Blizzard Dev's vs Blood Legion

09/25/2012 01:18 PMPosted by Zhenlei

A lot of their tactics involved AoE stuns and the like. Also, their tank was not susceptible to some of the major boss attacks BL was having problems with because of a DK ability. Part of their tactic was developing a team that didnt require as many heals, so that they could knock out as much DPS as possible. Other classes also have abilities that incorporate minor self heals. Also there was a difference in healing, because as a Paladin healer you have to allow your target to take damage before you heal, or you will go oom in no time. As a priest, you dont have that issue and can target/aoe heal the second you start taking damage. Paladins are not as well designed to heal as priests are. Also, shields.

So what you're saying is ... Blizzard devs are the best.

09/25/2012 03:27 PMPosted by Psynister

I don't have to try it out. I watch the video and can actually see what the priest is casting. Like Conductivity, Atonement should allow the priest to DPS during times of light damage. I just watched a video where 90% of a speed run challenge mode dungeon was "light damage"

It's amazing how player synergy goes a long way. Sure, some dungeons Challenges will favor some classes or class combinations over others, but that hardly matters if each class isn't using every tool in their arsenal to benefit the entire group most effectively. Our team had a healer. But they also devised extremely calculated strategies with every pull to take as much of the healing burden off their priest as possible. Their healer would've been in much more trouble had the rest of the group not executed CC with complete efficiency. They min-maxed the dungeon and had it down to a science, which is what groups will have to do if they want to top the Leaderboards. ;)

To speak to both posts below, the main reason I love the design philosophy of Challenge Modes is that they'll still cater to a wide range of endgame players. There isn't a huge barrier to entry in World of Warcraft for manually forming a group of five capable, moderately coordinated players. Once you do, you'll find that bronze is very accessible with decent clears of Challenge dungeons without any major disasters (i.e. repeated wipes on bosses). Perform that way in all nine dungeons in Challenge Mode and you'll unlock the title "Challenge Conqueror."

If your group is well coordinated, or takes the time to gain more experience in bronze-medal clears, you'll probably enjoy the task of hitting silver. Get silver times in all nine and you'll get a sweet mount. And by the way, if you're good enough from the start the awards will be retroactive -- winning silver on your first clear of a Challenge dungeon will count toward the bronze achievement as well.

But gold is going to be quite difficult. It's going to take a lot of practice and coordination for most people. That's how you get the unique Transmogrification sets that have some insane visual effects specific to each class. You can see images of the sets and Leaderboard samples on our Facebook album.

The Leaderboards definitely won't be for everyone. But it's also likely players who work hard toward gold might feel compelled to outdo themselves, or their realm or guild mates. But getting to the top of the Leaderboards will no doubt be for extremely skilled, relatively hardcore players.

The added difficulty in this dungeon setting, requirement to manually create a group, item scaling to prevent out-gearing, and awards/bragging rights that cater to a healthy breadth of players, is what we hope will make it a popular new system in the game. :)

Lead encounter designer Ion Hazzikostas spoke eloquently about the system in a few great interviews last week. I encourage you to check them out:

TankSpot
Convert to Raid
Twizzcast

09/25/2012 02:07 PMPosted by Jessebella

Part of my soul died when they said a gold was 12 minutes... and a bronze was 40.

09/25/2012 04:58 PMPosted by Bomdanil

They min-maxed the dungeon and had it down to a science, which is what groups will have to do if they want to top the Leaderboards. ;)

I doubt more than a handful care about the leaderboards, I know speed runs aren't something I find particularly interesting any way (having to beat a clock... woo so challenging), so long as they get their gold medal.