Posts with tag Challenger

Game Designer Watcher, gadabout eye of wealth and taste, announced that the Scholomance and Gate of the Setting Sun challenge modes are now available for testing. He also provided some more details about how challenge modes are going to work.

Watcher - Challenge Mode Testing

Yes, just those two dungeons for now.

A few relevant testing notes:

• You must have completed the Heroic version of the dungeon once in order to attempt the challenge mode.
• Item level will be normalized to 463.
• There is no queue system for challenge modes; groups must be formed manually and you must zone in from the outside world.
• While the challenge is active, the group leader may Reset the dungeon at any time via a drop-down accessible by right-clicking your unit frame.

source

He then clarified in two additional posts that item level on live will only be normalized down to 463, and not up to 463 from a lower ilevel. Also, challenge modes grant no loot at all, only valor points for completion, and using the challenge mode reset feature does not count against the dungeon reset lockout limit currently in place. So if you're planning on spending a lot of time running challenge modes, these are all details of interest to you.

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It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

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The top arena teams of Season 4 have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of their rewards since the launch of patch 3.0.2, but things haven't turned out quite right. The Customer Service forum is full of reports of titles not being handed out correctly, and an ongoing Blizzard investigation into the matter. A little digging of our own (and a firsthand account from our Rogue guru Chase Christian) confirms that there's a problem, but obviously we don't know the cause.

In a lot of cases, the top (the tippy-top, the #1) team in a bracket is receiving the title of Duelist, when they should be getting Brutal Gladiator and their Netherdrake pets. Players with a rating of 2100 or higher are earning only the Challenger title in some cases, and I think it's very, very safe to say that those players would be in a bracket higher than just the top 35%. Season 4 is not exactly known for having a glut of people nearing the 2200 needed for shoulders.

Season 4 starts next week. As a result, this coming weekend is going to be a gladiatorial weekend for many folks, fighting to get their Arena rating high enough to score end of season rewards. Blizzard has posted (on both US and EU forums) a reiteration of the criteria to be considered for those rewards -- they look pretty much the same as they have before.

The requirements for a team to be considered for end of season rewards are:

• The team must have played at least 20 games during the season.
• The team must have at least one player that has played in 20% or more of the total games for that team.

Players on a team that qualifies for consideration, must do the below to be counted:

• The player must have played in 20% or more of the total games for that team
• The player must have a Personal Rating that is not more than 100 points lower than the Team Rating (your Personal Rating may be higher, however).

So, there it is. If you want to be considered for one of the coveted Arena titles, you must meet the above criteria. Good luck!

Vims has already speculated on when Arena Season 4 will arrive, pegging it somewhere around early to mid-June. I tend to agree with that statement as Blizzard has noted on several occasions that Season 4 isn't coming anytime soon. Considering that none of servers worldwide have even opened the second gate in Sunwell Plateau, it means that equivalent level PvE items won't be cascading into the player base for quite some time. This gives players roughly around a month and two weeks to prepare for the next Arena season, if not longer.

Banking ahead
Because Arena points are capped at 5,000, players with enough Arena gear can start banking points in preparation for the new season. If gear prices remain the same (which is likely as prices have been constant through Seasons 1-3), players can open the Arena week with 3/5 Brutal Gladiator pieces: the gloves, which are priced at 1,125 Arena points during the current season; and any two of the chestpiece, headpiece, or leg piece, which go for 1,875 points. It is also possible to purchase the 1,500 points worth shoulder piece on the first week if players manage to raise their personal rating to a highly restrictive 2200 if the speculated changes make it live. Because personal ratings are calculated directly after each game, it is possible to purchase the personal ratings-limited shoulder pieces or weapons provided the player has enough points during the first week.