Challenge Mode

A screenshot of a player's best times, viewable through the Roster tab of their Guild.

Previewed at BlizzCon 2011, Challenge Modes was a new system of dungeon challenges, like time trials. Players race to the end of the dungeon, competing for fast times in order to win medals (Gold, Silver, or Bronze).

In Legion

This section concerns content exclusive to Legion.

Challenge Mode receives an upgrade in the World of Warcraft: Legion expansion, approached as a small step above heroic mode. A [Challenger's Keystone] can be used by an interested player:

• Points to a random Legion dungeon
• Power level determines difficulty and reward
  • Progression has no current cap
• May have additional modifiers
• Beat the timer to upgrade the stone in order to access higher difficulty and, thus, higher rewards
• Failing results in depletion of the stone, but participants still receive loot

Additional dungeon modifiers might include:

• Enemies enraging at 30% health
• Extra enemies
• Corpses exploding shortly after death
• Periodic damage over time taken by group members

Rewards:

• Loot chest at the end of each run
• Jackpot for highest level completed each week
• Alternate path to raiding

End of season

The Mists of Pandaria Challenge Modes season ended before the Warlords of Draenor expansion.

Changes after season ended:

• Achievements: All achievements associated with Mists of Pandaria Challenge Modes will become Feats of Strength.
• Rewards
  • Bronze: The “<Name the Undaunted>^ω ϖ” title for achieving a full set of Bronze medals will become account-wide.
  • Silver: The Pandaren Phoenix mounts awarded for a full set of Silver medals will become account-wide. If any character on an account has earned a full set of Silver medals, all four variants of the Pandaren Phoenix ([Crimson], [Ashen], [Violet], and [Emerald]) will become available to all characters account-wide.
  • Gold: The cosmetic class sets will remain character-specific. Any character that has earned all nine Gold medals will still be able to repurchase the appropriate set, should they misplace theirs, from  Challenger Soong or  Challenger Wuli in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Any characters that have earned one or more “Challenger’s Path” teleport spells by earning Gold medals in Mists Challenge Modes will retain those spells.
  • Realm Best Titles: There are extremely limited titles that are held by the players who hold the best clear time for a given dungeon on a given server. Since those Challenge dungeons will no longer be available in Warlords of Draenor, their respective titles are also being permanently removed. However, players with the best clear time for any challenge mode dungeon on a server will be awarded the title of "Mistwalker." There will be new Challenge dungeons in the upcoming Warlords season, and new titles for which to contend, however.

Background

From the official World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria website:

The clock is ticking. Your group is making good progress, but you realize that if you don't hurry and work as a team, you will never make it in time. You approach the dungeon's last boss with a look of grim determination on your face; you will get that gold medal this time, come what may. He's almost down, but there are only seconds left on the timer. You yell at your group mates to give it their all for one last push, fingers flying across your keyboard. Finally he drops, and your group screams triumphantly: you've beaten the dungeon's best time. You've mastered its Challenge Mode.

Information

From the official World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria website:

Mists of Pandaria's Challenge Mode presents a new way to reward great team players and seasoned dungeon specialists. The idea is simple: if you select Challenge Mode for a dungeon, you and your group will be racing against the clock to finish the dungeon as quickly as possible. The faster you finish, the greater your reward.

You select Challenge Mode before you enter a dungeon. In this mode, your objective is to clear the instance and down all the dungeon's bosses as fast as you can. Your gear will be normalized, meaning that instead of your own equipment you will be fighting using a set of items that's appropriate for the instance. That way, the challenge level will be equal for all players. Depending on how quickly you clear the dungeon, your group can earn one of three possible medals: gold, silver, or bronze. Working together as a team, communicating well, and supporting and encouraging each other is the best way to get those shiny gold medals.

So practice your pulls, lay out your strategies, and remember that communication and coordination are key. Challenge Mode is coming. Are you ready?

• Challenge modes should be enabled for all 6 of the expected Pandaria dungeons and the 3 updated dungeons.
• Challenge mode runs will be cross-realm.
• *Note - Mists of Pandaria Challenge modes will be retired in the Warlords of Draenor pre-patch 6.0 to prepare for the upcoming versions. All Challenge mode achievements, from Mists of Pandaria, will be converted to Feats of Strength.

Restrictions

Item level

• Any gear worn above item level 463 will be scaled down.
• Gear will retain all hit and expertise, so players can remain capped. Stats that will be scaled down are secondary ones.

Challenge

Level 90 or 100 Heroic mode dungeons

• Challenge Modes are timed heroic instance runs.
• For level 90 dungeons: Gear over 463 is scaled down to 463.
• For level 100 dungeons: Gear over 630 is scaled down to 630.

Results and rewards

Rewards are received at the end of each challenge. The best rewards are given to those who can achieve gold medals. Things such as armor, titles, and mounts have been mentioned as possible rewards for those who are willing enough to complete the hardest difficulty and earn a gold medal.

• There are three tiers of achievements and rewards: gold, silver, and bronze.
• Player's UI will show medal tabulation, record times, rewards, and how much time mid-run until you hit the next bracket.
• Completing any challenge mode will reward an achievement specific to that dungeon: dungeon name Challenger

Note: It is not clear if Wowhead DB info was actually pulled from game data or manually inserted based on observation or speculation.

General rewards

Note: This is a generic section stub. You can help expand it by clicking  Edit to the right of the section title.

• Completing any challenge level on all dungeons gives the reward:  Challenge Conqueror^ω ϖ

Gold rewards

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Screenshot of a player receiving a Gold Medal.

