How to Get into and Improve at Mythic+ Dungeons in Shadowlands (2024)

This guide will break down ways to improve your experience in Mythic Plus,roughly in the order you would expect to encounter them when engaging with this content.If you are not familiar with the Mythic Plus system in general or would like toknow more about how it has evolved in the Shadowlands, please see theadditional guide below:

We will start by highlighting a variety of toolsboth in-game and outside of itto empower your character's performance. From there, we will discuss the processof joining or creating a group and whatto expect. Then, we will go over tips that will be useful in the dungeonsthemselves, such as making use of unique Dungeonbenefits based on Covenant choice, managing your rotationduring a run, and methods for dealing with every single Affixyou will encounter in your Mythic Plus career. Finally, there will be a briefdiscussion on the importance of routing.

One of the most important aspects of Mythic+ is having a great overview andgeneral understanding of the game, which can be enhanced by having severalhighly-important Addons. We consider these Addons the starting foundation for anyMythic+ player:

Weakauras,often referred to as "WA", is the most important Addon implemented within thegame. Nearly every player, regardless of the content they are interested in,should have this Addon installed. If you have never seen or know exactly whatthe purpose of the Addon is here is a small sample of what it is capable of:

There are several essential WeakAuras that we consider must-havesin any Mythic+ Keystone level. However, the Wago site can serve as an excellentsource to find additional auras that you may want to try as well. Certain auraswe consider essential for Mythic+ are shown below:

• Shadowlands-Dungeons — thisgroup of auras will provide you with some general information on the mostimportant spells and abilities in every dungeon of the Shadowlands.There are hundreds of spells and abilities throughout them all, but knowingwhich ones are the most important can be the difference between timingand depleting a key.
• Dungeon-Targeted Spells —this is an extremely useful WA that warns about any incoming cast on youor any other party members on your nameplates. This can be especially useful inscenarios where you pull multiple mobs and you do not have the option totarget each of them simultaneously. This way if you do not have any Interruptor Disruption abilities available, you can use a defensive cooldown or immunityto reduce the incoming damage.
• Interrupt Weakaura — manypeople may wonder why an Interrupt WA would be considered essential. To answerthis question, one only needs to remember the importance of stopping an enemy'scast. Doing so can prevent you not only from taking damage, but also remove tonsof pressure from the healer that may be able to then play more offensively ratherthan defensively once the casts are taken care of. Knowing who has an interruptavailable or having a group member pre-assigned to an important cast canmake-or-break the party's success in some dungeons. At times, a single cast goingthrough has that much power.

Having a Nameplates Addon will save you tons of time and trouble. If you haveever tried to kill an orb of the Explosive Affix while fightingtons of mobs with standard Blizzard nameplates, you know it can be a challenge.Luckily, there are several options when it comes down to having customizednameplates. I myself prefer to have Plater,which allows me to have differently colored nameplates for any mob in the gameas shown below.

As an example of Plater's power, you can set any color you like and usecustomized scripts for Explosive and Inspiring tohelp you distinguish their enemies from a regular one. In addition, there manymore options that can give you similar advantages over standard Blizzard nameplatessuch as coloring a enemy's nameplate based on whether it is a tank player thatcurrently has threat or someone else. While it may look complicated, settingsprofiles for this Addon can also be imported from Wago tofind one that suits your needs without having to worry too much about the optionsseeming too complicated.

Mythic Dungeon Toolsis a must-have for players of any skill level. This Addon provides detailed informationabout every enemy within the dungeon from their abilities to the amount ofcount/percentage they give for the overall "Enemy Forces" contribution. It isalso an extremely useful way to plan a path prior starting a key, which willgive the people within your party a better understanding of what you intend to do.

An additional feature of the Addon is that it can showcase the HP of each mob basedon the dungeon level, so you know exactly how much HP a given boss or aspecific mob has. Overall, this is a great tool and it is highly recommended to atleast try it out!

The Raider.ioAddon is often used to determine an individual's skill level in Mythic+ based ona points system for completing dungeons in time at a given keystone level. ThisAddon will help you find people closer to your level of skill by finding similaritiesin your raider.io points generated throughout your dungeon completions.

The most common way to find people with this Addon is still through the LFG(Looking for Group) tool in-game, though it can also be used externally throughtheir website. All in all, if you are trying to get into PUG groups this is thebest way to get into it; find out who is on your level and team up!

