{"id":183055,"date":"2024-04-19T16:00:23","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T21:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/?p=183055"},"modified":"2024-07-22T18:06:11","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T23:06:11","slug":"war-within-season-1-mythic-dungeon-rotation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/2024\/04\/19\/war-within-season-1-mythic-dungeon-rotation\/","title":{"rendered":"Revisit hell with the Mythic+ dungeon rotation in The War Within Season 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wowhead.com\/news\/the-war-within-mythic-season-1-dungeon-rotation-shadowlands-dungeons-and-siege-338776\">Mythic+ dungeon rotation for <em>The War Within<\/em> Season 1<\/a> had a few shocks. And with the expansion just around the corner, it isn&#8217;t\u00a0premature to react with anything along the lines of &#8220;approaching nightmare,&#8221; &#8220;Satan&#8217;s chocolate box,&#8221; or &#8220;The universe continues to emphasize that it is fundamentally indifferent to our suffering,&#8221; but as someone who ran Siege of Boralus the same way you&#8217;d run headfirst into a brick wall, I&#8217;d like to think the terror is not <em>entirely<\/em> unfounded.<\/p>\n<p>But let&#8217;s dial this back a bit. <a href=\"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/2024\/07\/09\/war-within-mythic-xlatath-affixes\/\">The affix environment in The War Within is very different<\/a> from what we&#8217;re used to, and that&#8217;s going to make a huge difference on its own. We&#8217;ll talk about that in a moment.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-183085 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-grimbatol-boss3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-grimbatol-boss3.png 675w, https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-grimbatol-boss3-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-grimbatol-boss3-200x113.png 200w, https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-grimbatol-boss3-80x45.png 80w, https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-grimbatol-boss3-398x224.png 398w, https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-grimbatol-boss3-620x350.png 620w, https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-grimbatol-boss3-340x191.png 340w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In <em>The War Within<\/em> Season 1, we&#8217;ll be getting the following dungeons:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Stonevault (new)<\/li>\n<li>Ara-Kara, City of Echoes (new)<\/li>\n<li>The Dawnbreaker (new)<\/li>\n<li>City of Threads (new)<\/li>\n<li>Siege of Boralus from <em>Battle for Azeroth<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Mists of Tirna Scithe from <em>Shadowlands<\/em><\/li>\n<li>The Necrotic Wake from <em>Shadowlands<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Grim Batol from <em>Cataclysm<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We&#8217;ve seen <a href=\"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/2024\/04\/17\/dungeons-raids-war-within\/\">the four new dungeons<\/a> in the beta, but haven&#8217;t had as much experience with them as with the older dungeons \u2014 so let&#8217;s set these new dungeons aside and focus on the returning dungeons. The four older dungeons are actually a pretty interesting assortment:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Siege of Boralus<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Siege was a polarizing place in <em>BfA<\/em>, and that&#8217;s putting it lightly. It&#8217;s always been one of my favorites at the M0 level because it&#8217;s a beautiful, atmospheric dungeon with a great story. However, Siege really struggled to find any affixes that didn&#8217;t turn it into a dumpster fire. It was also a tough place to balance, because Alliance and Horde groups had different start points and trash for lore reasons.<\/p>\n<p>With the elimination of all affixes except Fortified and Tyrannical, Siege suddenly looks more appetizing. I&#8217;m optimistic that it&#8217;s going to be a better experience than it was in <em>BfA<\/em>, though admittedly that&#8217;s not a high bar to clear. For reference: Bolstering the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wowhead.com\/npc=135263\/ashvane-spotter\">Spotters<\/a> and using them to kill everything in sight was once the most efficient way to get through Siege.<\/p>\n<p>(&#8220;It could be worse,&#8221; you whisper to yourself. &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/2020\/01\/07\/five-reasons-tol-dagor-hardest-dungeon\/\">It could be Tol Dagor<\/a>.&#8221;)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mists of Tirna Scithe<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mists was one of the easier dungeons in the <em>Shadowlands<\/em> rotation, but it still had its quirks. On high Tyrannical keys, you&#8217;d spend more time killing Ingra Maloch than you&#8217;d spend killing some raid bosses, and Mistcaller became a truly annoying boss on some affixes. (Does anyone miss <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wowhead.com\/affix=13\/explosive\">Explosive<\/a> there? Anyone?) Groups could also get a little toxic if someone screwed up the maze, though that&#8217;s mostly a non-issue with addons or WeakAuras.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m curious to see what Blizzard does with <a href=\"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/2020\/09\/10\/covenant-dungeon-buffs\/\">covenant bonuses both here and in Necrotic Wake<\/a> (below). Having the Night Fae skip, <a href=\"https:\/\/shadowlands.wowhead.com\/spell=340162\/savory-statshroom\">mushroom buffs<\/a>, and graveyards were significant perks. Is everyone going to get them, will they be eliminated entirely, or something in-between?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-183089 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-necroticwake-trash.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-necroticwake-trash.png 675w, https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-necroticwake-trash-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-necroticwake-trash-200x113.png 200w, https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-necroticwake-trash-80x45.png 80w, https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-necroticwake-trash-398x224.png 398w, https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-necroticwake-trash-620x350.png 620w, https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/BW-necroticwake-trash-340x191.png 340w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Necrotic Wake<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>NW was one of the more popular dungeons owing to its general ease and the chance at a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wowhead.com\/item=181819\/marrowfangs-reins\">mount drop<\/a>. However, as with Mists, it could be a slog on Tyrannical, particularly when your group didn&#8217;t parcel out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wowhead.com\/spell=328351\/bloody-javelin\">weapon drops<\/a> appropriately. Again &#8212; do those stay? Go? What about the Goliaths and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wowhead.com\/spell=335161\/anima-exhaust\">Anima Exhaust<\/a>? Nobody knows.<\/p>\n<p>NW was otherwise notable for having bosses where one inexperienced or distracted player could wreak havoc, so I anticipate a settling-in period later. If you were a tank in <em>Shadowlands<\/em> Season 1, you probably also remember getting annihilated by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wowhead.com\/npc=172981\/kyrian-stitchwerk\">Stitchwerks<\/a> a few times before they came in for a well-deserved nerf. Tuning here will be key.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Grim Batol<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hoo boy.<\/p>\n<p>This is potentially the most problematic dungeon on the list. Blizzard&#8217;s efforts to resurrect older dungeons for M+ have yielded mixed results. We&#8217;ve gotten some bangers out of this (e.g., Freehold, Junkyard, Court of Stars) and some &#8230; less fun experiences (e.g., Lower Kara). Where Grim Batol is going to fall on this spectrum is anyone&#8217;s guess. I saw a lot of the place back when pugging <em>Cataclysm<\/em> Heroics was no joke, and it wasn&#8217;t forgiving for the unprepared. Blizzard has generally been pretty good about smoothing over the rough points in the older 5-mans, though I still quail at the thought of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wowhead.com\/npc=40177\/forgemaster-throngus\">Forgemaster Throngus<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wowhead.com\/npc=40319\/drahga-shadowburner\">Drahga Shadowburner<\/a> on Tyrannical.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/towelliee\">Towelliee<\/a> confirmed in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3kAIn5yG3BU\">an interview with George Velev and Andrew Desousa<\/a> that the bombing run will still be there. Depending on how this gets handled, this could be a very good thing, or it could wind up bricking keys.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/2024\/06\/09\/world-warcraft-war-within-release-date\/\"><em>The War Within<\/em> launches on August 26<\/a>. Balance and tuning for these dungeons could change before release, and Mythic+ affixes on the beta realms seem to change with every new build. We&#8217;ll have to wait and see how the finished product shakes out when the expansion launches this summer.<\/p>\n<p><em>Originally published April 22, 2024; updated July 22, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Mythic+ dungeon rotation for The War Within Season 1 had a few shocks. And with the expansion just around the corner, it isn&#8217;t\u00a0premature to react with anything along the lines of &#8220;approaching nightmare,&#8221; &#8220;Satan&#8217;s chocolate box,&#8221; or &#8220;The universe continues to emphasize that it is fundamentally indifferent to our suffering,&#8221; but as someone who&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":183083,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[78456,3],"tags":[78436,5696,41939,73174,7922,47273,47272,75808,73176,38573,78437,78434,78432,78067,78450,78448],"yst_prominent_words":[15004,8879,24236,71240,71239,63827,10604,19242,30779,71241,47139],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183055"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183055"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187390,"href":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183055\/revisions\/187390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183055"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blizzardwatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=183055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}