Minipost: The Naked Dungeon Challenge


My guildies and I have just started participating in something we've coined the Naked Dungeon Challenge. It's a fun way to kill some time and it's turning out to be surprisingly competitive and entertaining.

Basically, you take off all your gear and start running through the dungeons, in order, starting with Ragefire Chasm, then Wailing Caverns, etc. You can use all class abilities, pets, etc., but you can only equip items that you find in the dungeons.

The tricky part is that everyone rolls Need on EVERYTHING, since you're competing against the other players. For example, a Boss drops a shield and you can't use shields? You still roll Need, because a shield you win is a shield your rivals can't equip!

(Crafting professions are technically allowed, but you can only use mats that you find in the dungeons. For example, Tailors will probably find it pretty hard to make themselves any low-level gear without access to Coarse Thread. ;D)

It quickly becomes a hilarious game of one-upmanship. You might get some lucky rolls off the start and get a weapon and chest armor, but then be unable to find any pants. Or a staff will drop, and the non-staff wielders will cheer and celebrate if they manage to keep it out of the mage's hands. Meanwhile, white and grey items skyrocket in value, since you don't have to roll for them - those elusive gloves or pants might end up being "vendor trash" if RNG isn't on your side!

Incidentally, the sadistic glee that comes from stealing away someone's much-desired, precious pants and destroying them before their eyes is priceless. ;)

Finally, for added randomness and silliness, you could also use the rule that you absolutely HAVE to wear the highest item level equipment you find. This makes it especially funny when you have a nice blue-quality piece of gear from a previous dungeon, and then find a horrendous green item - or even a white or grey item - for the same slot that is a higher item level. This happened to me - I went from having a nice 2-hand sword to using a silly lantern off-hand (with no main-hand weapon).


Oh, and one rule - you're not allowed to go back and "farm" dungeons alone, since that removes the competitive aspect of the game! You're supposed to end up using ugly and awful gear. That's the whole point! :D

If you do try this challenge with some guildies/friends, I recommend taking "post-game" screenshots at the end of every dungeon, showing everyone's ridiculous ensembles. It's quite funny to see the gear radically change between dungeons, and who got lucky on a particular run, and who continues to have no luck at all.

Here's some shots of our group (Paladin, Mage and Death Knight) after Ragefire Chasm, Wailing Caverns, Shadowfang Keep and Blackfathom Deeps. To get an idea of the gear, I've included what I was using at the end of each dungeon. You'll notice that the Paladin went three dungeons before getting pants, and after four dungeons, I still don't have any chest armor. :| Damn you, RNG!


Ragefire Chasm

Oggleflint's Inspirer, Aboriginal Cape, Grizzly Pants of the Monkey


Wailing Caverns

Gleaming Claymore of the Bear, Serpent's Shoulders, Greenweave Cloak of Stamina, Grizzly Pants of the Monkey, Ritual Sandals of Spirit


Shadowfang Keep

Seer's Mantle, Greenweave Cloak of Stamina, Eerie Stable Lantern, Buccaneer's Pants of the Owl, Ritual Sandals of Spirit, Silverlaine's Family Seal


Blackfathom Deeps

Seer's Mantle, Greenweave Cloak of Stamina, Eerie Stable Lantern, Moss Cinch, Buccaneer's Pants of the Owl, Tough Leather Boots, Silverlaine's Family Seal

12 Responses Subscribe to comments

  1. gravatar
    Unknown

    Bravo, Sir. Well done. I absolutely love the idea. What a fun thing to do.

    September 5, 2011 at 8:05 AM

  2. gravatar
    Anonymous

    We used to do something similar back in TBC when rep farming the normal dungeons to even be able to enter the heroic versions.
    We started with normal gear and the rule was that you had to wear what you looted. In a reverse way to this idea, you were forced to downgrade. Everyone greeded and no one wanted to win, especially not the greens.

    I like this variation of the looting-wearing theme, sounds like a lot of fun!

    Also, I love how the mage seemed to be the one coming out on top every time.

    September 5, 2011 at 8:16 AM

  3. gravatar
    Redbeard

    So... Are you all taking bets on when you actually start dying?

    My guess is the Tempest Keep 5-mans, but Magister's Terrace is a possibility as well.

    September 5, 2011 at 8:17 AM

  4. gravatar
    Unknown

    I love how people come up with ideas out of the blue like this. It makes WoW more fun of a game and offers a challenge of good nature.

    September 5, 2011 at 10:19 AM

  5. gravatar
    Rioriel

    This is absolutely fantastic! I'd heard of starting naked and gearing up in the confines of an instance - we tried MC a few times - but I love your extra rules with needing everything and always equipping the highest iLevel per slot... genius!

    Hope I can try it over the weekend with some friends. Any EU players reading are more than welcome to pole me on twitter if they fancy it. rioriel x

    September 5, 2011 at 11:12 PM

  6. gravatar
    Keredria

    This is hilarious... I love it!

    September 6, 2011 at 7:44 AM

  7. gravatar
    NoFuneral

    That sounds absolutely fun! Hmmmm, thinking of trying this one.

    IfYouBuyWoWAccountsYoureAShithead

    September 7, 2011 at 5:16 PM

  8. gravatar
    Tom

    "For example, a Boss drops a shield and you can't use shields? You still roll Need, because a shield you win is a shield your rivals can't equip!"

    If I recall correctly, you can't Need on gear you can't equip.

    September 8, 2011 at 2:58 AM

  9. gravatar
    Emil

    Awsome stuff! Really like the idea and have been starting to plan it with my friends at this very moment. Some questions though that I don't think were really answered in the text:
    1. so you do this at 85 right? It's more a quest do look ugly than rreally complete the dungeon?
    2. A warrior without a weapon and only a lamp would kinda suck at everything, no rules about that? Or if it's only for gearing fun as in question 1 I guess it doesn't matter that much :)?
    Cheers!

    September 8, 2011 at 6:22 AM

  10. gravatar
    Rades

    @Tom - You can roll need if it's a premade group of buddies. You are only restricted to usable items in a pug/dungeon finder group (I believe).

    @Emil - Yeah, we did it at 85, though I guess you could also do it at lower levels - I imagine a group of people of at least level 70 could do the Vanilla set of dungeons with no sweat. You've hit the nail on the head - it's definitely a looking-ugly contest more than anything else!

    And yeah, a warrior with a weapon and only a lamp DOES suck at everything, yep! That's what makes it kinda fun. They'll be thunderclapping or using their grey-level bow a lot, or whatever. My DK was unable to use her actual strikes - lot of Howling Blasts, Death & Decay, Death Coils, etc. But I can't wait to actually have a weapon again - it's part of the fun! :D

    September 8, 2011 at 8:59 AM

  11. gravatar
    Anonymous

    How sad has a game become when the players have to come up with their own ideas to try to enjoy it? SWTOR FTW.

    September 10, 2011 at 6:00 AM

  12. gravatar
    Jennifer

    We are doing a naked run this weekend I think, but our contest is to see which two-man team of 85s can finish UK first naked. Watch for it on my blog if it happens.

    September 14, 2011 at 3:25 AM