Finally, I recommend you have LittleWigs,a detailed dungeon Addon that provides you with essential information for anyincoming boss and trash ability. You can customize it to include or excludethe information you find crucial as well as incorporate a number of sounds todifferent, important abilities.

Macros are commonly used within the World of Warcraft community to helpyou simplify a complex sequence of spells by using a singular buttonfor two or more actions at the same time. I consider the following 3 macrosessential to have in a premade or pug Mythic+ group:

• /console cameraDistanceMaxZoomFactor 2.6

This macro will increase your maximum camera distance — how far you canzoom out from your character — without installing any additional Addons.Simply use this macro, put it on your bars, and zoom out. As for why this abilityis important, it can be extremely helpful to improve your vision in the areaand avoid pulling additional enemies you may not be aware of otherwise.

• /focus [@mouseover]
• /cast [@focus,exists,nodead]{ability}

A Focus-interrupt Macro is essentially the "Holy Grail" of all macrosin Mythic+. I highly recommend using one if you are not alreadydoing so. The first part of the above Macro will set your focus on the enemy youare mousing over — I usually have this action bound to my mouse-wheel. Then,the second part of the macro casts whatever ability you would like on the focusedtarget without actually targeting them. As this Macro is meant to be used forinterrupting, you should substitute "{ability}" with your class-specific-interruptability, such as " Wind Shear".

• /run SetRaidTarget("mouseover", 8)

This Macro is not mandatory, but it definitely helps if you are notusing an external Addon to mark a specific enemy. It helps you withcoordinating interrupts or identifying important target by placing a skull markeron the target and shows to your party that this is the mob you want to focus on.It is very useful in PUG groups where the biggest issue is playing as a team.You can change the marker applied by the macro by simply changing the number"8" to any other number from 1 to 7.

Now that you have the tools needed from outside the game, it is time to acquaintyourself with what will be happening in-game. Be it setting your talents appropriatelyfor Mythic Plus, acquiring all sorts of consumable items, or even choosing theright profession, every little advantage can add up once inside a dungeon.

Although you likely have already looked into a guide for how to best playyour chosen specialization, every single one may have wildly different talentchoices that only apply to a Mythic+ dungeon. As such, it is important to havealso read your spec's own Mythic+ section. This section of your specialization'sguide may also have unique tips and tricks that go beyond the scope of what thisparticular page can advise. Be sure to give yours a quick glance, just in case!

Though this is similar to the earlier Macro recommendations, there may becertain Macros specific to your own specialization that can improve your character'sperformance. For example, combining your major offensive or defensive cooldownwith a trinket in a Macro will save you from having to press two buttons;instead, you can just press one. Every on-use trinket is off of the Global Cooldown,so it can be used together with your major offensive cooldown —the main rule of making a Macro is that only one action can trigger the Global Cooldownwhen combining things together.

For example, a Marksmanship Hunter could use the following macro to combinetheir Trueshot cooldown with the Overcharged Anima Battery trinket:

• #showtooltip
• /cast Trueshot
• /use Overcharged Anima Battery

Bear in mind, some offensive cooldowns such as a Fire Mage's Combustion are also not on the Global Cooldown and you couldtherefore add another ability that is on-GCD to the macro!. You can even furtherenhance this kind of macro by adding your racial ability to it, as most of themare also off of the Global Cooldown. As an example, a Troll player couldadd "/cast Berserking" to the already existing macro under a new line.

While you are free to experiment and create your own Macros to suit yourpersonal needs, your own specialization's guide also has a section devotedto helpful macros that may have some of these already written for you to use.Feel free to check it out!

This is a very important aspect of Mythic+. Even disregarding keystone level,having consumables will give you an edge over someone who does not. Certainprofessions can also help you get a slight advantage, more specifically Engineering.The following is a full list of what consumables I consider necessary to varyingdegrees when participating in Mythic+.

• Spectral Flask of Power increases your Primary Stat — Agility,Strength, or Intellect — by 70. As Shadowlands has again increased therelative value of Primary Stats versus Secondary Stats, this one consumableacts as a long-lasting, potent boost to your character's performance. If nothingelse in a dungeon, make sure to "flask up"!
• Battle potions, more specifically Potion of Spectral Strength, Potion of Spectral Intellect, and Potion of Spectral Agility are verypowerful 5-minute-cooldown items that last for 25 seconds and further increaseyour Primary Stat of choice during that time. They are incredibly strong ifcombined with your cooldown abilities, Bloodlustor the Prideful buff from Prideful. As the cooldown onusing combat potions is 5 minutes, be sure to plan your usage accordingly!
• Spiritual Healing Potion is a great tool to cover the lack of self-sustainof some classes or enhance those that already do have some. The concept of healthpotions in WoW have been around since Vanilla, and they remain a common consumablefor any content in the game. Mythic Plus is no exception.

