Never done a CM

[Number1gentleman]

Just get 4 friends with you, it's more fun that way (that's how I did mine)
1. everyone in the group watch the video
2. take a practice (in normal / heroic mode) my tank friend was leading the group (to remind us what to do on each pull, when we use heroism, pop cooldowns, use invis pots, skip mobs, CC, defensive cooldowns, and all that; practice makes perfect )
3. switch to the CM mode.

you wont get gold ASAP, it takes time & practice to get gold (that's how you get the experiences)
but you can always try it from the easiest - hardest.

Gate of Setting Sun was my 1st gold CM; to get the idea what's challenge mode dungeons about.

PS: make sure you're NOT using your helm (with the legendary gem) & the weapon with the legendary gem, cus theyre not working in CM.

[Raging Penguin]

I only got gold for scarlet halls, and that was when i did it with friends. Now that they stopped playing, i can't find anyone that's willing to let me join. I want to buy my carries but unfortunately i'm poor and the toon that i wanted to do it on is on a dead server so i can't buy any invisible pots even if someone is willing to take me.

[Mormolyce]

1) Roll a class everyone wants, that's typically either Ele sham or Frost mage. Also Blood DKs if they're looking for a tank (I got my first 9/9 on my DK), not as common though in my experience. Even if your main is not a suitable class, you'll need to get 9/9 on an alt so you can start getting invites.

2) Gear-wise, you want to gear more or less as normal (unless you're a healer in which case dump spirit and go for throughput) but maximise your number of sockets regardless of the item's ILVL (LFR SoO and ToT are great, also LFR MSV/HoF/ToES - that gear has fewer sockets but a very high drop rate if you're in a hurry). Gems and socket bonuses don't scale. Also make sure you aren't using a legendary meta in your helm. However the Eye of the Black Prince (ToT weapon socket from the legendary chain) DOES work, so ToT weapons are ideal. The cloak is also BiS or near BiS even though its proc is disabled.

3) Watch all the vids, learn all the strats. Very important. Stock up on lots of Invisibility Potions (not Lessers). If possible get yourself a battle horn, and also possibly a salyin battle banner. Also maybe an oddly shaped horn from Jade Forest.

4) Get a mic, install Vent, Mumble and Skype if you haven't already. You will need to communicate.

5) Patience! You won't get 9/9 on your first group (unless you're very lucky), some groups grind face on one gold all night and give up, others 1shot 5 in a row... stick with it and you'll get there.

[Lord Pebbleton]

Of course you were!

I hold the top WoL rankings for all fights in all classes but I keep them private so people don't feel bad...

You can choose not to believe me. Ain't trying to tell you I'm so good I could be boosting. I'm a decent player who never had a chance at CMs while people were still learning.

[Caliph]

I too havn't done any CM but not because of difficulty or anything like that. I dn't like corny timed runs. And i have all the classes "required" well "required" at launch to complete them just never bothered because it's so corny.

/flamesuit

[dajeremyhs]

I, too,had this problem. People hide behind a wall of achievements, and not even "the Proven Assailant" was enough for SILVER.
Here's what I did:

-Bought 20 Invisibility Potion
-Farmed 75k gold
-Bought a full 9/9 gold run

And that's it. Wowarmory says that the timer I got is the 100th in my server's ladder, and my server is pretty huge. I was doing more dps than the boosters.

Whoever did a run for 75k is lols

You better watch some runs in YT because dps isnt a cakewalk as you may think it is, more if you are melee.

It is a cakewalk, its an avoid everything and pop cds on aoe pulls cakewalk.
youtube DOT com /watch?v=wi6I3lC4Oxs MSP Gold 1 shot

Challenge modes are about a good leader making clear instuctions, and simple raid awareness. EZ

[Jimjam38]

1). Watch at least 2 different youtube guides on each CM
2). Respec to whatever your classes best CM spec is
(eg priest go disc, mage go frost)
3). Queue for every OQ
4). Lie about your experience
5). Be glad you're not melee

Optional: As DPS try the proving grounds to get a feel of what its like.
Optional: Optimize gear for CM (gems/enchants/reforge)

[Deleted]

I've never done a CM either (been off WoW for more then a year, just returned 2 weeks ago)
One question though, when 6.0 hits how will the stat squish affect CMs? Easier/Harder?

And someone said "optimize your gear", explain that please?

[Cannibalus]

I, too,had this problem. People hide behind a wall of achievements, and not even "the Proven Assailant" was enough for SILVER.
Here's what I did:

-Bought 20 Invisibility Potion
-Farmed 75k gold
-Bought a full 9/9 gold run

And that's it. Wowarmory says that the timer I got is the 100th in my server's ladder, and my server is pretty huge. I was doing more dps than the boosters.

And this is the best way to do it at the moment instead of wasting your time with annoying pugs yelling and ninja-dc-ing

Remember, the pre-patch is coming in a little over a month.

[Deleted]

Hey all, I have not stepped foot into any CMs. I would like to get some done but all the grps I see only want people with 9/9 xp. I am pretty sure I can keep up as dps, any tips for getting in a grp having no xp?

DPS isn't the most important thing here. It's knowing what to do and all mechanics associated.

[Kaldaim]

dps can be told what to do on the spot as you go. we only ask for 9/9xp if you're gonna tank it and my group usually covers the tank spot. CMs are really only tough in spots - some of the mechanics are basically 1-shots. if you can get through those spots you'll be fine.

