[Ret] Gold Challenge Mode optimisation ?

[Estarius]

Hello everybody,

I am planning on starting doing the challenge mode with the intent of reaching Gold medal for each of them... Since the max iLvl is 476, I was wondering if there was some kind of optimized set to look for to do these challenges.

Has anyone done it as a ret paladin ? What were the most important part of succeeding, some special tier bonus, stats, gems ?

Which classes/setup works the best with us ?

Thanks !

[Liquidevil]

Just get head with non legendary meta, and back, and get new glyph for SaC

[Estarius]

As a melee dps you want a setup that has no other melee, as challenge modes (to a competitive level) do not like melee dps at all, generally speaking though, hunter/ele shaman/BM monk/Disc priest would be your most ideal combo.

Is the difference so big between ranged and melee DPS in golden CM that I should focus on making a prot set just for this ?

[Octa]

Is the difference so big between ranged and melee DPS in golden CM that I should focus on making a prot set just for this ?

It depends WHO you are doing CMs with. If you're planning on pugging them, it will be MUCH easier finding a group as a tank than as a ret paladin. If you've got a group of friends who wanna do them, ret is probably more than fine. Remember, prot and ret want to gear almost the exact same for these (change in expertise as preference and different weapons MAYBE different trinkets.) so even if you gear for one or the other, know how to play both.

[NightKnight87]

Which would be the best trinkets for challenge modes?

[Octa]

Which would be the best trinkets for challenge modes?

I used Lei Shen's final Orders and the DMF trinket when I did them as ret. CDs line up nicely and have good passives/procs. This was at the start of ToT.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Is the difference so big between ranged and melee DPS in golden CM that I should focus on making a prot set just for this ?

If all you want is a gold time, you can do all of them with two melee dps. It does make things a lot harder on your healer though.

[Deleted]

Any tank/DPS/healer setup can do full gold, some easier than others.

[Deleted]

First time I did challenge modes as a Prot Warr, we had the set up of:

Prot Warr
Feral Druid
Frost DK
Assassination Rogue
Disc Priest

3 melee / no heroism.

We got all on gold comfortably (apart from Stormstout Brewery which we beat by 1sec due to missing 1 mob and having to run back through the instance after killing last boss lol!).

As long as your group know what they are doing/how to play their class, you can do CM golds with any set up.

That being said, I'm now running through them to get gold modes on my Prot Pala, with the set up of:

Prot Pala
Combat Rogue
BM Hunter
Elem Shaman
Disc Priest

1 melee/2 range/with hero - crazy how much easier it is..

[Iltareh]

Ret Paladin is very strong in challenge modes. As far as dps goes, ranks higher than any other melee class. Rogues and warriors have greater utility, dks are stronger in certain cases for utility. In general, ret is stronger on trash because of Sacrifice and LoH. Synergizes particularly well with DK tanks.

As far as optimization goes, look up Heratli or Iltareh from Thunderlord server on wowarmory (US). Heratli is my alliance alt I run CMs on on that side, Iltareh is my main. Look at Heratli as far as gear is concerned.

I haven't had a set group to go for times yet, but mainly just 'carry' friends through them.

You want max sockets in each slot. Red slots are best since 1str>2haste at low item levels, though gemming either way is fine. Avoid gemming for expertise or hit since it is not downscaled like the other stats on your armor itself. The fewer pieces of armor you can use the better.

As for trinkets much of it is preference and some can be based on the dungeon. Darkmoon Faire relics are the favorite of most since the uptime is great and they dont scale down as hard as others - i.e. their stats are generally better. As for the second trinket it's really a toss up. I personally like Fabled Feather. The cleave trinket is bad, but Paragon trinkets is good. Execution Sentence timed with the last tick is very strong, but you're typically running LH unless the RP gives you a few seconds out of combat before a boss (ssb final boss, where single target is very important, scholo last boss + lilian).

Final Orders is a pretty bad trinket.

Hellscream weapons are bis for every class because of the 2 sockets (red) and especially because of the improved socket bonus. (120 vs 60 str). ToT weapons with the legendary extra socket work as well. 1s in helm+oldstr+crit damage meta, 1 socket in neck (2 for healers) 2 sockets shoulder (3 if you do normal mode or higher Garrosh Hellscream), 1 cape, 3 chest 180 str socket bonus 1 bracer (preferably double haste random bindings off primordius and i think horridon if i remember correctly), 2 gloves, 3 belt (with living steel belt buckle) 3 legs, 2 boots, 1 for each ring.

If you have any questions or would like me to look at you you can add Heratli#1920. I don't browse here too often.

[nightfalls]

As everyone said, Gold is doable with any standard comp.