• The strongest food in Shadowlands is Feast of Gluttonous Hedonism,which increases your Primary Stat by 20 for one hour. With its higher power comesits high price. It is not a cheap item to craft or buy, however, so make sure tosave it for special occasions. Fortunately, there is also a cheaper version offeast in the form of Surprisingly Palatable Feast, so if you are short in goldyou might want to consider this cheaper option.
• If you would prefer food that is cheaper still, then the four personal foodsthat instead grant a Secondary Stat — Spinefin Souffle and Fries, Tenebrous Crown Roast Aspic, Iridescent Ravioli with Apple Sauce, and Steak a la Mode — arealso acceptable.

• Stones ( Shaded Sharpening Stone and Shaded Weightstone)and Oils ( Shadowcore Oil and Embalmer's Oil) are back in shadowlandsand are quite cheap. One of these four items can be applied to a weapon for anhour at a time. Generally speaking, you should use stones if you are a Meleespecialization and an Oil if are Ranged or a Healer.
• Having a Veiled Augment Rune is the final possible direct power increasefrom consumables. It provides you with an additional 18 Primary Stat which lasts for anhour, but is also removed on death. Its price is usually quite high,so you will likely use these sparingly and save them for when you really need it!
• Heavy Desolate Armor Kit marks the comeback of Armor kits inShadowlands. This type of consumable originated back in Vanilla, but inrecent years had been phased out until its return now. The Heavy Desolate ArmorKit increases your Stamina by 32 for two hours and is only applied to your chestslot. Sometimes you may find that you were barely killed by an attack which youwould have survived if you had just a little bit more HP. As such, make sure toget yourself a few of these before entering a key!

• Having a Potion of the Psychopomp's Speed can sometimes make the setupof certain dungeon pulls a little easier, especially if you are a tank. Keep inmind that this speed potion shares the same cooldown as an offensive potion,however, so make sure you plan accordingly. This speed potion can also be veryuseful when you want to skip certain pulls while you are under the effect of Shroud of Concealment and are not mounted.
• Another excellent potion to have on-hand for many scenarios is Potion of the Hidden Spirit, which grants you invisibility for 18 seconds.This is particularly useful if you lack a Rogue's Shroud of Concealment.Keep in mind that this invisibility potion shares the same cooldown as anoffensive potion, however, so make sure you use it accordingly.
• Having a Tome of the Still Mind is a convenient and usefulway to swap talents or change your Soulbind path (but not your Conduits)according to the different dungeons without having to go to a rested area.It is highly recommended that you grab a few!
• Having an Auto-Hammer, Jeeves, or similar item can alsoprove very useful as an extra way to repair damaged or broken gear, especiallyin a case where you are unable to mount in the dungeon and therefore cannotaccess a mount with a repair vendor. An example of such a dungeon isSanguine Depths, where you can barely mount at all. Here, if youritems become broken due to wipes or general wear-and-tear from combat, you willnot be able to repair them unless you exit the dungeon and then re-enter it.Doing so will likely cost you tons of time and potentially deplete yourkey.
• Disposable Spectrophasic Reanimator can act as a form of in-combatresurrection, which only a few, limited classes can otherwise provide. Havingthis tool allows you to run any setup of specializations without having toworry about whether or not a "battle res" will be available during combat.However, this item has two important things to consider. It cannot be usedunless you have at least Level 50 in Shadowlands Engineering, and there is alsoa very small chance that the item will severely harm the user while revivingtheir target.
• Dimensional Shifter is another tool exclusive to players withEngineering. It is a special Belt attachment that can be used to turn invisiblefor 15 seconds on only a 2-minute cooldown. However, it also has a somewhat lowchance to backfire and render you unable to turn invisible by any means for 15seconds while still being placed on cooldown. Because of its unreliability, Potion of the Hidden Spirit or a Rogue's Shroud of Concealmentare the preferred ways to skip certain packs when necessary.

