Mythic Dungeon Season 1 Isn’t Fun

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I want to take a moment and just discuss the state of keys and dungeons for this first season of Dragonflight. There’s some definite negativity going around with the dungeons, the affixes, and the season in general. I’m not immune to it and I understand it. But I’ve never participated in a season where I’ve witnessed players just bailing on keys mid-run.

This just happened to me the other day. I mean, yeah it’s Tyrannical this week, but I don’t think it was impossible. It would’ve been very close.

Anyway, I find the atmosphere around keys have been quite gloomy and not as optimistic. Some of my friends in previous seasons who aimed to push and test their ability to climb as high as possible aren’t going for it this season. They’re content to just get their +20s done and unlock their portals then call it until the next season.

Why Is That?

Because it’s not fun!

Thundering is just not enjoyable at all. You get a buff that’s difficult to discern in what is often a visual cornucopia of ground effects, spell effects, and other bullshit on your screen. In order to handle it effectively, you need to have some Thundering Weak aura installed that gives you and your team the best chance of clearing it at the right time so you can track who has what debuff and where they are. It can be hard to tell the differences between two shades of gray when you’re on other sides of the room or a mob pack without it.

Seriously, I would’ve made the positive a bright purple and the negative a Lucio green or something to make it pop that much more.

Furthermore, if you fail to clear it, you get stunned and you take damage that normally isn’t bad by itself and is survivable, but when combined with other incoming attacks is often lethal to one person. It’s at the point where I’ll clear it within 5 seconds right away to not have to deal with it. The 30% buff to performance just isn’t worth the risk.

Let’s look back.

Shadowlands Season 1

  • Prideful: It was okay, but if you didn’t utilize the Prideful buff, you risked completely bricking your key. You sure did feel amazing though when you had the Prideful buff.
  • Tormented: Better. You got to pick a buff. Your character got stronger and stayed that way for the course of the dungeon. Depending on your role, there were certain must-have picks. It may have been boring, but it wasn’t actively punishing.
  • Encrypted: Easily one of my favourites. The relics were great and it spawned a mob that you had to deal with which buffed your party temporarily. Priest Boon of Ascendance with near-unlimited cooldown recovery was just fun even if it was for a few seconds. You could tailor your routes accordingly by targeting Wo and using invisibility to get around.
  • Shrouded: Alas, this one was also kind of boring since it was just a flat stat buff as you progressed. But if you defeated the Infiltrators, you still gained a buff and you could feel your character get that much stronger over time within the dungeon.

None of the ones here felt overly punishing. Even if the affixes themselves seemed dull, that’s okay. Let the dungeon itself provide that fun factor.

I won’t touch too much on the BfA affixes. Those ones were just extra things that made the dungeon more challenging and didn’t offer much of a benefit except for Awakened which was neat and allowed for creative pathing with the Obelisks and the alternate universe.

In any event, Thundering doesn’t provide an impactful performance when playing. I’m not sure how I would really fix it. One thing I would do is make it less punishing — Remove the stun if two people don’t clear and just leave a DoT on the affected. At least it gives the players some chance of recovery. If they do it, great. If not, well they’re dead anyway. A DoT plus a stun is excessive. It’s so punishing that it leads average players (like myself) to not even risk a long duration of the buff. If it was just a few DoT ticks, I can make that tradeoff calculation in my head and decide whether it was worth that extra party damage and healing through it.

The seasonal affixes have the opportunity to make even the most dreadful dungeons appealing.

King’s Rest?

Shrine of the Storm?

Sanguine Depths?

De Other Side?

Cathedral?

