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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsSpeeding up Trial of the Champion
by Amanda Miller 
Aug 20th 2009 at 3:00PM
Trial of the Champion, the latest dungeon, has quickly become a popular daily destination. It's no wonder why; in under half an hour, with little difficulty, you can begin outfitting your character(s) with epics of Ulduar quality!
At first, I wasn't sure if I agreed with Blizzard's decision to start handing out welfare epics again. Surely we can't be that close to the next expansion, Cataclysm!
Then I realized how easily I could now gear one of my alts, which was something previously impossible to me. Being a main healer, I knew I would never have the opportunity to bring an alt to a raid, so my favorites have not even hit 80 yet. Now that I know I could get them Ulduar-ready in such a short time, I have renewed interest in leveling them.
I can also see why Blizzard would want to help players gear up at this point in time. In Burning Crusade, so few people got to see Sunwell and experience what the expansion was all about, that this time around, they seem to be gunning for the general raiding population to reach Arthas (Icecrown Citadel).
Having accepted this acceleration in "progress," I was left with one major qualm.
The introduction to Trial of the Champion, which must be endured each run, is way too long. Unbearably long. Go and make a triple-decker sandwich long.
Then a few guildmates and I discovered that there is indeed a way to hasten the process.
While the other members of your party are finishing up their battleground, taking a bio break, and insisting on making that sandwich, all it takes is for one member to get there early.
Walk in, start up the introduction, and saunter back out. Go raid the fridge or make some coffee. Start piling random objects on your cat.
When your whole group finally arrives, the enemy will be lined up neatly waiting for you. They will sit quietly while you mount your steeds, buff up, and talk strategy. Feel free to proceed as normal; you'll be able to pull each group at a time, and nothing about the dungeon will be amiss.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Tricks, Alts
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 5)
Scott Clark Aug 20th 2009 3:28PM
Actually, this does speed up the intro time considerably. When starting ToC, we have one member go in and start the introductions while the others remain outside. In doing so, the single player inside the instance is the only one introduced and cheered for. Once the opponents begin to be introduced, everybody else runs in and mounts up. This reduces the introductions from five to one, and it's good to know that we can reduce them once more without messing anything up!
Porky Aug 20th 2009 3:48PM
See, now THIS is a tip that will actually speed things up!
Thanks very much Scott, I'll be trying this later this evening. +1 internets for you.
purpletigerdevil2 Aug 20th 2009 4:03PM
I was going to mention this as well. Glad to know I'm not the only one not afraid to break the instance by trying something outside of the box.
Zonique Aug 20th 2009 7:10PM
Did you actually READ the article? this is one of the main points...
Maybe absorb the information before jumping on the stupid comment bandwagon
Yukeake Aug 20th 2009 3:29PM
What they *should* do is offer the player a way to advance the proceedings, without the silly running out, or leaving the rest of the party out "tricks".
For example, The Black Knight could 100% drop a rotten tomato (or some other form of decaying or smelly vegetable matter), which can be thrown at the opposing faction leader (or Tirion/Jaina?) during the intro - causing him/her to call for *immediate* action. This would force folks to sit through it once (their first time through), but on subsequent attempts be able to speed along into the first encounter, without all the lead-up. (Plus it'd be fun to taunt Varian ;P )
Obeyfez Aug 20th 2009 3:35PM
I like this idea, but if Blizzard wants to make it even simpler, just allow us to click twice on the guy in the middle like we can do in Halls of Stone with Brann Bronzebeard. No intros, just bring in the champions of the opposing faction.
t0xic Aug 20th 2009 3:58PM
Once Blizz is convinced that the majority of the player base is sick of the dialog they will probably shorten it up or add a way to skip it. This is just like cold weather flying. They want everyone to experience the content before they "nerf" it.
Hendrata Aug 20th 2009 3:30PM
While we're talking about "welfare epics" I have a question:
how geared must you be before starting ToC or H ToC?
I have alts that are about to hit 80, and alts that already hit 80 and can do heroics fine but certainly not enough for Naxx25 yet. If he is geared for Naxx 10 can he run normal ToC?
