Mythic+ is broken and affixes appear to be the culprit. Is this mode beyond repair or can WoW turn it around? Let’s look at the various.
"What garbage do I have to deal with this week?" is the first thing that pops up on the World of Warcraft mythicpl.us website. One of the best hubs on the net for Mythic+ information, it also serves as fair warning: The Mythic affixes in WoW are not a good time. The mechanic is a weekly, rotating set of modifiers to keep Mythic+ difficulty dungeoneers on their toes. However, most of the time it only serves as part of the problem for keeping a Mythic group together.
Because it's not just the affixes, is it? I've written before about how Mythic+ in WoW needs a serious overhaul to keep the player base invested. However, lack of tanks/healers and groups that break up after one wipe is just a symptom. The problem, if one now-deleted Reddit read is any indicator, starts at the beginning.
Mythic+ affixes: WoW run killer?
Three days ago in a now-deleted Reddit post, the somewhat blunt user u/jackdoez got right to the heart of the Mythic+ affixes issue in WoW: "Change the f*cking affixes." The post detailed a lot of the issues that plague the max-difficulty dungeon system, ranging from leavers at the slightest bit of failure in higher keys to simply just not having a big enough pool of players. The post in question garnered over 1,200 comments and an 86 percent upvote rate before being deleted.
The reason? Mods said "This post is a repetitive topic." Which is to say that players bringing up their grievances with Mythic+ isn't anything new. So what, exactly, is the issue?
Mythic+ runs are governed by a system called affixes. These are modifiers that rotate with each week's lockout, providing a number of effects.
Mostly bad ones.
These affixes vary in level of severity and are best described as traps and pitfalls. As the level of difficulty--or as players call it, the key level--increases, so does the power of these affixes.
This season those traps include:
- Fortified - Non-bosses have more health and deal 30% more damage.
- Tyrannical - Bosses have 30% more health and deal 15% more damage.
- Bolstering - Non-boss enemies buff nearby allies on death, increasing maximum health by 15% and damage by 20%. This effect stacks.
- Bursting - Non-boss enemies explode on death, causing all players to suffer flat damage that scales with keystone level. This effect stacks.
- Raging - Non-boss enemies at 30% health, dealing 75% increased damage until killed.
- Sanguine - Non-boss enemies will leave a pool of blood on the ground on death. This pool heals enemies and damages players for a percentage of their maximum health.
- Spiteful - Spirits rise from the corpses of non-boss enemies and chase down random players, dealing HEAVY melee damage.
- Explosive - Enemies have a chance to summon an Explosive Orb nearby that will explode after six seconds, inflicting damage 40% of the player’s maximum health as damage.
- Grievous - While below 90% health, players are afflicted with Grievous Wound.
- Quaking - Players will periodically Quake, interrupting spell casts of the player. Nearby allies take 40% of their maximum health as damage.
- Storming Tornadoes spawn around enemy creatures while in combat.
- Volcanic - Enemies cause eruptions of flame near distant players. Additional volcanoes may appear near existing volcanoes.
- Thundering (Season 1) - Enemies have 5% more health. While in combat, players are periodically overcharged with primal power from Raszageth's unending storm. This power comes with great risk, and failure to discharge it quickly can have stunning consequences.
After a certain point, players can expect multiple affixes in their key run. While some boil down to "don't stand in fire," many more of these affect the baseline stats of enemies. However, all of them share one thing in common: Feeling like punishment towards tanks and healers.
Looking for group?
The biggest complaint about the Mythic+ system is usually the wait times. Not part of the Looking For Group system that matches players, Mythic is instead a meat market free-for-all. Players sign up for a queue that showcases their ilvl and Mythic stats for the world to see, all in hopes of getting picked as soon as possible.
This creates two problems: The first being a type of caste system where certain classes and specializations will always take precedence over others. The meta is the meta and if you're a Hunter main like me then you can expect for waits of upwards to an hour simply to find a group. At higher keys this choosiness becomes more problematic. For instance, certain types of tanks (such as Druids) and healers (like Paladin) will have a much harder time getting groups due to a lack of perceived utility.
The second problem is more systemic. There's simply not enough players in those utility roles willing to put up with the nonsense that Mythic affixes in WoW have to offer. After all, a healer or tank often gets the blame upon first blood. And, if we're being honest: Due to its speedrun-esque, time attack nature, one wipe in Mythic+ is often the difference between success and failure.
Why would anyone want to wait that long, simply to hope that you're put into a group of people who can keep a level head after one supposed slight? Certainly not this writer. I used to be a raid tank and healer but found myself not wanting to deal with the headache.
However, I'm also part of the problem. Too many soldiers, not enough generals. Everyone wants to go pewpew as a DPS but nobody wants the hard job.
And why would they when the Mythic affixes in WoW feel like a direct assault on having a good time?
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Get gud?
I don't want to sound like a guy that's played World of Warcraft for two decades. I fully understand how much the game has changed during that time, and for the better. That said, the gap in difficulty between Normal, Heroic, and even normal Mythic dungeons feels like a systemic issue.
Point in fact, the game just isn't as hard as it once was at its most base levels. I always have to crack up during Burning Crusade or Wrath of the Lich King Timewalking because those old dungeons--even with the more educated players of today--still manages to mess with folks. Mob pulls that require crowd control? Pulling too much at once and wiping instantly? Happens every time in those old dungeons.
Which is to say that I don't think the normal game quite prepares players to be as scrappy as they need to be. However, we can't blame it all on difficulty. The larger issue stands with healer mechanics and the fact that playing a healer just plain isn't fun.
It's fun in the same way being a designated driver is "fun." You get to babysit all the drunks while sipping on your fifth diet coke and hoping that nobody vomits in your car while in the Taco Bell drive-through.
Compare this to another Blizzard title in Overwatch 2. Having a similar triumvirate of DPS/tank/heals, being a healer in OW2 is an active experience. It's also one that offers many different playstyles without punishing any singular choice.
Compare that to the healing classes of WoW and how it almost feels like there are wrong answers; wrong answers which took that player tens of hours to play, learn, and level before the group leader says they aren't good enough.
It's no wonder nobody wants to heal. Which then means that nobody wants to tank. Leaving the rest of us DPS shmucks standing around and waiting for a blessed tank and healer to come down from upon high.
The future of Mythic+
It's safe to say that Mythic affixes in WoW aren't going anywhere. A core part of the mode's identity, affixes are only a true full-stop at the highest keys. We also can't forget that in some weeks the affixes are downright easy. As usual, the problem sits with the healing and tanking experience and how Blizzard can coax more players into playing these unfun, yet rewarding roles.
A number of patches are on the horizon, including the 10.1 patch coming in late spring. The new Blizzard has been adapt at answering the plight of players as of late, so can they do it again for Mythic? Let's hope so, because I'm hard-stuck at 1500 Mythic score and tired.
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