I absolutely hated healing through all of these, but give me Encrypted or Tormented and even the most hated dungeons go from “hell no!” to “okay, fine!”. As for the other dungeon affixes, I don’t have a strong opinion about them one way or the other. The Bolstering change has been incredible. This week with Tyrannical, Bolstering, and Volcanic is a great push week. Managed to get to +2400 on my alts to the point now where both my Mage and my Evoker have more portals than my Priest. But for the designers, I implore you. Incentivize the players with the benefit of doing the seasonal affix. Don’t punish them. If you want to make dungeons difficult, the rotating weekly affixes already do that. If you want a challenge, then let the dungeon trash or boss do that. But adding another pain point in the form of a seasonal affix that operates under “If you don’t do this, bad things will happen” is backbreaking. Make the seasonal affix something that players look forward to and are eager for.

The Dragonflight Launch Experience

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Mine was awful.

I know it’s been over two months since the game launched but this was one of the less smooth launches I’ve experienced in recent history. I was able to click the portal in Stormwind harbor to get through, but after that my game experience degraded significantly. My spells would go through but I didn’t get any feedback or response from the world. I was constantly rubberbanding. After a few minutes of this, I gave up. It didn’t help that I was on Stormrage, which is one of the more populated Alliance servers. I ended up switching to my other Priest on Emerald Dream and slowly leveling that. Ultimately, what I ended up doing was spending about 40 minutes there leveling and unlocking Dragonflying solely so I could collect all the Dragon glyphs. I knew they were account bound. I leveled my Emerald Dream Priest up to level 62 with some light questing and exploration before taking another attempt on my main. Thankfully, it seemed most of the players had already spread out and moved on from the area which eased congestion.

The Legion and Battle for Azeroth launch experiences were terrific in that it allows players to select where to start questing first. Shadowlands and Dragonflight switched back to that linear storytelling and caused a great crush of players funneling through one area. Even though it didn’t seem as bad in Shadowlands, it wasn’t an enjoyable opening experience for me in Dragonflight. Either way, the Dragon glyphs helped me catch up immensely and I was able to reach max level well after midnight.

Thankfully, there isn’t as much of a forced grind anymore. The updated renown system is fun and does not feel required. I can choose to participate in a hunt or a feast and not feel guilty if I decide to forego it. At this point, I’ve maxed out my Iskarr and Dragonscale Expedition reputations and I’m taking it easy on the rest of the activities. I can focus more on my alts (a Frost Mage, an Evoker, and a second Holy Priest). Definitely still racing on all my characters though since it’s about 2000 gold per character.

After Christmas and New Year’s, DJ’s is currently sitting at 4/8 Mythic with a disappointing 5% wipe on Kurog last weekend. Kurog will go down this weekend for sure. Unfortunately, the wipe occurred due to a call that in retrospect wasn’t the correct play to make at the time, but that’s another story for another day. (Edit: We killed it this week putting us up to 5/8 M)

With Media Temple shutting down and merging operations with Godaddy, I decided it was time to switch hosts again. I’ve gone through multiple themes and looks over the year, but for this iteration, I wanted to pare down. I want the focus to be on the content and I’ve updated the look to reflect that. It’s much more minimalist than before. Could use a logo refresh though, but I’m out of ideas. Maybe a globe in there somewhere.

To all the Wrath Classic players who’ve stumbled in here for the old Ulduar healing guides, I hope you find something useful. I can’t guarantee accuracy anymore since the game and raid philosophy has changed greatly.

Still looking for a job. If anyone needs an experienced producer, PM, or project coordinator, let me know!

So Long, Shadowlands!

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You were a rough expansion to start but ultimately just okay. Ultimately, it ended up being pretty fun towards the conclusion of the expansion.

What happened to me during the past several months?

After my previous guild decided to disband from raiding and leadership stepped down, I was idle for several months before I signed on with Death Jesters on Stormrage (Yes, that Death Jesters). It’s been a thrill and although I’m disappointed for not being able to secure Cutting Edge in any of the tiers, I’m looking forward to Dragonflight. Although the organization isn’t pursuing top ranks and pushing high-end progression, the atmosphere continues to be fun and focused. It’s a far cry from previous years when they would frequently challenge for top placements. Now the guild is home to players on the older side with families and other obligations which prevent progression raiding.

