No Nerfs For Challenge Modes

If at all feasible, we're not going to be adjusting the content itself. Persistent leaderboards are the backbone of the system, and if we make the dungeon easier, then your 14:13 time last week might actually be more impressive than my 14:05 clear today, but there would be no way of knowing that. It's conceivable that we might adjust the actual Gold/Silver/Bronze cutoff times slightly if it turns out we were badly off the mark with the tuning, but we're pretty confident in our numbers.

As far as composition goes, I can't promise that every possible composition will be able to get Gold. (Apologies in advance to the prospective monk/monk/monk/monk/monk groups out there.) Every composition will be able to get Silver (subject to some fairly basic ground rules such as "you have a healer"), and every class should have multiple viable group makeups in which it can obtain Gold, assuming masterful play.

09/12/2012 03:07 PMPosted by Thyranne

Can I do Temple of the Jade Serpent as many times as I want in challange mode per day? Or does it have a lock system?

You can run the same challenge mode dungeon as many times per day as you like.

09/12/2012 04:25 PMPosted by Wrathblood

It'll be a bit before we hear an answer on that one, as I suspect Watcher reacted to it with a "hmm, good question". I'm sure a dev somewhere has at least considered the question, but they might not have settled on their final answer yet.

We like the gameplay of adjusting talents to suit the situation. We don't like the gameplay of cycling through power cooldown talents to effectively benefit from an entire tier of choices simultaneously. Our plan is to allow the former while disallowing the latter.

Does this mean you have a workaround for the dreaded "You have entered too many instances recently" or will this be popping up during challenge modes?

I am specifically thinking of running in engaging boss 1, failing somehow and resetting. Rinse and repeat that 5x on the current system (Assuming reseting a challenge mode works like resetting a normal instance) and youll be locked out for an hour minus however long it took you to wipe those 5x.

Challenge modes have a special reset system. The party leader can instantly reset a challenge run from inside the instance via a menu dropdown from his or her unitframe. The group gets ported back to the entrance, and everything in the instance reverts to its original state. There's no limit on how often you can do that. You may still want to finish a somewhat botched run though, if you aren't capped on Valor for the week, since each completed run will award Valor.

What's the word on profession items and weird items such as Nifty Stopwatch, Potions of Speed, Swift Boots, Rocket Boots, netherweave nets, flasks, food and other "creative items"

There are no restrictions on items or consumables.

09/13/2012 12:38 PMPosted by Skrimshaw

This is probably a stupid question, but I'm assuming no loot or gold drops off mobs in challenge modes, yes? Otherwise wouldn't gold farmers just endlessly reset them?

No loot or gold drops in challenge modes, though you will get Valor Points for any and all completions (up to the weekly cap, of course). Challenge modes are something you do once you are fully equipped with dungeon-or-better gear.

Because no loot or gold can be obtained, we'll be disabling durability loss in challenge modes.