Cataclysm beta: Raids begin testing on October 17
by Mathew McCurley 
Oct 15th 2010 at 11:20PM
Daelo -- Beta Raid Testing Schedule for Oct. 17We're going to start testing a few raid encounters on all Beta servers this Sunday, October 17 at 13:00 PDT. Two encounters will be tested:
Omnitron Defense System in Blackwing Descent
Halfus Wyrmbreaker in The Bastion of Twilight
Blackwing Descent is a raid zone with an entrance located along the side of Blackrock Mountain.
The Bastion of Twilight's entrance is located within Twilight Highlands.
Since these are the beta realms, this schedule is subject to change at a moment's notice due to bugs and server issues. More raid tests will be occurring over the next few weeks.
Omnitron Defense System in Blackwing Descent
Halfus Wyrmbreaker in The Bastion of Twilight
Blackwing Descent is a raid zone with an entrance located along the side of Blackrock Mountain.
The Bastion of Twilight's entrance is located within Twilight Highlands.
Since these are the beta realms, this schedule is subject to change at a moment's notice due to bugs and server issues. More raid tests will be occurring over the next few weeks.
Filed under: Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jishdefish Oct 15th 2010 11:33PM
Good. This is a privilege to be able to iron out the kinks and/or bugs that may plague the encounters. Also, this experience will help me help my guild through this encounter...
Now I hope the beta servers come up soon so I can get some gear in preparation.
portague Oct 16th 2010 12:07AM
sweet more wipe videos
Kevin Oct 15th 2010 11:39PM
Anyone having issues accessing their game. I am stuck at the open client with it saying downloading updated tools. Already had it crash today while playing as well. Not amused!
Jamesisgreat Oct 16th 2010 12:27AM
Oh yes. Had this problem for the past 3 days. Managed to fix it by downloading a copy of some kind persons WoW root folder, and then Blizzard released this new patch and buggered it all up again. And they've still yet to acknowledge there's even a problem with the launcher.
I'm getting sooo tired of this crap......
prenden2 Oct 16th 2010 12:02AM
I hope Totalbiscuit gets in on this.
bigcountryinil Oct 16th 2010 12:16AM
^ this as well as the two guys from yogscast they crack me up.
Wildstaff Oct 16th 2010 1:25AM
I really hope Jesse Cox will do some raid as well. Even though I'm in the beta I can't help but watch all of their videos
MH Oct 16th 2010 2:14AM
Ugh all he does is complain while back peddaling and standing in AOE effects. I watch because his presentation is by far the most polished, but dang if some of his videos aren't 30 minutes of you listening to him lambast Blizzard for their heroic design. He seems to forget he's getting early access to content that isn't polished yet.
Sergel Oct 16th 2010 4:55AM
Mh if you're talking about TB, then i think you forget the point. he is there not to have fun and just play, but to do what a beta tester does and that is to test and criticize. He is the one who always says its not polished and "beta is beta". He is kinda complainy sometimes, but they are usually all for feedback. He definitely tells you what he's thinking lol.
now if you're not talking about him, then sorry =P
Iirdan Oct 16th 2010 9:49AM
Most of TB's videos are very positive from what I've seen. In his full BRC video has has very high praises for the dungeon design.
Rude Hero Oct 16th 2010 12:03AM
I understand why testing must be done, but it's a little sad to know that by the time a normal player attempts a raid encounter for the first time, even if it's on the first raid week, they'll know the fight already. It kills a little bit of the exploration factor.
I realize it's possible to form your own "blind raids," but that's not really the point- nobody wants to handicap themselves. Well, nobody wants to handicap themselves plus the other 9 or 24 friends they're raiding with.
I rarely read strategy guides for single-player games. Why is it that I'm so compelled to "cheat" in WoW?
Vodkamartini Oct 16th 2010 3:51AM
Hm, Blackrock Mountain, a desire to go back to the vanilla days, pvp enabled ... oh no ...
"TheDalaranStreetJournal.com -- The Meek Inherit Azeroth, We Get the Property Rights."
