How to get into World of Warcraft's grueling Mythic Plus dungeons
World of Warcraft's Mythic Plus dungeons are a huge part of its endgame grind and one of the best ways to earn high level gear. But they're also one of WoW's most complex game modes, requiring mastery of your class, intricate knowledge of the layout of each dungeon, boss and monster abilities, and a serious need for speed. For new and more casual players, Mythic Plus dungeons can feel daunting.
Part of the problem is that Mythic Plus dungeons are not intuitive at all. Unlike regular dungeons, you can't just peruse the Adventure Journal and read what to do. There's specific routes (that sometimes change weekly), different community-made strategies, and a lot of etiquette—unspoken do's and don'ts for doing Mythic Plus dungeons with strangers—to learn. That's okay, though, because this guide is going to break it all down for you. Here's how to get started with WoW's Mythic Plus dungeons.
Mythic Plus Basics
What is Mythic Plus, anyway?
Mythic Plus is a high-tier difficulty mode for regular dungeons. You'll fight the same enemies and bosses as you would in regular Mythic of Heroic difficulties, but with a bunch of different systems that amp up the challenge in different ways.
Here's what you need to know:
- Mythic Plus is a kind of scaling difficulty mode that offers better rewards the harder they are. Dungeons start at +1 and go all the way up to +15, increasing monster health and damage.
- To enter a Mythic Plus dungeon, you need a Mythic Keystone (which are earned from regular Mythic dungeons). This Keystone opens a single Mythic Plus dungeon at a specific level, and completing that dungeon will transform the Keystone into a different one while also increasing the level.
- Only one person needs a Keystone to start a Mythic Plus dungeon, so you can just join other groups (or form a group to try and complete your own) and play using other people's keystones.
- At certain levels, Mythic Plus dungeons add special modifiers called affixes that give enemies new abilities. These rotate weekly. Some make monsters explode on death, while others increase the heath of boss monsters. Many of them require specific strategies to survive. Here's the full list of affixes.
- Mythic Plus dungeons are timed and in order to beat one you must also kill a certain number of regular monsters in addition to the dungeon bosses. Doing so before the timer runs out will earn you powerful gear that scales depending on what Mythic Plus level the dungeon is. There's also the Great Vault, which you can open once per week for even better gear if you run Mythic Plus dungeons enough times.
What item level should I be for Mythic Plus?
Because Mythic Plus difficulty scales, there's no hard and fast rule for what item level you should be. It's entirely dependent on the level of the dungeon. As a general rule, though, for doing Mythic +1, you should be around item level 184. That is the level of loot you'll get from regular Mythic dungeons. Once you're in the 180s, you can probably start looking for Mythic +1 and +2 dungeons.
Wowhead has a great guide for gearing up Shadowlands that also includes a table breaking down the item level rewards for each level of Mythic Plus. This is a good indicator of what level you'll be capable of tackling.
Mythic Plus Addons
Get these addons
Before you take your first steps into Mythic Plus you will want to make sure you have addons to help you out. While not mandatory, some of these will make your life way easier. For other addons, check out our full guide (which also covers how to install these ones below).
Mythic Dungeon Tools
This is perhaps the most helpful of all Mythic Plus addons, giving you a map of every single dungeon, with every mob inside each. This is the addon that players like Dratnos, who I’ll discuss in the class section, use to distribute their weekly routes.
DeadlyBossMods/Little Wigs
Both of these addons do very similar things and are equally helpful, so which one you choose is a matter of preference. These will give you timers for boss abilities, so you know what’s coming up next in the fight and what to prepare for. DeadlyBossMods tends to be more friendly for newer users, while LittleWigs offers more customization.
Details!
Details! is an addon that tracks you and your teammates' damage throughout a fight. It can also track healing, party deaths, interrupts and more. Details! is easy to set up and allows you to copy someone else’s profile if you enjoy how their meters are set up.
Raider.io
Raider.io is a third party website that gives scores to characters based on the Mythic Plus dungeons they have done. Because the dungeons are so difficult, people generally favor those with higher Raider.io scores. While it's not officially endorsed by Blizzard, it’s a good mark of your Mythic Plus level and will be crucial in getting into groups.
General advice
Dos and don'ts
- Don't feel obligated to join groups, sometimes creating your own can be way less pressure (especially if you're new. Try labeling the group as "learning" or "chill" to attract likeminded players).
- Know each dungeon and each affix you'll be dealing with each week before starting the dungeon. By the time you get to Mythic Plus, you've probably run every dungeon multiple times on Mythic difficulty, but make sure you understand each boss fight and how to survive them.
- Be ready to commit around an hour to finish a key, especially when starting out.
- Remember you can't replace anyone in the middle of a dungeon, even if you kick them from the party for any reason. Quitting early is extremely rude and frowned upon.