I did it again

After a few months on the roster, I volunteered to help with recruiting efforts. I agreed to headhunt and recruit for specific classes or roles that we needed and continue posting guild ads on various communities to raise our visibility and profile for interested free-agent players.

That was enough to get me elevated to a leadership position.

I don’t know why this happens to me.

I hope I get a raise to my repair bill stipend at the end of the year.

It’s a weird spot to be in since after I winded down Conquest, I told myself I just wanted to play the game. Proper Villains allowed me to do just that all the way from the end of Legion through to Shadowlands before we succumbed to Castle Nathria.

Anyway, if you’re one of the few people that still check on my blog once in a while, DJ’s is looking specifically for:

  • DPS Warrior
  • DPS Monk
  • Any ranged DPS

The roster size is sitting at 25 but we would love to raise it up to 28. We raid Friday and Saturday nights from 11 PM Eastern to 2 AM Eastern. Raiding aspirations are CE for all of Dragonflight and to do that on a 2-night schedule means we need to be efficient and quick to learn.

Apply here!

Shadowlands Review

With the expansion wrapping up, it’s time to discuss what worked well and what didn’t. I had high hopes at the start. Torghast seemed like a fun piece of content but it quickly became an added requirement when legendary currency was tied to it.

What worked

  • Covenants: Seems like a big stride overall in the reputation system. This has carried over into Dragonflight with the four new factions. It reminds me of a mini in-game battlepass for each of them with assorted rewards and event unlocks.
  • Legendaries: Revisiting a few legendaries from Legion was fun. I would’ve appreciated more diversity in choice as a Holy Priest, but Flash Concentration was just too good.
  • Torghast: As mentioned at the start, the roguelike content for WoW was a nice diversion. I think revisiting something like this has it’s place in the game but the reward and systems structure warrant a closer look. I didn’t like feeling I had to run it twice every week at the start to continue to power up my legendary in addition to everything else that needed to be farmed.
  • Fated Raids: A bit controversial among some, but I felt it was a neat mechanic to revisit and recycle Nathria and Sanctum to make them somewhat relevant again. Great way to add a bit of complexity and depth to some of the Mythic encounters while training players to zero in more on the buff mechanics.
  • Threads of Fate: One of the few alt friendly systems added to the game. It was easy to just zone out and complete various quests without following a linear track. Glad to see it come back to Dragonflight.
  • Creation Catalyst: This was a late expansion addition as an element of bad luck protection for gear. Makes sense with the introduction of tier gear again to give everyone an eventual path to their full set.
  • Dinar Tokens: Another fun late expansion addition saw a way for players who missed out on certain weapons, trinkets, and rings as an alternative way of obtaining them. Yes, I’m looking right at you, Soulwarped Seal of Wrynn. The hard limit of 3 tokens was a fair restriction. I ended up with a surplus of 2 tokens that I’m just going to use on Shadow gear for leveling (Hello, Antumbra, Shadow of the Cosmos).
  • Zereth Mortis: It was just pleasant to be in a new outdoor zone that’s vibrant and not all doomy or gloomy. Still not sold on Poc-o-Poc then again, I’ve never really been into those pet things or any of the cool outdoor features.
  • Tazavesh: I hope we get to come back to this place in the future as it’s own capital city somehow. It made for a fun mega dungeon. Between this, Mechagon, and Karazhan, it’s been my favourite.
  • Castle Nathria and Sepulcher: Although Nathria was where my Proper Villains stopped raiding, I still enjoyed the encounters. Denathrius was one of the better end-tier bosses. Sun King is one of those rare bosses that also emphasizes healing directly as a mechanic and allows us to go off (especially Holy Priests).
  • Mythic+: The end-game dungeon system gets further refinement. Not only did we get new affixes, but now we’re getting a seasonal rotation of dungeons. It started with Season 4 and revisiting old favourites like Mechagon and Karazhan, but boy if there was ever a case against voting and democracy, Grimrail Depot is the perfect example of it. Definitely not fun in a close-quarters environment with the likes of Quaking and Shrouded.

