TheWoWDB
Here are some tips you can use to help you complete (or even snag a medal!) in Warlords of Draenor Challenge modes! Some of them are pretty obvious, but I've included them just in case.
CONSUMABLES
- Within a Challenge mode dungeon, you can make flasks and various potions (DPS potions, Draenic Invisibility Potion) as an Alchemist, but you CANNOT cook food or make Healing Tonics unless you leave the instance.
- Potion cooldowns
- Draenic Intellect Potion, Draenic Agility Potion, Draenic Strength Potion, Draenic Versatility Potion, Draenic Rejuvenation Potion, Draenic Swiftness Potion, Draenic Mana Potion and Draenic Invisibility Potion all share a cooldown.
- Draenic Intellect Potion, Draenic Agility Potion, Draenic Strength Potion, Draenic Versatility Potion, Draenic Rejuvenation Potion, Draenic Swiftness Potion and Draenic Mana Potion have a 1 minute cooldown. Using one will make all potions that share a cooldown unusable for 1 minute.
- Draenic Invisibility Potion has a 10-minute cooldown. Using it will make all potions that share a cooldown unusable for 10 minutes.
- When a potion is used in combat, the cooldown timer does not start until you exit combat again. As such, using a potion during combat prevents further potions from being used for a full minute after combat is finished.
- "Pre-potting" and using a potion right before entering combat will ensure that the 1 minute cooldown activates and completes during combat, allowing a second use of a potion (during a boss encounter) or ensuring it is ready for the next pack (when doing trash).
- DPS potions (Draenic Intellect Potion, Draenic Agility Potion and Draenic Strength Potion) should be used extensively, including on trash!
- DPS potions are not scaled down in Challenge modes.
- Draenic Rejuvenation Potion is an alternative to use in Challenge modes, but keep in mind it shares a cooldown with all DPS, armor and mana potions (unlike Healing Tonic).
- Draenic Rejuvenation Potion can be used if you have full health but less than full mana, or if you have full mana but less than full health.
- Draenic Mana Potion and Draenic Channeled Mana Potion both share a cooldown with each other, and with all DPS/armor potions.
- The Stage 4 ([item=122604]), Stage 5 ([item=128023]), and Stage 6 ([item=128024]) Alchemy trinkets are all Bind-on-Equip and can be used by non-alchemists. Aside from having a decent proc, these increase the effectiveness of Draenic Mana Potion to restore 47k+ mana, and buff Draenic Rejuvenation Potion to 95k+ health and 23k+ mana.
- Alchemists can use [item=122601], the Bind-on-Pickup equivalent, without needing to upgrade it.
- Make use of Healing Tonics or Shieldtronic Shields frequently in Challenge modes. These items DO NOT share a cooldown with DPS, armor or mana potions (e.g. Draenic Intellect Potion)!
- Healing Tonic and Shieldtronic Shield share a cooldown with each other, so only one or the other can be used.
- Shieldtronic Shield are crafted by Engineers, and Healing Tonic can be made by anyone with [skill=129] who has learned [item=111364]
- Shieldtronic Shield can be used at full health to absorb future damage. As such, it can be used to "pre-pot" before entering combat.
- The Stage 4 ([item=122604]), Stage 5 ([item=128023]), and Stage 6 ([item=128024]) Alchemy trinkets are all Bind-on-Equip and can be used by non-alchemists. Aside from having a decent proc, these increase the effectiveness of Healing Tonic to heal 95k+ health.
- Alchemists can use [item=122601], the Bind-on-Pickup equivalent, without needing to upgrade it.
- The healing from Healing Tonic is affected a tank's Resolve. As such, they almost always do far more healing than advertised (in many cases the tonic can act like a Lay on Hands!)
- Draenic Versatility Potion is a terrific potion for tanks to use. In addition to the armor it provides, tanks recieve 1 Attack Power per point of bonus armor from this potion (1500 Attack Power total). This is far superior to Draenic Agility Potion (1000 Agility) and Draenic Strength Potion (1000 Strength) as a pure DPS boost for tanks, as well as mitigating damage.
- Draenic Invisibility Potion is useful in some instances to skip trash (e.g. [zone=6874], [zone=7307])
- This potion puts ALL potions (that share a cooldown) on cooldown for 10 minutes.
- This potion can only be used out of combat.