- Mythic Plus is demanding, so don't join one unless you're able to stay focused.
Advice for Tanks
How to be a good tank
Tanks are perhaps the most crucial part of your dungeon-pushing dreams. The tank will likely be the de facto team leader, and the one who sets the pace of the dungeon. If you are the tank, then I’ll go over some of the most important things for you to look out for. If you’re not a tank, this will be some of the things to look for in a good tank.
What to do:
- Tanks have the hardest job in Mythic Plus because they are the ones to initiate fights and guide the party through the dungeon. A good tank knows how to pace the group so they're moving quickly but not being overwhelmed.
- Tanks also have to understand almost every mechanic in a fight, like enemy abilities, boss strategies, and more.
- Communicate with your healer and DPS to not pull too many monsters into a fight without the proper cooldowns available.
- Here are some general Mythic Plus tips for each dungeon, from Wowhead. Read them.
Class guides:
Routes:
Because Mythic Plus dungeons are timed, it's very important to complete them quickly and efficiently. Most groups will rely on community-made routes that optimize the run. The tank will most likely be the one to decide the route you will take throughout the group. In higher level Mythic Plus, most players prefer to play with friends rather than strangers from the Looking For Group tools. If you're a tank and you're inexperienced with routes, use Raider.io’s Weekly Route. These are designed by Dratnos, a Mythic Plus content creator, who works with Raider.io. You don’t have to memorize them, just use the Mythic Dungeon Tools addon mentioned above, and simply put the route in that tool and link it to the rest of your party.
Streamers you should watch and learn from:
Advice for Healers
How to be a good healer
Healers keep the group running smoothly by making sure your tank and DPS don't die—especially when they make fatal mistakes. Constantly. This role can be extremely stressful because when players die, it's easy to blame the healer even though you were doing everything right. You'll also have to occasionally remind other players of certain abilities that they need to dodge otherwise you'll be stretched too thin and won't be able to keep everyone alive. The best healers in WoW are able to quietly keep their team healthy while anticipating mistakes and changes in the flow of combat.
What to do:
- Keep your group alive. In situations where multiple players might die, focus on the tank first.
- Communicate your cooldowns with your group so the tank knows how quickly to move from one fight to the next.
- Be aware of your mana at all times and don't hesitate to ask for the group to hold up for a few seconds so you can regenerate before fights if need be.
- When no one needs healing, you should be dealing damage. The extra DPS from healers is often the difference between a dead boss and a dead party.
Class guides:
Streamers you should watch and learn from:
Advice for DPS
How to be a good DPS
DPS are the stereotypical lead singers of the band. A lot of them are obsessed with doing big damage and little else. But a good DPS knows their job is a lot more complicated. Even if they can go into boss fights and sometimes survive without knowing what's going on, a good DPS always takes the time to research anyway.
As DPS, your job is to deal damage but also handle the majority of fight mechanics. Mostly this means interrupting certain monster abilities or dodging, but many fights involve special strategies or unique interactions. You'll also have to know when to divert attention away from a boss to fight its minions, and how to prioritize who to kill first in a pack of monsters. DPS can play in both ranged and melee with different classes and responsibilities for each.
Melee vs. Ranged?
DPS is the only role that can attack either up close or at a distance depending on their class and specialization. Some classes, like Death Knight, are always melee DPS, while others, like Hunter, have options. When choosing a spec, there's usually bigger considerations like which one you find more fun and which does better damage, but it's worth understanding that melee and ranged DPS can have very different struggles in dungeons.
As a Melee player you will be up close and personal with the mobs and the tank. You will have the least reaction time for mob abilities, and you will likely have to move around a lot. On the plus side, melee DPS often have incredibly useful utility abilities that help the party. Ranged DPS, on the other hand, tend to have more time to react to special attacks but aren’t often able to move and attack at the same time and have less spells that benefit the group. In Shadowlands, Ranged has a definite advantage just based on how most fights are designed. But, really, play whichever you find more fun.
What to do:
- Don't stand in the fire. Seriously, staying alive is your top priority because you can't deal damage if you're dead. Learn how each fight works and know the abilities you have to avoid and focus on that, even if it means missing out on a few extra hits.
- Deal damage. This means learning your rotation (see the class guides below for help) so that you can always be pumping out big numbers.
- Learn when to interrupt monsters for each dungeon. It's an often overlooked role for DPS, especially melee. Plenty of monsters (and bosses) have abilities that will ruin your party unless they're interrupted. Learn what they are and get ready to stop them.
- Use your utility abilities. It's easy to forget these exist in favor of spells that deal straight damage, but anything you can do to help your party stay alive is very helpful.
Class guides:
Streamers you should watch: