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Best and Worst Mythic+ Dungeons to Complete on Raging, Explosive, Fortified Weeks
Live
Posted
2021/08/14 at 6:34 AM
by
Squishei
Welcome to this weeks dungeons and
Raging
,
Explosive
,
Fortified
, and
Tormented
are this week's affixes!
This is the first time in a long time that
Raging
has been paired up with
Fortified
and it is something. At face value, this week seems to be easy. On a bit further of analysis, a lot of the trash does substantially more damage than you would expect and it is not to the tank. The issues come from archer style mobs or mobs that do a pulsing AOE such as the slimes in Plaguefall. Regardless of whether it was a
Tyrannical
or
Fortified
Raging
week, you could still not have your tank face tank raging mobs. The difficulty in the Raging is definitely in the ambient damage.
Explosive
is pretty reasonable most of the time, but it is a pull by pull basis. There are some bosses and trash pulls that are annoying on Explosive, but if everybody is trying to kill explosive you should be fine.
On explosive weeks, it is normally pretty valuable to have something that edits your nameplates to emphasize explosive. There are many things such as scripts for Plater, style filters for elvui, or even
weakauras
.
There has also been a fair amount of dungeon tuning coming to problematic mobs and bosses in dungeons. You can check that out
here
.
Check out our weekly Mythic+ Tip of the Week article which involved...
Temp Button
Want to check out some Shadowlands Basic Routes or Tips and Tricks for each dungeon? Check out our helpful tools below:
Shadowlands MDT Routes coming soonMythic+ Tips and TricksMythic+ Damage Calculator
A-Tier Dungeons
Necrotic Wake
Necrotic Wake's timer is one of the most forgiving out of all the dungeons you can select from. This means that as long as you play a safer strategy then you should be good to go. For general advice, using many
Bloody Javelin
's on bosses is your best bet. The bosses are above and beyond the most difficult part of this dungeon, so using the Javelins on bosses is preferred.
Discharged Anima
and
Anima Exhaust
are both really powerful AOE effects in these dungeons and should be used to blow up trash packs in between times that you have cooldowns. It is
Raging
, so some packs are very difficult and can cause deaths if not played properly on raging.
The affixes this week of
Raging
,
Explosive
, and
Fortified
definitely impact your pathing a bit and having an enrage dispel is preferred. Making sure you know what mobs are going to do group damage, when to kite, and when to use AOE CC effects is very important.
Surgeon Stitchflesh
also received a 10% health nerf which is quite nice for not having too many stitchworks alive.
Pain Points
The general week to week the pain points of Necrotic Wake seem to be the bosses and even more so on. Make sure you have armaments of some kind for
Amarth
,
Surgeon Stitchflesh
, and
Nalthor the Rimebinder
. For
Blightbone
just having the native Kyrian
Anima Exhaust
ability should do wonders on this boss. For
Amarth
as well if you CC the adds during the
Final Harvest
that are still up then the adds do not get consumed and wipe you. You will see top groups CC the mages with
Paralysis
or
Shackle Undead
on every set to avoid having to kill the adds, and you can see that discussed in this
tip of the week
. This does require coordination though.
Bloodlust
is also massive for these bosses and helps groups out tremendously. Beyond that, just making sure you play Necrotic Wake slow and steady will help you out a lot as the timer is very forgiving.
Raging
is really scary on some pulls as you have mobs that will do ambient damage to the group. For example, doing the
Nar'zudah
mini boss trash pack on raging is incredibly dangerous. If you are committing an anima orb + you have an enrage dispel then this pack can be fine, but it is advised to be avoided. Many of the
Zolramus Necromancer
pulls are also really dangerous as well. The tank damage in the necropolis is always a major point of pain with how much damage the
Kyrian Stitchwerk
do to the tank. Aggressive kiting and use of defensive cooldowns will allow you to be able to deal with the necropolis trash as a tank and healer.
Explosive
is more annoying than anything. The only time it is dangerous is when trash packs get spread far or
Blight Bag
leap. It should be pretty easy to deal with explosive on this week though.
Necrotic Wake Guide
B-Tier Dungeons
Mists of Tirna Scithe
Mists of Tirna Scithe is actually pretty rough this season in the time department. With the absence of
Prideful
,
Ingra Maloch
becomes a pretty rough beast. Ingra Maloch did receive a bit of a nerf on this week as
Droman's Wrath
is now a 15s channel instead of a 12s channel. This means that there is a lot higher potential to 1 or 2 phase ingra when before it would be a 2 or 3 phase.
Raging
is also not a totally free affix in this dungeon. While not a difficult affix, it is not the easiest possible affix either.