- It is important to use any movement abilities for yourself or your party BEFORE using the potion (e.g. Ghost Wolf, Aspect of the Pack, [spell=77761]) - any ability used while invisible will make you visible again.
- In some cases it is worthwhile to simply "death run" - see below in "General Tips" for details.
- The engineering belt tinker, Invisibility Field, is a subpar option and shouldn't be used. It has a chance to fail, and in addition it has a 10-minute cooldown (contrary to the tooltip) and puts all potions on a 10-minute cooldown as well (just like Draenic Invisibility Potion!)
- Food buffs are not scaled down in Challenge Modes. As such, the best possible foods available should be used when possible. These include:
- Multistrike - Salty Squid Roll
- Haste - [item=122348]
- Critical Strike - [item=122345]
- Mastery - [item=122343]
- Versatility - [item=122346]
- Stamina - [item=122347]
- Graccu's Mince Meat Fruitcake, is a pretty great food for Challenge Modes. Essentially, it restores 20% of health AND mana per second, bringing you to full in 5 seconds flat, making it perfect for spec changes, and somewhat useful for deaths (if speed is a priority - otherwise using a food with a buff is preferable, of course).
- Unfortunately, this food is hard to come by. It is only obtainable during Winter Veil, although any you retain on your character will remain there throughout the year until deleted or consumed.
- Other than from vendors or the holiday daily during Winter Veil, this food can be purchased on the Auction House if you are lucky enough to have someone list it.
- [item=79257], crafted by Scribes, is an alternative consumable if you don't have an equivalent stamina buff in your group - [class=5] (Power Word: Fortitude), [class=1] (Commanding Shout), [class=9] (Blood Pact) or [class=3] (with a Goat, Silithid or Rylak pet)
- Drums of Fury, crafted by Leatherworkers, is an alternative consumable if you don't have an equivalent "Bloodlust" buff in your group - [class=7] (Bloodlust/Heroism), [class=8] (Time Warp), or [class=3] (with a Core Hound or Nether Ray pet)
- [item=49633], crafted by Leatherworkers, is an alternative consumable if you don't have an equivalent stats buff in your group - [class=11] (Mark of the Wild), [class=10] (Legacy of the Emperor), [class=2] (Blessing of Kings) or [class=3] (with a Dog, Gorilla, Shale Spider or Worm pet)
GENERAL TIPS
- NEW - Check out this newly minted guide on using Grounding Totem, [spell=23920], [spell=114028], [spell=19263] and [spell=77606] in Challenge Modes - some of these tips will shave HUGE chunks of time off of you run!
- Keep in mind that you cannot change glyphs or talents in a Challenge Mode, but you can switch specs. For example, this can allow you to switch between an AoE and a single target build for certain situations (trash vs. boss, etc.)
- If you decide to switch gear sets during a dungeon, (e.g. a AoE stat set vs. a single target stat set), the following macro can be used to quickly select a set:
- /equipset Name of Set
- Note that the above is case sensitive
- Engineers should use Frag Belt as an AoE stun/interrupt. It not only interrupts spells, but since it is an incapacitate effect, it will interrupt otherwise uninterruptible casts (acts similarly to [spell=99], Sap or [spell=115078]).
- The alternative belt tinker, Nitro Boosts SHOULD BE AVOIDED. It can backfire (dealing a large amount of damage-over-time to you) and additionally puts DPS/armor/mana potions on cooldown.
- Any group members that are changed (switched out) will not be able to zone in until the zone is reset. As such, you cannot switch members out halfway through the instance!
- Using [item=40768] (Engineering), [spell=83958] (Guild Perk), [npc=33239]/[npc=33238] (Companion Pet) with a bridle and Pack Hobgoblin (Goblin Racial) will all work within a Challenge Mode dungeon. However, using [item=49040] OR [item=109644] inside a Challenge Mode DOES NOT work (nothing spawns), but still incurs the cooldown.
- When gearing up for Challenge modes, baleful tokens are an excellent way to get BiS stat combinations for your set. The token for each slot can be purchased for 5,000 [currency=823] each (10,000 [currency=823] for weapons) from [npc=96130] in Tanaan Jungle (Vol'mar or Lion's Watch depending on faction).
- There are some groups that prefer to make "death runs" rather than using invisibility potions. This consists of running through trash and "suiciding", and getting resurrected thereafter.
- Using this strategy has two benefits - potions are not put on 10 minute cooldowns, and any [spell=57724]/[spell=57723]/[spell=80354] debuffs are cleared, allowing Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp use again.