Some would say the hardest part of playing in Mythic Plus is to get a grouptogether. Many players are familiar with the sting of being declined to anynumber of groups, or of the struggle in creating their own. This isunderstandable, as World of Warcraft is ever-progressing game meaning that theflow of new players is constant. Some learn things faster than others, which isnatural, but they also do not always have the means to play with people whomatch their current skill level. When I started to play Mythic+, I still had tostart from timing +4 and +5 even when I am now at the very top of the game.With that in mind, here are a few tips on how to efficiently find party membersto play with.

• Do not be toxic. I cannot stress this enough, but having a poor behaviorin-game will result in people avoiding playing with you regardless of yourskill level. Bear in mind that while having a consistent group of people toplay with — often referred to as having a "team" — is way betterthan pugging, some people will fail to ever find one due to their behavior. Atthe end of the day, nobody wants a toxic teammate that insults them for everylittle mistake. How then should one approach a person making a mistake?I usually like to run a "retrospective" of what exactly went wrong after thedungeon is done rather than during. It is at this time that I would politelytry suggesting to the player that they should have done this or that in arespectful manner.
• During your "pug" experience you will find both good and not-so-good players.Make sure to add people that are keen on learning and also appear to have greatcommunication and in-game skills, as BattleTags or Discord are the most commonchannels people use to form a more consistent group.
• Communication and leading is part of every group. In one way or another, aleader is a designated person or people who focus on controlling the currentsituation by either "shot-calling" people to use their interrupts accordingly orcreating the MDT routes.
• Enjoy your time with the group of freshly-assembled people. Establishinga connection between complete strangers and leaving a positive impression ofyourself and your skills in game makes it more likely for you to get re-invitedto that party or added to its members' friends lists. When I say your overallimpression matters, that also includes how you behave when the key is likelyto be depleted. It is very unpleasant to be around people who shout or pointfingers at the first chance they have to blame it on someone. This will notonly make them never want play with you again, but you also might not even getinto the PUG groups they are in from word-of-mouth. Please be patient to people,even if you know they made a major mistake that resulted in depleting a key.
• Do not play only for "score". This is a advice I always give toany player within any skill group. Raider.io score is often used to measuresomeone's skill and experience in Mythic+, but targeting specific keys becauseyou can increase your score is a flawed approach. The more keys you can get yourhands on and run, the more experience you will obtain from them and yourperformance level will increase. In addition, this is one of the better ways toactively find people to play with by consistently playing the keysthat you believe are of your skill. An example of this would be that if you aredoing between 14-15 keys, make sure to have done all 15 keys in-time beforeapplying for 16-17; if you cannot find 15s, try to get into 14s andpractice the pulls or bosses you think are the biggest difficulties for you.
• You are likely to make mistakes, especially if you are just starting yourMythic+ adventure. One of the ways to improve that I found extremely useful wasto do some self-reflection by either recording your runs or listening to feedbackfrom your party members. Knowing how to DPS is important, but it isalso important to execute mechanics and survive. The overall package iswhat differentiate good players from mediocre players.

One of the most common questions I have encountered since Mythic+ launched iswhether or not it is important to be "meta". To answer this question, we mustfirst understand the thought-process behind it. The first thing that needs to beaddressed is how the "meta" is created. Who are the responsible peoplethat decide which class or specialization will be good throughout an entire Season?It is a very common mistake of inexperienced players to assume that only thetop-contending classes are suitable for doing the keys in-time. Even if onlydoing a +10 key, people will try to force the "meta" so they will have what theyfeel is a higher chance of successfully completing it. I have always encouragedclass diversity and the motto "bring the player, not the class", which is why Ioften end up maining or playing classes that are considered "bad" because theyare rare to see.

Does this mean that meta does not matter? No, not quite. But, it is importantto remember that flavor-of-the-month classes — often referred to as "fotm" —are determined by the very best players of the game who often participate intournaments such as the MDI (Method Dungeon International. There, having thebest class is required in order to be competitive among other players that arealso pushing the very limits of what the content has to offer.

If you are trying to run low to mid level keys, then the classes andspecializations you choose to take are not of importance. Here low to mid levelkeys are usually considered 10-15 keystone levels lower than the highestcompleted keys in the world. As an example, if the highest completed key is +25then low to mid keys would be considered +10 to +15 and so on. Here, any classcan perform well enough to be able to time those keys; even the most wildand uncommon pick could be a great one.