Pain Points
The beginning of Mists is the most difficult part of the instance. Skipping the
Tirnenn Villager
pulls that were popular last season helps substantially and assists you in wipes you could face from
Raging
+
Fortified
. The
Drust Spiteclaw
,
Drust Soulcleaver
, and
Tirnenn Villager
are all criminal, so skipping as many of those as you can on raging is preferred. You can see that skip performed here. All you need is a
Potion of the Hidden Spirit
,
Shroud of Concealment
, or personal stealth to make it through.
Another massive thing you can do that can help you with
Ingra Maloch
is using a pet to pull the 3rd
Tormented
mob through the wall prior to engaging the boss. You just use a
Pet Attack
on the tormented mob through the wall, pull the pet back and this will happen. Alternatively, you can use
Force of Nature
if you are close to the wall, have the mini boss targeted, and are already in combat. This allows you to have an additional power for Ingra and is really helpful. Making sure that you save
Bloodlust
, offensive cooldowns, and whatever else you can for the burn is massive. Saving phases on Ingra can save you minutes of time on this tight timer.
Explosive
is normally not too bad, but
Mistcaller
is really difficult during the intermissions.
Mists of Tirna Scithe Guide
Spires of Ascension
DO NOT ZONE INTO THIS KEY WITHOUT AN ENRAGE DISPEL
Spires of Ascension's timer is incredibly forgiving most weeks if you take the dungeon pretty slow as the timer is fairly lenient.
Raging
is pretty brutal in this instance as there is a lot of ambient damage from mobs such as
Forsworn Castigator
casts,
Forsworn Skirmisher
casts,
Forsworn Helion
AOE damage, and
Klotos
AOE damage. The mob density in this dungeon is fairly low, so
Explosive
should be fairly low impact which is nice.
Pain Points
Execution and survivability are going to be the 2 biggest issues that you are going to face inside of Spires of Ascension this week. With it being
Raging
, this makes kicks, interrupts, and coordination even more important than on a normal Spires week. You are able to go slow through the dungeon, but making sure that you stay alive is critical. It is next to mandatory to bring an enrage dispel style effect to this dungeon such as a
Soothe
. Whenever you are trying to decide what mobs to soothe in packs some of the heavy hitters are the
Forsworn Castigator
,
Forsworn Skirmisher
,
Forsworn Squad-Leader
,
Forsworn Helion
, and
Klotos
.
Spires of Ascension Guide
Plaguefall
Plaguefall still has a lenient timer this season, but the ability to bomb half the dungeon has been largely removed. Many of the
Rigged Plagueborer
have been replaced with the non-exploding
Wretched Plagueborer
. On top of this the mini-boss
Virulax Blightweaver
now spawns a limited amount of the plagueborers as well. With all of this being the case, the timer is still relatively easy as a whole.
Raging
is rough in this dungeon though. Many mobs have ambient damage or in the case of
Wretched Plagueborer
, they do insane damage to your tank. This dungeon is very similar in difficulty to Spires of Ascension where the timer is omega free, but the dungeon is difficult to execute.
Pain Points
While Plaguefall's timer is really easy, the execution of the dungeon is the hardest part by far. Many of the trash pulls do a substantial amount of damage to your party and unfortunately many of these mobs are grouped up to where you cannot dispel
Raging
. Mobs like this are
Rotmarrow Slime
,
Plaguebinder
, and
Venomous Sniper
. On top of this, there are a lot of mobs that do insane damage to your tank while enraged. Those mobs are
Wretched Plagueborer
,
Blighted Spinebreaker
,
Plagueroc
, and
Brood Ambusher
. Both of these are really annoying execution elements that you have to deal with, but on top of that
Explosive
is also very frustrating in this dungeon. The massive
Gushing Slime
pull on
Explosive
is very difficult as is the
Plaguebound Devoted
pull.
Aside from all of that, it is all about staying alive, knowing what mobs to dispel the enrage off of, and playing the dungeon well. The dungeon is fairly technical, but you can definitely manage if you are playing well.
Plaguefall Guide
C-Tier Dungeons
Halls of Atonement
DO NOT ZONE INTO THIS KEY WITHOUT AN ENRAGE DISPEL
Halls of Atonement can be difficult if in a not coordinated group, but the unlimited pull size potential in here helps even out the timer difficulties you may face. In addition to that, the additional 1 minute on the timer makes this dungeon a lot more forgiving. Halls of Atonement on
Fortified
is really preferred since the timer is normally the roadblock.
Explosive
is normally pretty easy for most parts of the dungeon as long as the mobs are stacked up and are not getting spread too far from one another.
Raging
is... something. Raging in Halls of Atonement almost requires a
Soothe
in order to not have people die to ambient damage from the mobs in the dungeon.
Pain Points
Raging
management, execution, and avoiding deaths is the biggest problems you will face in Halls of Atonement this week. If you are able to mitigate deaths and do pulls of a decent size then the key should be relatively easy for the most part. There are some mobs that have high priority on soothes. Those are
Shard of Halkias
,
Depraved Houndmaster
, and
Depraved Obliterator
. These mobs either do very high group wide damage or very high tank damage. If you are able to manage all of that, then you should be in a pretty good spot.