- This of course is only useful if there is trash you don't need for mob count, that you can skip
- Method #1 - The whole group runs through the trash and everyone must die in a safe spot (i.e. somewhere where rezzing will not pull any mobs or a boss). A class with a resurrect spell must die first and be battle-rezzed; the battle-rez must not be accepted until all trash has reset.
- Requires a battle rez ([class=11], [class=6], [class=9]) or a [class=7] with Reincarnation off of cooldown.
- The person giving the battle rez must be standing in a safe spot, as the recipient will resurrect at the spot where the battle rez was cast.
- Video example: Iron Docks.
- Video example: Bloodmaul Slagmines.
- Method #2 - A group member that can resurrect (usually the healer works best) will remain behind and everyone else does the death run. The designated rezzer then uses an Draenic Invisibility Potion to pass through trash and rezzes the rest of the group.
- A druid can use Prowl instead of a Draenic Invisibility Potion
- Video example: Upper Blackrock Spire
SPECIFIC DUNGEONSBelow are tips tailored to specific dungeons:
- Grimrail Depot Tips - see this comment for tips specific to Grimrail Depot.
- Shadowmoon Burial Grounds Tips - see this comment for tips specific to Shadowmoon Burial Grounds.
- Skyreach Tips - see this comment for tips specific to Skyreach.
VIDEO GUIDESI've compiled a list of guides below. They are created by a number of authors, and each can have some potentially useful information for your run. Below is some information about each of the guide authors.
- Jace DK
Viewpoint: Tank/DPS [class=6]
Jace DK's guides are fairly up-to-date compared to other guides, and as a DK he will list strategies that utilize certain abilities unique to the class - particularly [spell=77606], [spell=108199] and [spell=42650]. He gives a full-run through of the Challenge mode, and also touches on tricks to shorten the length of your run significantly.- Darkmech
Viewpoint: Tank [class=6] and Tank [class=10]
Darkmech is yet another author who produces full length Challenge guides. He provides constant strategies, and is up-to-date on the latest time saving tricks (including using [spell=77606], reflective abilities, etc.) In addition, he has smaller strat videos on particular mechanics that can shave time off of your runs.
Another point I thought I'd mention is that that these guides are some of the most entertaining to watch!- Asmongold
Viewpoint: DPS [class=1]
Asmongold provides full run Challenge mode guides that are a great adjunct to other guides. He particularly points out mobs and abilities to watch for. Note that these guides date from late 2014, but most information from them is still relevant.
Incidentally, if you happen to check out his channel, Asmongold has dozens and dozens of other WoW videos on a number of other topics.- Hamlet
Viewpoint: Healer [class=11]
Hamlet is very meticulous in pinpointing each and every mob, with specific abilities to watch out for, and strategies to handle them. Of all the guides, his are the most detail oriented, and allow you to learn an instance very well. Unfortunately, some of these guides are somewhat old, although Hamlet has in many cases provided annotations and/or update videos to keep the strats relevant.- Method
Viewpoint: Healer [class=11] and DPS [class=3]
These are the most current full guides available. Method does a good job of describing certain abilities to watch out for, etc. They aim to provide strategies that are usable by any group/composition; however, some of the strategies they use are not very viable without a DK and strong AoE DPS. Some tips are unique to these videos, so they are worthwhile seeing.- Nerds
Viewpoint: Healer [class=10] (with some Tank [class=6] notes)
These guides are not full Challenge run throughs, but 2-3 minute excerpts and outlines of the the trash pulls and bosses that you will face. There is no comprehensive discussion of individual mobs for the most part, although some time saving mechanics are discussed in brief.
In particular, there are some unique strats outlined that make these short guides worth a watch.
Achievement
Challenge Warlord
Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon from the Warlords of Draenor expansion.
The highest voted Wowhead comments for this page. They are community notes, not TheWoWDB comments.
Details
- Points
- None (Feat of Strength)
- Faction
- Both factions
More like this
Other achievements in Dungeons.
Community notes from Wowhead · 2 comments
Top 1 shown above · 1 more hereThe comments below were written by Wowhead users. They are community notes, not TheWoWDB comments. See them in context on Wowhead.
As of the current alpha (04/09/14) this achievement shows six dungeons. However a blizzard tweet confirmed that there will be EIGHT dungeons at launch.