Be sure to tune in on Friday, November 16 at 5:30 p.m. PDT for Day One of the Battle.net World Championship to watch the Opening Ceremonies. Then, at 7:30 p.m. PDT, witness five-player teams from each of Asia’s top raiding guilds, Stars and Supreme Quicksand, prove their mettle by competing simultaneously in the Dungeon Challenge, a Challenge Mode race through Shado-pan Monastery, Scarlet Halls, and Stormstout Brewery. Each team must use only a single party composition throughout the competition, and only the most skilled players will turn in the fastest time to emerge victorious.
Let’s briefly take a look at each of these dungeons to see what the competitors are in for.
Shado-pan Monastery
War has spread across Pandaria, and the destructive conflict between the Horde and Alliance has led to turmoil in the majestic Shado-pan Monastery. There, three malevolent entities--the Sha of Violence, the Sha of Hatred, and the Sha of Anger--have erupted from their prisons. Although the Sha of Anger fled the secluded monastery completely, the remaining sha have begun wreaking havoc on the site's brave Shado-pan defenders.
Shado-pan Monastery could very well be the most difficult dungeon in the Challenge. It is the longest of the Challenge Mode dungeons in this group by a wide margin, and offers the least leeway in terms of tricks to get through faster. To succeed each team will have to display the utmost in coordination, extreme skill, and impeccable execution.
Scarlet Halls
The Crusade's fiercest warriors, those who have held their ground and fought to defend the monastery throughout these dark times, are rapidly preparing an army within the Scarlet Halls. These soldiers are bound by their hatred of the unliving, and they are willing to sacrifice everything for their order's righteous cause.
Scarlet Halls isn’t as grueling as Shado-pan Monastery, but it offers different opportunities and challenges. Look for tense moments in the opening stretch where competitors can make use of good timing to evade patrols and throw buckets of meat to distract guard dogs to forge a path to the first boss while only fighting a bare minimum of enemies. Scarlet Halls' most fearsome section is the Armory area right before Armsmaster Harlan. The Armory is criss-crossed by large patrolling groups of enemies reminiscent of Shattered Halls from The Burning Crusade.
Stormstout Brewery
When Chen Stormstout arrived in the Valley of the Four Winds, he journeyed to the renowned brewery of his namesake, hoping to connect with his relatives. What he found was his ancestral home in disarray. Under the watch of the incompetent Uncle Gao, loathsome virmen and unruly hozen have infiltrated the brewery, sparking a destructive revel that will soon devastate the region's supply of tasty beer.
Stormstout Brewery is packed wall to wall with fun and funny foes, but in Challenge Mode the humor takes a dark turn, for they all represent a deadly threat. Still, there are places where clever teams can shave precious time from their attempt, both the Hoptallus gauntlet and Ook Ook's party room offer clever players an opportunity to save massive amounts of time.
Previous Dungeon Challenges
This race wasn’t simultaneous, but you can check out these videos from the Challenge Mode race at the North American Mists of Pandaria launch event in for a taste of what is to come, including an introduction discussing what Challenge Modes are all about featuring Lead Encounter Designer Ion Hazzikostas:
Blizzard UX Team
Skip straight to the fight.
Blood Legion
Skip straight to the fight.
You can catch the live stream of the Battle.net World Championship Dungeon Challenge on the Battle.net World Championship site, and don’t forget to stick around to watch Arena battles featuring the best teams in the world.
Have you attempted these Challenge Mode dungeons? What would you warn others to watch out for?
