Learn how to get started in Mythic+

What’s up Gaming Heroes! Many new / casual players are anxious about joining a mythic + group even more so when they do not understand the affixes. It is difficult to ask anything in a Mythic+. We will go through everything you need to know for your M + journey. If you enjoy reading this guide consider supporting Erosium on Patreon to access more guides!

How to start!

M+ is started by inserting a Keystone into a Font of Power. These are located at the start of every dungeon that is set to mythic difficulty. To get your first key stone you must either kill the last boss in normal mythic difficulty or do a M+ at any level and finish it. You will also receive a keystone from your weekly vault. This keystone will be -2 levels of your best run that week or a +2 keystone whichever is higher.

The Great Vault

The Great Vault is in Oribos in Hall of Holding.

The weekly vault is a weekly reward you receive, the gear you get is based off of your  journey in game throughout the week. There are 3 rewards for M +, 3 for Raids and 3 for PvP.

Rewards
1st Reward: Highest Weekly M+.
2nd Reward: Lowest of your top 4 Weekly M+.
3rd Reward: Lowest of your top 8 weekly M+.

You can check your weekly rewards at any time in the Mythic+ Dungeons Tab. Press ‘i’.

To unlock the weekly vault rewards you do not need to time the keystone, just complete it.

Manners

The general or accepted rules for running M+ with any group. What to expect and what is expected of you

General Manners for M+

Once your entire party is inside the dungeon it is advised and expected for the party leader to do a ready check. Once everyone has clicked ready they should then do a countdown for starting the key. This is done by typing ‘/pull’ . This will give the party a 10 sec pull timer. After ‘1’ the player whose key it is should start the dungeon and timer. This will give a 2nd 10sec timer with a large shield around the party to stop them pulling. Once the timer has run out the shield disappears and the dungeon begins.

Certain classes can use their large cool downs just before keystone is started such as Demon Hunter ‘Metamorphosis’. Their CD will reset once the keystone is in and begun.

Consumables

It is always good to use consumables. Increasing your damage or survivability. As you go into higher and higher keys you will be expected to use more consumables. As a general rule of thumb. +5 to +10 Food and weapon oils/stones. +10 to +15 Flasks as well. +15 to +20 Augment Runes and armor kits. +20 and above you will need to use battle potions as well if you want to time it.

You will want to have all you gear enchanted before entering any level mythic.

Potion of Hidden Spirit. This is potion that allows you to become invisible. You cannot cast any ability while it is active. This allows you to skip packs of mobs to get easier one and saving time.

Basics

What is different in M + from normal mythics? Loot, scaling, timers and percentage.

Time

All M+ are timed. You have a limited time to get through the dungeon, kill all the bosses and get 100% enemy forces to complete it. Each dungeon will have its own timer that will NOT change. No matter the level of mythic you do, you have the same amount of time. You can -1, +1, +2 or +3 a key. This will only affect how much the key is upgraded once you complete it. To -1 a key you fail to complete it in time. To +1, 2 or 3 you have to kill all the bosses and complete the enemy forces in a set time, there are addons to help you track this. MythicPlusTimer is a good one. It shows you your exact enemy forces and how long you have left to get +1, 2 or 3.

Percentage

When in a M+ you must kill a certain % of the enemy forces in the dungeon. Non-boss enemies. This is to stop groups just going in stealth from each boss and killing them. There will be a % tracker showing how much % you have and how much more you will need. Once you reach 100% you do not need to kill more non-boss enemies if you can reach the bosses without doing so.

Scale

As the key level increases, all the enemies get stronger boss and non-boss. They will have increased HP and deal more damage. In a +2 it is 8% increase damage and health in a +15 it is 172%. It will continue to increase the higher keystone you go.

Loot

From Mythic +2 to Mythic +15 there is improved loot from The Great Vault and the chest at the end of the dungeon. The amount of loot that drops is usually 2 items (not including conduits). In Mythic 15s and above you have a chance for more loot.

In Mythic + none of the enemies will drop loot. No bosses or normal mobs. You will only receive loot at the end once you have completed it, killing all the bosses and reaching 100% enemy forces.

Group Composition

There is no definitive group comp that is required to complete a mythic+ but the weekly affixes do change what you might want to bring along. In general you would want a Tank, Healer and 3 DPS. In this mix you want a Hero and a mixture of interrupts and stuns. After that it will depend on the group leaders preference and the weekly affixes.

Bonuses 

Everything else you get from Mythic + that is not gear and why continue pushing mythics after +15.