Achievement and item

• Completing individual dungeons at gold level gives an achievement: dungeon name: Gold
  • It appears that completing a dungeon challenge mode on Gold will unlock an ability called [Challenger's Path], enabling you to instantly teleport to that dungeon's entrance whenever you choose.
• Completing the Gold level on all dungeons rewards an achievement,  Challenge Conqueror: Gold^ω ϖ and a full set of class-specific transmogrifiable armor.
• Completing the Gold level on all dungeons while in a guild group rewards an achievement,  Challenge Conquerors: Gold - Guild Edition^ω ϖ, and the [Thundering Serpent Hatchling] companion.
• First player on a realm to complete Gold level on all dungeons gets:  Realm First! Challenge Conqueror: Gold^ω ϖ

Non-item

• As of β Patch 5.0.1 build 15781, gold level rewards 60 [Valor points].
  • By Patch 5.0.3 build 15882, gold level rewards may have been reduced to 10 [Valor points], but now includes 177,000 XP and 14 88 50.

Silver rewards

Note: This is a generic section stub. You can help expand it by clicking  Edit to the right of the section title.

Achievement and item

• Completing individual dungeons at silver level gives an achievement: dungeon name: Silver
• Completing the Silver level (or better) on all dungeons rewards an achievement,  Challenge Conqueror: Silver^ω ϖ, and an [Ancestral Phoenix Egg]^ω ϖ (Bind on Pickup). The egg can be redeemed from Kai Featherfall <Phoenix Egg Trader>^ω ϖ in Mogu'shan Palace for one of the following mounts:
  • [Reins of the Ashen Pandaren Phoenix]
  • [Reins of the Emerald Pandaren Phoenix]
  • [Reins of the Violet Pandaren Phoenix]
  • [Reins of the Crimson Pandaren Phoenix]
• Completing the Silver level on all dungeons while in a guild group rewards an achievement,  Challenge Conquerors: Silver - Guild Edition^ω ϖ.

Non-item

• As of β Patch 5.0.1 build 15781, silver level rewards 50 [Valor points].
  • By Patch 5.0.3 build 15882, silver level rewards may have been reduced to 10 [Valor points], but now includes 177,000 XP and 14 88 50

Bronze rewards

Note: This is a generic section stub. You can help expand it by clicking  Edit to the right of the section title.

Achievement and item

• Completing individual dungeons at bronze level gives an achievement: dungeon name: Bronze
• Completing the Bronze level on all dungeons rewards an achievement and title,  Challenge Conqueror: Bronze^ω ϖ a
• d <The Undaunted>.
• Completing the Bronze level on all dungeons while in a guild group rewards an achievement,  Challenge Conquerors: Bronze - Guild Edition^ω ϖ.

Non-item

• As of β Patch 5.0.1 build 15781, bronze level rewards 40 [Valor points].
  • By Patch 5.0.3 build 15882, bronze level rewards may have been reduced to 5 [Valor points], but now includes 177,000 XP and 14 88 50

Challenges finder

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Starting a challenge mode instance can be done through the Dungeon Finder window via the "Challenges" tab.

Challenges

Leaderboard

Example leaderboard for participants

Challenge participants can compare their performance to others who attempted the various challenges, their ranks, times and medals. The UI will give info about potential rewards based on the medals achieved.

Realm and Challenge-mode leaderboards

From Wowhead News:

• Once players have beaten all the gold achievements, they have access to a realm leaderboard.
• Challenge-mode leaderboards allow players to filter by instance, time, and by guild.
• They will also be sortable by region and realm.

External links

WoW Official Game Site (US) Challenge Modes

WoW Official Game Site (EU) Challenge Modes

Achievements

WoWDB Achievements > Character > Dungeons & Raids > Dungeon Challenges

WoWDB Achievements > Guild > Dungeons & Raids > Dungeon Challenges

Wowhead Character Achievements > Dungeons & Raids > Dungeon Challenges

Wowhead Guild Achievements > Dungeons & Raids > Dungeon Challenges

Guides

Wowhead Warlords of Draenor Challenge Mode Guide by Wowhead

Wowhead Challenge Mode Guide: Rewards, Narrated Videos, Rules, and Useful Items by Wowhead

News

WoW Official Game Site (US) World of Warcraft: Legion World and Content Panel Blizzard Entertainment 11/6/2015

WoW Official Game Site (EU) World of Warcraft: Legion World and Content Panel Blizzard Entertainment 06/11/2015

WoW Official Game Site (US) Challenge Mode End of Season Early Warning *Update 4/2 Blizzard Entertainment 4/2/2014

WoW Official Game Site (EU) Challenge Mode End of Season Early Warning *Update 4/2 Blizzard Entertainment 02/04/2014

Wowhead News Challenge Mode Guide: Rewards, Narrated Videos, Rules and Useful Items by perculia 2013/02/16 11:52 AM

WoW Official Game Site (US) Unique Challenge Mode Gear Effects by Bashiok, Oct 23, 2012 9:58 AM PDT

WoW Official Game Site (EU) Unique Challenge Mode Gear Effects by Bashiok, 23 Oct 2012 18:00 BST

Wowhead News Mists of Pandaria: Challenge Modes by perculia 2012/09/15 2:06 PM

WoW Insider Challenge modes provide new teleportation options by Chase Hasbrouck Jul 27th 2012 at 6:00PM

Wowhead News Mists of Pandaria: Challenge Modes by perculia 2012/07/21 10:56 AM

WoW Insider Mists of Pandaria: Dungeons and challenge mode by Alex Ziebart Mar 19th 2012 at 3:01AM