What didn’t work

  • Currency grinding (Anima, Soul Ash, etc): Three straight expansions worth of grinding for borrowed power gains gets kind of annoying. We had Artifact Power in Legion, Azerite Power in Battle for Azeroth, and then a combination of Anima, Soul Ash, Soul Cinders, and Cosmic Flux (to a lesser extent). Normally, I’m fine with most currency grinds but this just felt excessive.
  • The Maw: For the first few weeks, this wasn’t so bad. What got to me was the constant weekly hunt for souls to turn in at our Covenant in order to unlock more of the features (and it ended up increasing in quantity). I liked the element of constant danger but the inability to mount was just so troublesome. I was extremely happy after getting the Maw mount as it made traversing the large zone that much easier. If there were more teleports to areas around the zone, it might’ve helped eased the frustration and annoyance I felt.
  • Korthia: I can’t explain why this zone didn’t connect with me. Maybe it just reminded me of the Maw too much. There were some nice activities and fun encounters, but aside from the story progression and the various character moments, Korthia wasn’t a zone that Iooked forward to.
  • Soulbinds: Didn’t really feel connected with any of them. It did feel more like a hassle to switch to the one I wanted to use for various activities (Raiding vs M+).
  • Conduits: This might be why I didn’t care much for the soul binds. Not only did we have to get the right conduits to drop, but we also had to progress and upgrade them accordingly. I already that for normal gear and it was an annoyance to me to need to do that for abilities and spells.
  • Covenant Swapping: Although Covenants were fine, it was the swapping between Covenants that proved to be an undertaking at the start of the expansion. Some were suited for raiding and others were better for M+. Had to jump through multiple hoops and grind some more just to change allegiances. The current iteration should’ve been in from the beginning.
  • Sanctum of Domination: Painsmith and Sylvanas were absolute grinds. I did not look forward to stepping into this place and my best showing was only 1 Mythic boss cleared when it was level relevant.

There are more things that I’ve forgotten about or that have changed over the course of the expansion, I’m sure. Right now, all eyes are looking towards Dragonflight at the end of the month. Whether or not Shadowlands will be remembered fondly or not is a question to be answered in the next decade.

Suggested Addons for Midnight Season 1

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(Updated for Patch 12.0.1)

  • April 4, 2026: Updated for Midnight Season 1
  • March 31, 2025: Updated for TWW Season 2.
  • September 16, 2024: Updated for TWW Season 1.
  • May 4, 2023: Added new Weakauras for season 2, removed season 1 Weakauras
  • February 6, 2024: Added and refreshed Weakauras and compiled a list of addons below
  • April 21, 2024: Added new Weakauras for Season 4, removed Season 3

Unfortunately, WeakAuras are gone, so we’re going with just addons now!

Base UI

ElvUI with LuckyOne’s profile

Although I do plan to check out Ellesmere’s once raid frames get released for it.

Cursor Trail: Helps put a sparkly trail around my mouse as I move it around so I don’t lose it.

Details: Helps track damage, healing, interrupts, and other stats.

Baganator: Sorts my bag into categories.

Raiding and Combat

Better Timeline: Literally a better timeline addon that builds on top of the existing frame.

Better Cooldown Manager (and CooldownManagerKeybinds): I use this for my cooldown manager and I grab the keybinds one to quickly see what my key binds are (which is great when I’m on alts or characters I’m unfamiliar with).

Bigwigs (and Littlewigs for dungeons): For bars and timers during raid and dungeons.

Simple Assisted Combat Icon: Rotation helper. Useful for alts.

RCLootCouncil: Handles loot decisions during raid.

Northern Sky Raid Tools: Extra tools for raid leaders including assignments and notes.

Midnight Raid Voice Assist: An extra assist for Bigwigs that adds voice cues for upcoming abilities.

DF Friendly Nameplates: Adds contrast for friendly names during raid.