Explosive
is not too bad if your packs of trash remain clumped. If they get spread then things can get spicy.
Inquisitor Sigar
adds also spawn explosive, so that room is very dangerous and should be focused on.
Halls of Atonement Guide
De Other Side
De Other Side is a dungeon that is make or break based on how big you can pull the Ardenweald wing. With the affixes being
Raging
,
Explosive
, and
Fortified
you can definitely pull the Ardenweald wing fairly large. There is a decent amount of coordination required in order to kill
Explosive
while still pulling at a reasonable size, but you should still be able to pull it off. With that being said, De Other Side is never a great dungeon but not the worst.
Pain Points
Execution of the Ardenweald pulls are what are going to be the biggest tipping points in this dungeon. This is because the timer is relatively tight, but it is typically made easier with aggressively pulling the Ardenweald area. Your tank will need to be kiting full time, so
Raging
is mostly a non affix outside of
Enraged Spirit
.
Explosive
is also very easy outside of the Ardenweald area since typical mob density is really low. You really just need to make sure your pathing is sound, you are able to big pull the Ardenweald area, and you have competitive DPS and you should be fine.
If you are reading this and you plan on going around the ring, picking up all anima powers, then going into a specific wing, please stop doing that immediately. Go left off the start and go straight into the Ardenweald area. This allows you to pick up
Oros Coldheart
powers and notably
Executioner Varruth
powers which are the dps powers. Doing this also minimizes backtracking in a key where the timer is tight.
De Other Side Guide
D-Tier Dungeons
Sanguine Depths
DO NOT ZONE INTO THIS KEY WITHOUT AN ENRAGE DISPEL
Sanguine Depths this season as a whole is significantly better than last season. With many nerfs to Sanguine Depths, the dungeon is a lot more manageable.
Fortified
+
Raging
is a brutal combination in Sanguine Depths due to the amount of group wide damage that you have to deal with. This makes this dungeon a lot more difficult than it is on normal weeks due to the fact that your DPS and Healers can just die randomly in here.
Explosive
is pretty much a non-affix with how low the mob density is, but that does not make up for the difficulty of the
Fortified
+
Raging
crossover collab.
Pain Points
The trash is the biggest pain point in Sanguine Depths this week due to the ambient damage it incurs on your party. There are many mobs that you would like to
Soothe
such as
Gluttonous Tick
,
Wicked Oppressor
,
Grand Overseer
, and
Research Scribe
. With all of these mobs needing soothes and doing party-wide damage, you can see why this dungeon is brutal on Fortified + Raging. Ultimately it comes down to living, if you can live in this key then it is easily timeable even while holding W through the instance. Be very defensive minded, play safe, and utilize the free timer. The dungeon is still D-Tier though due to the fact that the affix combo is brutal.
Sanguine Depths Guide
Theater of Pain
DO NOT ZONE INTO THIS KEY WITHOUT AN ENRAGE DISPEL
Theater of Pain is definitely one of the more difficult dungeons to deal as a whole especially on
Raging
. There are many mobs that have mandatory enrage dispels in this key.
Explosive
&
Fortified
are both ideal for this dungeon this week, but Raging makes this dungeon brutal.
Pain Points
The biggest pain points in Theater this week are living through the whole key. The timer is normally pretty tight in this dungeon, and this week's affixes call your survivability into question frequently. With bangers such as
Raging
Raging Bloodhorn
,
Raging
Shambling Arbalest
,
Raging
Dokigg the Brutalizer
,
Raging
Advent Nevermore
,
Raging
Rancid Gasbag
and many many more :). Ultimately this dungeon comes down to how fast you can go while staying alive. Having more soothes is definitely preferred and can help you in the key as well. This is a dungeon that I would say is close to F-Tier, but with
Fortified
and
Explosive
it is doable. Go into this dungeon over-geared and over-prepared.
Theater of Pain Guide
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Comment by
dasfrauleinnina
on 2021-08-15T12:05:25-05:00
As a healer (MW), I agree with your list!
This List is so Wrong lol...I tanked and Healed all of dungeons this week on +14/+15 keys, here is my oponion of List:
S: ToP and Sang
A: NW
B: Spires and Plaguefall
C: Halls and DoS
D: Mist
Comment by
Lunii
on 2021-08-15T12:55:21-05:00
This List is so Wrong lol...I tanked and Healed all of dungeons this week on +14/+15 keys, here is my oponion of List:
S: ToP and Sang
A: NW
B: Spires and Plaguefall
C: Halls and DoS
D: Mist
These dungeon ranking lists make some notable points but are mainly opinion based.
