Blizzard has opened the public test realm for Phase 3 of World of Warcraft’s Burning Crusade Anniversary, and will begin raid testing on Friday, August 14, Wowhead reports. The test window runs from 1:00 p.m. that day until 1:00 p.m. on Monday, August 17, covering the phase’s two new raids across a single weekend.
Those raids are Black Temple, which ends with Illidan the Betrayer, and The Battle for Mount Hyjal, which ends with Archimonde — the two encounters that closed out the original expansion’s raid progression. Both will be available for the duration of the test.
Phase 3 itself goes live on August 27 at 3:00 p.m. PDT / 6:00 p.m. EDT. Alongside the raids, Blizzard has listed the rest of the phase’s contents:
- Black Temple (Illidan the Betrayer) and The Battle for Mount Hyjal (Archimonde)
- The Netherwing, a new daily faction and quest hub in Shadowmoon Valley
- Arena Season 3, with new rewards, updated progression and further gear from Outland quartermasters
- Epic gems
A separate change is being tested on the same build. Blizzard is trialling the addition of Haste Potions and Destruction Potions to the Mark of the Illidari vendor, redeemable alongside the flasks that vendor normally stocks. Marks of the Illidari are the currency awarded by Phase 3 raids, which means the potions would be bought with the same tokens the new raids drop.
Wowhead frames the potion change as a quality-of-life adjustment: the vendor has historically sold flasks only, and Haste and Destruction potions are expensive consumables to keep stocked across a raid week. As with everything else on the PTR, the change is under test rather than confirmed for the live realms on August 27.
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