World Marker Cycler: Set up binds to drop markers quickly.

World Quest Tracker: Easier way to view world quests.

Dungeons

Blizzi Interrupts: Track interrupts used by other members in your party.

Littlewigs: Dungeon related notifications.

MiniCC: See what cooldowns are available in your party, and when they’re used (both defensive and offensive CDs).

AutoQueue and AutoSignLFG: Automatically queue for groups without having to confirm.

Mythic Plus Utility: Extra Mythic Plus features.

AlterEgo: Information on alts including raid, dungeon, nightmare, and other progress for the week.

Housing and Professions

Home Bound: Housing addon.

Homestead: Another housing addon that I can’t remember what I used it for.

Vamoose’s Endeavors: See your neighborhood endeavour progress.

CraftSim: Lets you simulate various crafting outcomes with different quality materials and track Concentration across alts.

Myu’s Knowledge Points Tracker: See what sources of KP are available.

No Mats; No Make: Adds a Public Orders Reagents Column so you don’t need to click into every public order.

I’m Bach

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Actually, I’m not quite Bach. I wish though. Still working on Bach’s double and I just started looking at Bach’s Allemande (this kid was thirteen).

Let me catch you up on where I’ve been. After my previous guild disbanded, on a whim and at the request of a colleague from work, I’ve decided to play *inhale*:

The Critically Acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV with an expanded free trial which I can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award winning Heavensward expansion up to level 60 for free with no restrictions on play time.

And it was a nice change of pace!

Combat felt slower and I played a White Mage which meant I felt limitations offensively (for obvious reasons). Played through some of the raids and progressed all the way into Shadowbringers and into Endwalker. The community was a far cry from what I expected compared to other gaming communities. As an end game player, I enjoyed the raids. The mechanics were similar but also different from what I was used to. The Endwalker story was a wonderful finish to this entire saga of FF14 and I hadn’t quite felt this invested in a game’s storyline since the Mass Effect trilogy.

Although once I reached Endwalker’s end game, I didn’t feel quite as attached anymore. The raids were fun but I just didn’t feel compelled to compete and grind. Much of that may have been attributed to my inability to find a consistent raid group to party with though. I am often more motivated by the party around me as opposed to the game in front. Without a steady raid group giving me purpose, I don’t feel drawn or attached. This is a pattern that occurred throughout my WoW career since I’ve always valued stability and longevity.

Then Lost Ark came out and that took over a big chunk of my play time. I have a Bard on US West but now I’m leveling another one on US East. I don’t know why I’m doing that to myself, but partly because I have trouble finding consistent people to run with. I reached the 1300 item level bracket early on compared to others I knew which meant I didn’t have much else to do or anyone to play with for the raids or abyss dungeons.

My return to the World of Warcraft

“Matticus. We need a Priest.”
“I’m retired.”
“You’re bored. Come play with us.”

He’s right. I had been raiding on and off with <Iconic> for a while. One day a week raiding guild doesn’t quite get me back to where I was before when I was raiding 3 days in Mythic. I had just been messing around on my Ret Paladin and enjoying life as melee DPS. It’s so satisfying seeing so many DPS numbers.

But when I got the call up to get off the bench and get back to front line raiding again, I knew I couldn’t ignore it. I’m now a part of the longstanding <Death Jesters> (yeah, that one, formed in 2005 and that guild is almost old enough to drink). Picked a great time to return what with Holy Priest being both amazing and incredibly fun with the set bonuses.

Server transfers are the next step but since the guild is on Stormrage and my name is taken, I point you to the header image where I mull over some of the names I’m considering. Name selection is harder than customizing appearances, I’ll say.

We just reached Anduin on Heroic and we’re looking for more players. Managed to just barely take a look into the second intermission with the wall of walking ghosts. We’ll be able to save Anduin next week following reset (especially with the 4 piece I’m now wearing courtesy of LFR).

Still have to think of a name I’m satisfied with. Ideas?