You want to get ICD trinkets, gear with sockets (also remember, that the only "Legendary" that works is the socket), and gear with the ideal stats (hit/exp cap > haste) without paying attention to item level. Since the LMG doesn't work, get the regular Meta. The Cloak itself is fine because of its stats (even if it is scaled down). Basically remove item level from the equation and look at stats + sockets only.

Playing, I'd recommend Glyph of Hand of Sac for your tank, and Glyph of TV for yourself. Other glyphs are discretionary, for instance Divine Protection for physical damage instances, Blinding Light if you need the CC, etc. Perhaps consider Hammer over Execution Sentence? (Not sure on this).

Do not forget that you can switch talents out of combat.

[Vash The Stampede]

Hard getting people who would bring a Ret to challenge modes. Even with my offspec as proc, people would rather take other tanks. The only spec they seem to allow is Holy.

[Deleted]

Hellscream weapons are bis for every class

Actually they don't, weapons from ToT are bis because you can add extra socket on them.

And pretty much everything said is true, retribution paladin is really strong (well, for a melee) in CM, you have many tools and one of the greatest burst of the game. Don't bother about the gear, just get enchanted,gemmed and capped correctly, everything else is important only if you want to get good timers and not only gold.

[Iltareh]

Actually they don't, weapons from ToT are bis because you can add extra socket on them.

And pretty much everything said is true, retribution paladin is really strong (well, for a melee) in CM, you have many tools and one of the greatest burst of the game. Don't bother about the gear, just get enchanted,gemmed and capped correctly, everything else is important only if you want to get good timers and not only gold.

ToT weapons have one<--- socket that you add a second to.

Hellscream weapons are two sockets with the extra 60 str on the socket bonus.

[Aqua]

Is the difference so big between ranged and melee DPS in golden CM that I should focus on making a prot set just for this ?

I will say you'll have a less horrible time of it as prot. And don't get me wrong I love ret. But for the intents and purposes of this. Prot gave me less stress once I read all the tanking strategies than being a liability as melee. (you don't want 2 melee...I'm sorry but there's maybe one encounter that favors or doesn't discriminate against a melee setup, ain't worth it.)

If you can play Prot and you have a half way decent prot set, go for it. Or heal, Holy can manage CM's handily too.

[Kinmaul]

Things you need to have ready are a couple of stacks of Invisibility Potions, flasks, and food. Also be sure to have a few stacks of 'Tome of the Clear Mind' in your bags as swapping talents based on trash or boss can shave additional seconds off the clock. Any gear over 463 ilvl is scaled down to 463, but hit/exp are left alone so that you don't have to reforge specifically for challenge modes. Here is a video guide for each CM dungeon.

Scarlet Halls
Gate of the Setting Sun
Scholomance
Mogu'shan Palace
Temple of the Jade Serpent
Siege of Niuzao Temple
Shado-Pan Monastery
Stormstout Brewery
Scarlet Monastery

You'll have to tailor those a bit to match your comp, but they are a great starting point and much better than going in blind.

Take clemency and have a macro for Hand of Sacrifice on your tank; the extra tank cd makes a big difference for the hard hitting packs. Have a macro for Sacred Shield and keep it on the tank as well. Also I would highly recommend getting a disc priest for your healer. Atonement healing is amazing for challenge modes because they put out respectable dps while keeping everyone alive. A good disc priest can shave a lot of time off your run.

Your healer should have plenty of Restorative Amber. The tooltip says "over 20 seconds" but it actually happens over 10 seconds which means its much faster than normal food for restoring mana. This may have been hot-fixed, so you'll have to test it. Also your healer can click off the buff to break out of the amber early if needed.

[Virsta1]

ToT weapons have one<--- socket that you add a second to.

Hellscream weapons are two sockets with the extra 60 str on the socket bonus.

ToT weapons are 100% BiS. Some Garrosh weapons could be BiS depending on the class, but most of the BiS Cmode weapons comes from ToT

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Actually, some reforging is kinda wonky, when I go in to CMs with a 15% expertise/7.5% hit set up I end up with a bit too much hit and about 13% expertise. I have to reforge to something like 16.5% expertise for it to be at 15% in the instance.

[Iltareh]

ToT weapons are 100% BiS. Some Garrosh weapons could be BiS depending on the class, but most of the BiS Cmode weapons comes from ToT

In other words, always but sometimes?

[Deleted]

I don't think Lei Shen's Final Orders it's a bad choice, especially if you are going to do fast runs due to it's low ICD. I've used it in CMs and +30 endless proving grounds as ret and his proc it's very meaningful.

In other words, always but sometimes?

For example, if you are elemental shaman you want ToT haste+mastery dagger with 2 sockets +60 int and SoO spirit+mastery shield with 1 socket +60 int over SoO heirloom spirit+mastery staff with 2 sockets +120 int and SoO heirloom spirit+haste shield with no sockets.