| June 27–28 | Mythic | Ulgrax, Bloodbound Horror, Sikran, Nexus-Princess Ky'veza, The Silken Court |
| July 10–12 | Mythic (continued) | Full boss roster in separate time slots |
| July 12–15 | Raid Finder | Wings 1 and 2 (Queen Ansurek excluded) |
Queen Ansurek, the final boss of Nerub-ar Palace, was not made available during any phase of public beta testing.
Blizzard removed the speedrunning test format from the Nerub-ar Palace cycle. In prior expansions, these sessions allowed organised groups to race through encounters against a timer, useful for identifying pacing and reset-flow issues. The reasoning was not detailed in a public post, but the discontinuation aligned with Blizzard's move toward more targeted per-boss feedback rather than full-clear speed trials.
📌 Note: Raid testing feedback was collected through the in-game Issue Reporter. Unlike the speedrunning format, per-boss sessions gave testers a focused window for each encounter rather than a full reset under time pressure.
The War Within beta testing for Nerub-ar Palace ran from June 13 to July 15. Heroic testing began June 13–14, Mythic testing ran June 27–28 and July 10–12, and Raid Finder testing covered July 12–15.
No. Queen Ansurek, the final boss of Nerub-ar Palace, was excluded from all public beta testing sessions.
Blizzard discontinued the speedrunning format for this raid cycle. The shift aligned with more targeted per-boss testing sessions that allowed focused feedback collection through the in-game Issue Reporter tool, rather than full-clear speed trials.
Nerub-ar Palace launched with 8 bosses: Ulgrax the Devourer, The Bloodbound Horror, Sikran Captain of the Sureki, Rasha'nan, Bloodtwister Ovi'nax, Nexus-Princess Ky'veza, The Silken Court, and Queen Ansurek.
Wing 1 was The Skittering Battlements and Wing 2 was Secrets of Nerub-ar Palace. Both wings were tested during the beta in July 2024.
Last reviewed 2026-06-19 against The War Within beta (Patch 11.0) — Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team.
Nerub-ar Palace ran as The War Within's first raid in 2024. Players looking for current Midnight Season 1 raid progression can browse WoW raid carries for the current expansion.