Aldheim Aug 20th 2009 3:39PM
Oh. Oh yes. Normal ToC is a cakewalk. It's probably on level with an easy heroic like Utgarde Keep. If you can do any heroics, you can do normal ToC.
Heroic Trial of the Champion does require a bit more, especially from the healer and tank. The Champions can be a bear to get through. (NOTE: I am an Alliance player, so I only know the Horde champions- maybe the Alliance guys are pushovers.) Your tank has to be able to take damage and hold aggro against three no-joke bosses at once, which can be problematic, especially depending on the make-up of the encounter. (Rogue = bad, m'kay?)
Eadric the Pure is simple on heroic. The only real problem is whether you have somebody on the ball to cleanse Hammer of Justice. If you do, it's no problem. Argent Confessor Paletress, on the other hand, can be very difficult, as some of her attacks can nearly one-shot a non-tank.
Black Knight requires your tank to be very good about movement and AoE aggro, and everybody has to be aware of their surroundings to not get blown up by ghouls.
Mostly, though, this is a healer and tank check- if you're a competent DPS, you shouldn't have a lot of problems.
Omegan01 Aug 20th 2009 4:08PM
"(NOTE: I am an Alliance player, so I only know the Horde champions- maybe the Alliance guys are pushovers.)"
The Alliance and Horde chapions are exactly the same, barring skin changes.
catharsis80 Aug 20th 2009 4:10PM
Yes, and for those of us who haven't been to even Naxx10 but a couple times, farming normal 5-man ToC is great. I still have yet to do it, though, but someone in our guild already has.
jc Aug 20th 2009 3:58PM
Wouldn't this only work on alliance side, as the alliance champions line up right at the entrance so when you walk in you'd get ganked?
WoWie Zowie Aug 20th 2009 5:00PM
just wanted to rap on my experience getting the epic plate for my fresh 80 DK:
i got 5 drops in 2 runs of H ToC
it felt like christmas in august, i could swap out my quest greens with epixxxx
until i noticed that hmmm i'm not hitting much anymore.
then i saw my hit rating dropped to 104.
soooo ya, i had to go back and re-equip quest greens with hit on them for the time being.
looks like H ToC isn't a free pass to end game. you still have to run naxx/ulduar to get items with hit on them.
inexodus Aug 20th 2009 5:06PM
You don't even need to zone out, just don't stay in the center.
I have the engineering Wormhole Generator so it's a super fast trip for me to the tourney and I usually beat my group. Mount up, talk to the guy, and sit near the portal. I've never once agroed, the opponents just wait patiently in the middle for the rest of your group to show up.
It seems like the announcer might still mention people who zone in while he's talking, but I haven't payed close enough attention to confirm that.
Kanap Aug 20th 2009 6:07PM
I make everyone run out when i run this in either Heroic or Normal. I know its a bug but i have had the warrior bug out after we beat all three members the warrior manages to remount....This has only happened two maybe three times i believe.
busuan Aug 20th 2009 6:24PM
The re-mount is not a bug; you need to constantly 'trample' them after you knock him down.
The bug is after re-mount, he is not killable!
Kanap Aug 20th 2009 6:37PM
No he remounts after the champion's have all been defeated. they all have 1 health and are walking away then he manages to remount and is unkillable.
Bill Aug 21st 2009 1:52PM
Yeah thanks for the tip. You mention on the show right after the release well you never mention after starting it just saunter back out. well i was like this is great until people started to show up and third guy in it started sure enough killed us all because we were just standing. I'll try it again and be sure to saunter back out.
rarrzero Aug 20th 2009 9:18PM
It's not that long. Calm down and enjoy a WotLK instance that isn't just running in and randomly killing things.
Shane Aug 20th 2009 10:00PM
So I read a trick on Tankspot.com, treid it and its perfect.
So Each Champion can be Taunted after they get knocked off. So when the last champion is about 50%, have the tank dismount. He then runs over to the first champion on the ground, taunt and do a threat move, and then to the 2nd Champion once its refreshed. Then when the third champion is dismounted thats all you have to Pick up as the other two will already be on you. O M G and you feel cool when you group didn't run out for the first time.