Season 1 of World of Warcraft: The War Within starts tomorrow, which introduces a new Mythic+ season, Raiding and PvP, to engage in and try to bring up your rankings. This season is the first of the new expansion, meaning players will experience some new dungeons to join the game in a Mythic+ setting with Mythic affixes.
This also introduces Nerub-ar Palace on Normal and Heroic difficulty, with LFR getting access to Wing 1 of the raid. For the first week, players will only get to participate in Mythic 0 dungeons, which helps them prepare for the more challenging dungeons ahead. All Mythic+ dungeon difficulties will be available from September 17 onwards.
For those who want to know what to expect from the upcoming season, this guide will explain what Mythic+ dungeons you'll be seeing in the Mythic+ pool, as well as what affixes you'll be coming up against as you climb the Mythic+ rankings.
What Mythic+ Dungeons Are There in The War Within Season 1?
There are eight new Mythic+ dungeons for players to experience this season, four of which are from The War Within. They are the following:
- Ara-Kara, City of Echoes
- City of Threads
- The Stonevault
- The Dawnbreaker
- Mists of Tirna Scithe (Shadowlands)
- The Necrotic Wake (Shadowlands)
- Siege of Boralus (Battle for Azeroth)
- Grim Batol (Cataclysm)
By participating in Mythic+ dungeons and earning Rating, you can unlock achievements, titles, and a mount for reaching a certain number of Rating.
You can work towards these seasonal rewards in Mythic+ Season 1 of The War Within.
- Keystone Explorer: Complete a Mythic+ Dungeon within the time limit during The War Within Season One.
- Keystone Conqueror: Attain a mythic+ Rating of at least 2000 during The War Within Season One—reward: The Tempered title.
- Keystone Master: Attain a Mythic+ Rating of at least 2000 during The War Within Season One—reward: Diamond Mechsuit mount.
- Keystone Hero: Attain a Mythic+ Rating of at least 2500 during The War Within Season One—reward: Luminous Nerubian Catalyst Stone.
If you end The War Within Season 1 with a Mythic+ Rating in the top 0.1% of all players in your region, you'll earn the Tempered Hero title.
Keystone Affixes in The War Within Season 1
Keystone Affixes are certain attacks or debuffs that provide an extra challenge to the Mythic+ dungeon. The new affixes will be seen as Mythic+ Keystone level 2, where players will see one of the Xal'atath-specific affixes, which are the following:
Xal'atath's Bargain: Ascendant: Every minute, Xal'atath will summon 10 Orbs of Ascendance that cast Cosmic Ascension. Should the casts go off, the orbs will buff nearby mobs with +20% movement speed and Haste per orb. However, players are able to stop the cast via interruptions, displacement, crowd control, and purging them, which will instead give players a 2% movement speed and Haste buff per orb, which can stack up to a maximum of 20% movement speed and Haste per event.
Xal'atath's Bargain: Voidbound: While players are in combat, Xal'atath will summon a Void Emissary, who buffs nearby enemies with Dark Prayer. This will reduce the damage taken by 10% every three seconds, with the effect stacking. Once players have defeated the Void Emissary, players will be able to get a +20% ability cooldown rate and a +10% Critical Strike increase that lasts for 20 seconds.
Xal'atath's Bargain: Oblivion: While players are in combat, Xal'atath manifests crystals from the void that can either be absorbed by enemies or the players. Absorbing the crystals before they collide with enemies is advised, as it allows players to gain Void Essence, increasing Mastery and Leech. If the crystals hit the enemies, they will gain a +10% damage reduction per crystal.
Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour: Every so often, Xal'atath casts a Void Rift shield on all five players that can either be removed by healing or dispelling it. If you fail to remove the shield, it will heal nearby mobs for 10% of their health. Removing a shield will grant a stack of Lingering Void, which grants players +2% health and 4% Critical Strike.
Past Keystone Level 4, players will see Tyrannical or Fortified become active, with the affixes alternating each week. Tyrannical increases Dungeon bosses' health by 30% and damage by 15%. Fortified means non-boss enemies have 20% more health, and their damage increases by up to 20%.
At Keystone Level 7, a new affix named Challenger's Peril becomes active. 15 seconds is subtracted from the dungeon timer each time a player dies instead of the usual 5-second subtraction.
At Keystone Level 10, Fortified and Tyrannical become active at the same time. This means if you were seeing Tyrannical in one week, you might see Fortified instead once you reach Level 10.
At Keystone Level 12, Xalatath's Bargain affixes are replaced with Xal'atath's Guile. This gives enemies a 20% increase in their health and damage, with players no longer receiving the buffs from the Bargain affixes.
This Mythic+ season is shaping up to be very difficult, with players having to be more careful in who they choose to create a Mythic+ team.