You also do not need Covenant-specific buffs to time a low to mid levelkeystone. If you are going to Halls of Atonement, for example, and youdo not have Venthyr in your party to control Loyal Stoneborn, that istotally fine. You will still time the key. The logic of needing aparticular Covenant to succeed in a run only applies to the very top end ofMythic+ players — +20 keys and above. Of course having the right Covenantfor the dungeon in your party will still speed up your run, but the point isthat they are not so important as to be mandatory.

Where the "meta" actually matters is at the very high end of Mythic+,which I bracket from 20+ level onward. Here, having a good composition andensuring you cover all four Covenants within the party is highly recommended. Atthis kind of keystone level, having experience and a high item level is alsopractically a given from the time invested along the way. As such, even normallysimple mistakes can make a severe impact on the overall dungeon timer and be thedifference between timing or depleting a key. It is here that the actualdifferences in how specializations perform when all are played optimally canreally determine the fate of a run.

Each Covenant provides unique buffs spread among all dungeons in theShadowlands. Below, you will find a separate, comprehensive guide on how theseCovenant-specific buffs work and how to accurately play aroundthem for an extra advantage in a dungeon:

One of the main differences between the average player and thevery best player is in their damage dealt. While having a higher Item Levelwill absolutely improve your performance in both damage and healing done, thereis more to your performance than just knowing a rotation.

Knowing when and how to use your cooldowns will make the biggest impact onyour overall contribution in a dungeon. Here are few tips I like to give playerslooking to improve on this aspect:

• Always think in advance. If you have a 2-minute cooldown and you use itin a pack of mobs, when will you have your cooldowns back? Will they beup for this important pull later, which could be the make-or-breakmoment that determines whether or not the dungeon is complete in time? One ofthe most common mistakes new players make is holding their cooldowns for too longor pointlessly using them when there will be a big pull coming afterwards. Priorto starting the key, ask your party leader or your tank to share the MDT routethey intend to execute. Examining the route will allowyou to roughly estimateat what points each pack will die. The more time you spend in Mythic+, the moreyou will know the flow of the timer; boss "X" will take this amount of time andpull "Y" will be around this, as an example.
• Overlapping cooldowns is another aspect of Mythic+ that is often ignored.This is one of the most common mistakes even for intermediate players. If one ofyour party members is using their offensive cooldowns on a given trash pack thenyou might want to hold yours for the next one unless it is absolutely necessaryto use them at the same time. Times like those would be doing multiple pulls ofenemies at the same time or when a boss is engaged. Overlapping cooldowns alsoapplies to the defensive point of view, where someone might use their owndefensive cooldown at the same that the healer has given them an external cooldownsuch as Ironbark or Blessing of Sacrifice. Make sure tocommunicate in advance on how to correctly approach a situationand rotate defensive cooldowns and immunities accordingly.

It is also possible that the Mythic+ section of your own specialization's classguide may have tips specific to what you are playing for cooldown-optimizing in adungeon as well. Make sure to check it just in case!

During a dungeon, there are a variety of buffs and debuffs that enemies willbe applying to both themselves and your party. Many of these abilities can beremoved with a number of dispel effects based on your party's composition, butsome of them are more important to prevent than others. To find out which of theseabilities are the most dangerous, along with learning what your character canassist with, please check out our Mythic Plus guide devoted entirely to Dispelling:

One of the most common mistakes made by inexperienced people approaching Mythic+is being unaware of how specific Affixes work and not knowing certaintips on how to diminish their influence on the dungeon. For the sake of brevityon this guide, please see our separate Affix guide to learn about the specificsof each one and general guidance on playing around them in a dungeon:

The majority of players in Mythic+ underestimate the importance of goodrouting. Whether you are focused on timing keys at the +10, +15, or +20 andhigher levels, it is essential to have a set plan in mind before running anydungeon.

A good route can save you tons of time, especially in uncoordinated —pugged — or otherwise inexperienced groups. To this end, we have adedicated weekly article that provides MDT routes for each dungeon. Theseroutes also include tips and tricks for affix combinations, Covenant bonuses,and even offer additional flexibility depending on your if your goal is tocomplete low, medium, or high keys. Moreover, we go through each and everyaffix, how to deal with them, and which dungeons are the easiest and hardest tocomplete each week. Finally, there are additional notes in each of the MDTroutes themselves explaining why and how step of a dungeon is done while beingdescribed in as player-friendly a way as possible.

You can find both of these guides linked just below.