Valor

Valor is a currency that you receive from completing M + and the daily calling quest. Valor can be used to upgrade your gear. This can be done in your convent home base or in Oribos. If someone in the group has not completed the Mythic keystone at that level or higher before everyone in the party receives a bonus of 65 valor. To upgrade your gear you must have a certain Mythic score. The higher the upgrade the greater the score. There is a cap on how much you can upgrade your gear. Gear from Mythic 15s is 9/12, meaning it can still be upgraded 3 times. Gear from 15s weekly vault is higher than any that drops in M+ and cannot be upgraded.

Why go above +15?

Above +15 you cannot get an increase on your item level from drops or vault. The reason to continue pushing after +15 is to increase your rank in M+, for enjoyment, achievements or increasing your mythic score.

If you time a +20 key or higher you will recieve a teleport spell to the dungeon that has a 8 hour CD. If you complete a run the timer will be reset.

Mythic Score and Raider IO

Mythic score is the points received from completing M+. The higher the key and quicker you complete it, the more points you will receive. Points are a simple a way of tracking how well you are doing and how far you have progressed. It also helps show Pugs that you are ready for the level M+ you are trying to join or that you might not be ready. To track your M + journey through a season use https://raider.io/ . You can search any character and see their progress throughout the season. There are rankings as well for Mythic + for those that like to track it or see how themselves or friends are currently progressing.

Going above +15’s

Many people are understandably worried to go above 15’s believing their ilvl is too low. When you begin to reach this level of keystone it can become nerve racking to progress further. Once you have reached here though and your gear is equal to +15 drops you are generally able to progress further. The enemies do hit harder and have more HP but the keys are doable to a certain level. It will come down to increasing your DPS through personal performance and knowing the mechanics. Increasing your healing or survivability. Mainly it will come down to practice, do the keys, push them higher and keep practicing. Research the routes and class you are to improve. Then keep pushing those keys to practice. That is the best advice I got when I wanted to push into higher keys.

Affixes

Affixes are buffs that increase the strength of the enemy mobs and bosses. Each week there will be 3 different ones. They are added at M + 2, 4 and 7. The affix added at level 10 is the same for that entire season. After level 10 no new ones are added.

Necrotic

All enemy melee attacks apply a stacking debuff that does damage over time and reduces Healing received. +7 and above. This should mainly affect the tank. The tank will need to kite the enemies when their stacks begin to get high so they can be healed again. The party will need to help the tank by stunning and slowing the enemies to allow the tanks debuff to drop off. The debuff only lasts 4 secs so if the mobs are stunned or slowed and the tank runs away it will quickly drop off. Bosses will also apply the debuff and they cannot be slowed or stunned. All bosses in M + have a mechanic that will make them stop auto attacking the tank they will use an ability instead. This allows the debuff to drop off.

Spiteful

Fiends/Ghosts rise from the corpses of non-boss enemies and focus on a random player. +4 and above. These ghosts lose 8% hp per sec. They can generally be CC and kited until they die on their own while your party moves on. They do massive damage if they hit their target and cannot be tanked. They do not focus on tanks unless their focus dies or the entire party except the tank is stealthed or dead.

Fortified

Non-boss enemies have 20% more health and inflict 30% increased damage. +2 and above. Each week this rotates with Tyrannical.

Tyrannical

Bosses have 30% more HP and deal 15% increased damage along with their minions. Rotates with Fortified, 1 each week.

Bursting

When slain non-boss enemies explode putting a DoT on all players that lasts 4 secs, stacking. +4 and higher. This affix wipes many parties depending on the size of the pulls your group does. To counter this affix your party needs to stagger the kills. If 4 mobs have been killed and everyone has 4 stacks it is generally best to stop all DPS and wait for the debuff to drop off before killing the rest. Priests can mass dispel this in any spec. Any class that can dispel magic can dispel it but dispels have a CD so they can generally only dispel one person before the debuff runs out.

Quaking

All players emit a shockwave inflicting and interrupting nearby allies. +7 and higher. This shows as a small circle around each player that fills. Once it has filled it explodes damaging anyone else caught inside it and interrupting them. It does not damage yourself but if you hit someone else with yours they will be hitting you as well. It always interrupts so you have to stop casting when it is near full so you do not get locked from using that school of magic. Simply spread out and stop casting when it is nearly full.

Storming

While in combat enemies spawn damaging whirlwinds. +7 and higher. These whirlwinds knock up and turn the player around when hit. They should only affect those close to the enemies, it deals low damage but try not to get hit continually.

Grievous

Injured players suffered increasing damage over time until healed. +7 and above. Players under 90% HP receive this DoT which stacks 4 times doing more damage with each stack. To remove it your health must reach a minimum of 90%. Health stones, Healing potions and Food all help deal with this.