Omnitron Defense System Remains Untested
BLACKROCK MOUNTAIN - Blackwing Descent, a new raiding spot in a classic area, remains pristine this weekend as Horde and Alliance forces massing up decided fighting each other was more important than investigating it.
While the areas leading to the infamous Blackrock Spire Lava Pit and the Altar of Storms are littered with bodies, no one has yet stepped in to report what the "Omnitron Defense System" allegedly guarding the place is.
"It's my idiot guildies fault," anguished Orc warrior Ohmigog said. "Basically, some clothie gnome gave our rookie Tauren Ret Paladin strange gestures, and the holy cow was already pissed at having a training dummy and several unholy death knights back in Org laugh at him, so all hell broke lose from there. None of those dummies would hold back or just run into the whirling door." Ohmigog said the deathblow to his raid plans came when his healers and tank went on an ill-advised charge on a Draenei priest who had stealthed backup and a gnome death knight hiding behind his massive frame. "I lost my last man when the priest mind controlled him and made him jump into the lava," Ohmigog said.
Alliance raiders were also incensed at the instance. "The summoning stone was complete carnage. A lot of serious raiders on both sides tried to circumvent. One group's warlocks would build summoning stones and the other faction would find them. Guys and gals got frustrated and just lost it. Our healer druid was so upset, he walked to the old instances, then remembered he was going the wrong way, then slipped and fell into the lava pool. It was just a freaking bloodbath, like the front steps of Vault of Archavon or the Naxx landing spot," Human paladin Lyte Meup said. Meup added he was embarassed to have run from combat, as he could no longer bubble hearth as he did back in the days of prepping for Blackrock Spire.
Not all adventurers were disappointed that the excursion turned into a factional fracas. "Nothing tastes better than Nelf huntard blood on your daggers," Forsaken rogue Meeshka said, adding it reminded her of the "good old days of carnage, mass confusion, the stupidity of 50 or more impatient folks, and all-you-can-eat corpse buffets here."
Calls to the operator of the new dungeon, believed to be Nefarian of the Black Dragonflight, were not returned. "I'll be back shortly -- it was only a setback," was the greeting on his answering machine.
Based on the limited intel from seers, gnome and goblin engineers, government agencies and that drunk mage in the sewers of Dalaran, it is believed Nefarian may have made peace with and contracted Dark Iron Dwarves and Twilight Cultists to create the dungeon and its denizens.
Some of this information came to light when hawkish Ironforge officials called for an invasion of the Dark Iron nation for possibly hiding "weapons of mass destruction."
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Naloa Oct 16th 2010 2:00PM
I'm tempted to use my friend's computer just to uprate this more. =)
flackbash Oct 16th 2010 8:53AM
Our guild won the essay contest, so 10 of us got Beta invites for that, and 4 more got them on their own. Even with 14 in the Beta, I can't even scrape together a heroic. I'd love to do some raid testing, but I don't see us doing it as a guild. I'd be comfortable pugging a test raid if I had a chance to learn my priest at 85. However, Beta pugs are just simply awful, and since I'm unable to practice, I'm not confident in my heroic 5-man ability, let alone raiding. I don't suspect I'll be doing any raid testing in the beta.
I also like experiencing a boss for the time, but since I always read up on strats & watch videos before I attempt them in live anyway, I don't think Beta raid-testing would ruin the experience any more.
Greeni Oct 16th 2010 9:29AM
THAT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sorry, I know nobody cares... *sniff*
Mikan Oct 16th 2010 11:23AM
Dude!! Me too! I totally care! Happy birthday fellow oct 17th~ian! I promise I'll bosh back a drink for you too on this magnificent day!!!!
Themock Oct 17th 2010 11:38PM
Happy birthday! :)
Themock Oct 17th 2010 11:38PM
I had the lucky chance to test out the Bastion of Twilight, Halfus Wyrmbreaker fight today. If anyone is interested, I posted my thoughts and some photos here on my blog: http://tumblr.com/xjgm6jlzf