[Deleted]

I haven't done any CM and am also not interested in it. Do I win the thread?

Infracted. Post constructively.

[Deleted]

I've never done a CM either (been off WoW for more then a year, just returned 2 weeks ago)
One question though, when 6.0 hits how will the stat squish affect CMs? Easier/Harder?

And someone said "optimize your gear", explain that please?

gear gets scaled down to 463 ilvl. set bonuses and legendary item procs like from gem or cloa don't work. Trinkets from SOO get hugely reduced proc chances. So better get something from vendor 522 and so, as many sockets as possible (sockets stats don't get reduced). Have some useful stuff like banner from that lizard scout, invis pots, jinyu assassin pots and yak/lizard for speedy movement where it matters.

- - - Updated - - -

I haven't done any CM and am also not interested in it. Do I win the thread?

For most useless and OT post? Yeah, you do.

[MetroStratics]

I'll help you out if you cant find people. I absolutely LOVE doing cms, especially as tank.
Add me Metrolol#1195 and let me know its you.
I'll fill whatever role you need and can teach you all the strats.

Still applies. Already had a few people add me. Ideally, I'd love to help players that are successful and competent but haven't had the opportunity to try them yet.
I am literally happy to wipe in there for hours if that's what it takes. I just want to have something to do in WoW besides raiding!

To preface, I usually just pug the daily CM and we spent about 3 hours in Scholo two days ago. Didn't have enough dps to kill the first boss before the wall (35k was average.) Still had fun and made some friends along the way!

[Tradu]

I've never done a CM either (been off WoW for more then a year, just returned 2 weeks ago)
One question though, when 6.0 hits how will the stat squish affect CMs? Easier/Harder?

And someone said "optimize your gear", explain that please?

Get gear with the best secondary stats for your spec and as many sockets as you can get in that slot. For example the Lei Shen neck is BiS for anybody who can use spirit in CMs just because of the 2 sockets. Certain trinkets are also very good in CMs(the Darkmoon ones, for example, and I believe the Elegon agility trinket as well)

[Deleted]

5) Patience! You won't get 9/9 on your first group (unless you're very lucky), some groups grind face on one gold all night and give up, others 1shot 5 in a row... stick with it and you'll get there.

He can if he makes a group himself and is prepared.

I was a tank/leader who created group from guildies who never did a CM. I got prepared for CMs and checked some stuff and mechanics on my own too (i even soloed a lot of CMs for lols but that was time taking as hell).

I had a run with my group on Normal explainijng them exactly what we will be doing, where and how. I informed them about differences in CM from norm/hc and then we proceeded. 1st run we did 3 golds, next meeting another 3 and next meeting another 3. Each meeting was ~1,5h altogether so not bad.

None of us had optimized gear (only towards harder CMs we did organize it a bit more)

We also did it with Fury warrior...and whoever did CMs knows melee sux in them.

[Coconut]

I too havn't done any CM but not because of difficulty or anything like that. I dn't like corny timed runs. And i have all the classes "required" well "required" at launch to complete them just never bothered because it's so corny.

/flamesuit

The timer isn't corny. It's a way to check that you execute the mechanics correctly, that you don't wipe, and that you can pull a certain level of damage with your class. It makes you treat the entire dungeon more or less as a single encounter, instead of a raid style boss to boss progression.

Although CC isn't used everywhere, there are plenty of situations where you do have to use it - use it quickly, and maintain it throughout combat. Big AoE pulls help a lot with the time, but they also require intense defensive coordination. They are a lot more challenging than having to CC every single pack.

I've never done a CM either (been off WoW for more then a year, just returned 2 weeks ago)
One question though, when 6.0 hits how will the stat squish affect CMs? Easier/Harder?

MoP CMs will get removed in 6.0, so you should try to get them done before that if possible (perhaps by buying a boost). There will be new ones in WoD, with different rewards. Also, if you only want silver (which is considerably easier), you should know that having a set of Silver on a single char will be enough to get all the 4 phoenixes account wide at a later date (now you have to pick one which is character specific, but the rest will be awarded automatically in 6.0 if you have the achievement).

If you can't afford a boost, it's worth it to just go for silver with a group of friends or people from OpenRaid.

[Temp name]

I spent a long time looking for my first group, and was lucky enough to find a group of people doing it on their alts, and didn't mind me not having done them yet (They checked my armory though, to make sure I wasn't a complete moron). Was I lucky? Yeah. Would I have enjoyed it more by doing it with friends/guildies? Hell yeah I would, which is why I'm now running an alt through CM's with my guild (6/9 gold).

Personally, I'd say just read up on the tactics, and ask around in guild chat if anyone wants to join you, and if that doesn't work out, try openraid, oqueue or whatever else your poison is for a silver run first (or get lucky and get into a gold run). Expect wipes, expect to get frustrated sometimes, expect to take many hours to get it done. It'll get done eventually.

[Eliot123]

There are some OpenRaid events for people who have never done them before. I join one on my priest (I already had 9/9 on shaman) and we got all golds in like 4 hours even though 2 out of 5 people had never done them before - we just had a good tank/leader and people who knew how to listen. It's not as difficult as it sounds as long as people are decent players.

[Ohmygonzo]

I'll help you out if you cant find people. I absolutely LOVE doing cms, especially as tank.
Add me Metrolol#1195 and let me know its you.
I'll fill whatever role you need and can teach you all the strats.

A fucking nice gesture, +1 for you man!