Inspiring

Some non-boss enemies have an inspiring presence that strengthens their allies. +4 and above. This makes the enemies near inspiring presence immune to CC and interrupts. The mob that inspires can however be CC and interrupted. Your party will want to either focus the inspired mob down killing it asap or CC it and pull the others away so they can be interrupted as required.

Sanguine

When non-boss enemies die they leave behind a pool of icor that damages your party and heals the enemies if inside. +4 and higher. Move the mobs out of each pool as it spawns. Do not stun the mobs inside of them. If there is a caster it will need to be interrupted so it will move out. Some classes have a knock back or knock away which can be very useful during Sanguine weeks. If you have a good group you can stun a mob just before it dies so the tank can move the rest, then kill the stunned mob so the rest are never in the pool at all and do not heal.

Explosive

When in combat enemies Summon Explosive Orbs that explode dealing massive damage to the party. +7 and above. You will often hear that explosives are a healer’s problem, that the healer needs to focus them. This is a lie. The explosives are the entire party’s problem. Everyone needs to focus on them as soon as they spawn. They can generally be killed in 1 shot from auto attacks or instant cast spells. They cannot be cleaved or AoE killed; they must be targeted and hit to die. Healers should focus them but there are often too many for the healer to get them all.

Bolstering

When non-boss enemies die they bolster nearby allies temporarily increasing the Max HP by 15% and damage by 20%. +4 and higher. Aim to kill all the mobs around the same time and wait to pull the next pack until all the last one is dead.

Raging

Non-boss enemies enrage at 30% HP, they deal 50% more damage while enraged. +4 and higher. It is a good idea to bring along classes that can soothe on Enraging weeks. Hunters, Rogues and druids can all sooth. They can remove the Enrage removing the damage and HP buffs.

Volcanic

While in combat enemies will occasionally spawn gouts of flame to erupt beneath the feet of distant players. +7 and higher. The range on the gouts of flame is very small, so a few steps in any direction when they spawn will help you avoid taking the damage. If hit, these gouts also knock you into the air and damage you.

+10 and Higher Affix

There is a seasonal affix that is in every M + 10 or higher. For season 4 it is shrouded.

All following information is based on PTR data not yet tested. Will be updated when tested.

Dread Lords (SHERLOCK HOLMES TIME!)
Dread lords have infiltrated many locations and must be hunted down. At the start of all +10 mythic and above there is a Cartel NPC that will offer you a bounty for any Dread lord you can find and capture. They will offer you a choice to increase 1 of your secondary stats by 2% for each dread lord captured. The dread lords look like normal non-boss enemies but have a dark aura around them. When you click on the mob it also has a debuff “Disguised” saying “Something doesn’t look quite right..”. When these mobs are engaged in combat they will turn into a dread lord. These cannot be stunned and have close to the normal HP of the mob they were disguised as. They cast “Leeching Claws” that slightly heals them, they will cast this on the tank. When the dread lord reaches 0% HP it will be captured by the Cartel member, a cage will appear around it and it will be TP away. You will then receive your bounty increasing your chosen stat by 2%. If no stat is chosen Versatility is automatically chosen for you.

Mini Boss

There is 1 mini boss Dread lord as well. This one has more HP, does more damage and has several unique abilities:

Blood Siphon: Puts a shield on itself and siphons health off the party healing. It puts a blood link between itself and the party. To stop this you can either out range the drain or break through the shield and interrupt.

Shadow Nova: Area of effect around the mini boss that deals damage to anyone caught inside. Move out of the area and wait for it to finish casting before going back into melee. It will not move while casting this.

Hypnosis Bat: Add that spawns, will cast hypnosis on party members that makes them hostile. Will also make everyone hostile to the affected player. The affected player will have a large shield on themselves and a DoT that damages their HP under the shield. The shield must be broken off before the player can be healed and become non hostile again. The affected player still has control of their character but can harm their party members. Be careful with AoE so you do not kill your allies. Kill the bat asap. Try stunning it to interrupt its Hypnosis cast. If it does cast focus the affected player to remove their shield and make them friendly again.

When the mini boss is captured you receive 3 stacks of the buff (6%).

Enjoyed This PVE Guide?

Mythic + is a great way to gear your characters. I hope this guide helps remove the trepidation some of you may have in beginning your M+ journey as it can be very enjoyable and a great way to challenge yourself. Keep pushing, keep practicing.

Now get out there and smash those keys!

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We are looking forward to see what you find as you fight through this dungeon and discover new and improved ways of doing it.

Thank you for reading.