I mean... No. It's not rocket science to figure out where these dungeon rankings come from. If you head on over to raider.io, you can quickly figure out why the dungeons are ranked the way they are, and it is based on the highest level of play since that is what determines the actual difficulty. A difficulty list really only matters when it is a key level that is difficult to time for the best players, not one that is hard to time while playing extremely suboptimally. If you struggle in Spires or Plaguefall at all, that heavily implies you are failing basic mob control mechanics, like interrupting and CCing. If you're succeeding in TOP and Sanguine at a much higher rate that implies you're doing keys at such a low level where TOP's extremely tight timer is irrelevant, and a low enough level that Sanguine mobs extremely high group wide damage isn't randomly executing DPS/healers.
It would be a pointless exercise to try to make a list that rates what dungeon is hard or easy on a 15 because the author can't know specifically what your group is failing at that is holding you back. Maybe it's raw DPS, well then you'll find TOP hard. Maybe it's interrupts, well then you're gonna find Spires hard. Maybe it's tank kiting, well that makes HOA hard. It's all subjective at lower key levels because it is based on your specific strengths and weaknesses. That still doesn't make tier lists useless. If you find that your experience has been different, say that you're struggling to time a key that is rated as an easier key, you can then try to find out what is making that key hard for you that more experienced players do not struggle with and work to improve on those areas of play. I see Mists listed as a very hard key by some players every single explosive week, that implies that a lot of players are relying on probably one person in their group to do the heavy lifting for explosives and then it gets out of hand on the second boss, easily fixed by everyone contributing to keeping explosives under control. Even if you aren't playing at a high level, there is still value to these lists if you want to improve. If you don't want to improve and you're just doing 15s for a weekly vault, then do whatever dungeon you find easy, because again, that's just going to be a personal list and can't be accurately applied across everyone.
Comment by
Rudy199
on 2021-08-15T14:27:27-05:00
Mistcaller is group disband this week =]]
Comment by
lovelywaz
on 2021-08-15T20:48:33-05:00
This List is so Wrong lol...I tanked and Healed all of dungeons this week on +14/+15 keys, here is my oponion of List:
S: ToP and Sang
A: NW
B: Spires and Plaguefall
C: Halls and DoS
D: Mist
These dungeon ranking lists make some notable points but are mainly opinion based.
I mean... No. It's not rocket science to figure out where these dungeon rankings come from. If you head on over to raider.io, you can quickly figure out why the dungeons are ranked the way they are, and it is based on the highest level of play since that is what determines the actual difficulty. A difficulty list really only matters when it is a key level that is difficult to time for the best players, not one that is hard to time while playing extremely suboptimally. If you struggle in Spires or Plaguefall at all, that heavily implies you are failing basic mob control mechanics, like interrupting and CCing. If you're succeeding in TOP and Sanguine at a much higher rate that implies you're doing keys at such a low level where TOP's extremely tight timer is irrelevant, and a low enough level that Sanguine mobs extremely high group wide damage isn't randomly executing DPS/healers.
It would be a pointless exercise to try to make a list that rates what dungeon is hard or easy on a 15 because the author can't know specifically what your group is failing at that is holding you back.
Maybe it's raw DPS, well then you'll find TOP hard. Maybe it's interrupts, well then you're gonna find Spires hard. Maybe it's tank kiting, well that makes HOA hard. It's all subjective at lower key levels because it is based on your specific strengths and weaknesses. That still doesn't make tier lists useless. If you find that your experience has been different, say that you're struggling to time a key that is rated as an easier key, you can then try to find out what is making that key hard for you that more experienced players do not struggle with and work to improve on those areas of play. I see Mists listed as a very hard key by some players every single explosive week, that implies that a lot of players are relying on probably one person in their group to do the heavy lifting for explosives and then it gets out of hand on the second boss, easily fixed by everyone contributing to keeping explosives under control. Even if you aren't playing at a high level, there is still value to these lists if you want to improve. If you don't want to improve and you're just doing 15s for a weekly vault, then do whatever dungeon you find easy, because again, that's just going to be a personal list and can't be accurately applied across everyone.
And here I thought wowhead's articles were suppose to be "informative" for general audience. Do you REALLY think those who are doing mid 20s keys actually need to read wowhead to understand the difficulty, tips and tricks and group compositions of these dungeons? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If this really is the reason above rankings and those tips are posted the way they are, then wowhead is failing MISERABLY to deliver for their target audience which are mostly casuals or semi hardcores who do 10-15+ keys and read about difficulty based on current week's affixes, pros and cons on wowhead. There is a REASON why almost every week people in comments talk about their own experiences and why these difficulty lists don't make any sense. That's majority of wowhead users for you.
If the author doesn't understand HOW to write an informative article for the average Joe and Jane then perhaps they are not doing their job properly.
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