Challenge modes 101: Farming invis pots and how to use them
This is the third in a series on getting challenge modes done before the Warlords of Draenor content patch. You will find all the articles in the series here.
For non-mages and groups without access to the rogue's Shroud of Concealment, plan on using a lot of Invisibility Potions for challenge modes. If you're not on a big server, the odds of finding them on the auction house are low, but farming them in quantity is easy. Ghost Mushrooms grow and respawn very quickly in the Fungal Rock cave in northeastern Un'Goro, and you can get more Sungrass than you'll ever use with a few circuits around the edge of Thousand Needles. Get a potion-specced alchemist to make the pots for you.
How to use invisibility potions without screwing your group
This is not as simple as "Right-click it." Expect some botched runs where someone pops out of invisibility at a bad time.
Pet classes: Dismiss your pets. Fluffy will not turn invisible alongside you.
Speed boosts: Aspect of the Pack and/or Stampeding Roar are useful. They give you a greater margin for error on longer invis runs (e.g., Scarlet Monastery), but you must activate these abilities before you drink the potion. Activating them afterwards will pop you out of invis.
For everyone else: Once you've drunk the potion, anything you do that's not running is going to break it. Don't reapply a buff. Don't Innervate. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. RUN.
If something goes wrong and your potion wears off early, try to get close (but not too close) to where the group is supposed to come out of invis. If you die there before the mobs aggro anyone else, you can be resurrected safely. In most dungeons, this won't seriously impact a gold timer.
How to use invisibility potions, part II: Invis Harder
Don't be on a potion cooldown when the time comes. The DPS potion cooldown is two minutes and will only count down once you're out of combat. Being unable to drink an invis pot when needed is a common way to blow a run.
You probably won't be able to use any other potions once you've done the invis run. Invisibility potions trigger a 10-minute cooldown for all other potions. Blizzard uses this and the mob count to prevent groups from stealthing through most of a dungeon. Because you should otherwise be chugging DPS potions as much as possible, this effectively means you can't use other pots once you've blown a invis pot. Siege, Mogu'shan, Gate, and Stormstout are the exceptions. Most groups invis very early in Siege if at all, many don't invis in Mogu'shan, and the majority of Gate and Stormstout groups don't.
Running back after a wipe usually means killing trash that you stealthed past earlier. In most dungeons, this will scupper the attempt. However, it's problematic in places where the most difficult element is toward the end (e.g., Siege) and where constant resets will hurt your ability to practice. In that case, just kill the trash and get as much experience as you can on what we call "Pull McNasty" (more on this soon).
