Three strats you need for Mythic+ week one

Too click-baity? Forgive me. The BFA Mythic+ Compendium is still a week away, so here’s a preview with three boss strategies you might have missed. If you’ve learned at least one new thing by the end of the article then we’ll call it a win.

Vol’Zith the Whisperer

The “Healer Heart Attack” Strat

The advantage: DPS will gain a stacking +20% damage buff and you’ll kill the boss before his second Grasp of the Sunken City cast, greatly speeding up the fight which will be crucial on keys.

How to: The healer is the key to the strategy since the first Whispers of Power cast is always on them. If they keep it through an entire Sunken City phase then the second and third casts will be on your DPS. This is incredibly dangerous however, since the debuff also reduces their maximum health to 10% which means any damage they take will definitely kill them. Conveniently all damage on the fight is 100% preventable if you know where it’s coming from.

• Tentacle Slam: This one is easy. Tentacles spawn and then crash down in a random direction a few seconds after spawn. You just have to dodge them.
• Yawning Gate: Another easy one. The boss will drop huge black circles underneath him. Don’t stand in them.
• Consume Essence (Forgotten Denizen): When the boss banishes you to the shadow realm the three DPS will be thrust into a realm with two Forgotten Denizens. They don’t melee, but do cast Consume Essence – a long, slow cast. Put one DPS on one, and the other two on the other. You need a 100% interrupt rate since the cast deals damage to all players.
• Manifestations of the Deep: After you return from the sunken realm the boss will summon five small Sha adds. If they reach the boss, or if you kill them, then they’ll explode and damage all players. This will kill your healer and anyone else with maximum Whispers of Power stacks. Avoid the damage by using your AoE CC on them while kiting the boss in the opposite direction.

• You have the key role in this fight. The strategy depends greatly on you playing near-perfectly. If you get hit by a tentacle or walk into the Yawning Gate then you’ll die for sure.
• During the sunken phase you need to contribute DPS to the Sunken Denizen. It does have a threat table so give your tank a second to hit it before you open up – remember you deal triple damage with the buff.
• When you return from the sunken realm, pop everything on the boss. You can top the damage charts here. Show your DPS who’s carrying who but don’t forget about your CC either. Incap Totem and Ursols Vortex are incredibly effective against the Manifestations of the Deep adds.

The Golden Serpent

The “Bring your Druid to work day” Strat

Hopefully your roots look healthier than the ones pictured.

The advantage: The golden blob adds are trivialized and the boss just becomes a giant noodle. You’re ready for Golden Serpent Tyrannical +10 from day one.

How to: Mark a point on the ground, near the gong, where every party member will take their Spit Gold debuffs. You want them to be gathered closely together. When the boss casts Lucre’s Call all of the gold patches on the floor will become Animated Gold adds. Have your friendly neighborhood Druid cast Mass Entanglement on one in the middle and have your DPS stay on the boss. The adds will never melee, only walk toward the boss so Spit Gold targets continue to run to the marker. The Druid repeats the Mass Entangle every Lucre’s Call and the rest of you just focus on killing the boss. You’ve removed the fights key mechanic – just remember to dodge cyclones.

Possible hiccups: Mass Entanglement can have a weird interaction with line of sight on the stairs. Try and cast it while the adds are still tightly packed.

Overseer Korgus

The “Prayer circle” Strat

The DPS and Healer positions are interchangeable. 

The advantage: You’ll never need to dodge Massive Blast (the cannons), the party can stack on the boss for Cross Ignition, and you’re immune to the knockback. It comes at the cost of your camera angles being god awful for the fight.

How to: The party stacks in the corner, one on each marker. Make sure your back is up against the wall.

• Cross Ignition (the big black lines): Move into the bosses hitbox. It’s a short trip. Move back out after it fires.
• Cannon Blast: Do nothing. The cannons can’t spin around far enough to hit you here. Idiot cannons.
• Explosive Burst: Do nothing. The markers are far enough apart to avoid sharing damage and your back is up against the wall so you can’t get knocked back during the Azerite Rounds: Incendiary.
• Deadeye: The player just takes the first one. If they already have a stack then another player rotates around the small circle to take it. Only one player should move.

Bonus: A lesson in artisan pig catching

How to: Put a marker up on the pile of bones in the middle of the arena. When the announcers RP draws to a close have all five party members spam click the marker. The moment the pig lands he’ll be clicked by five players and caught, saving you an embarrassing greasy pig chase while your M+ timer ticks down.

There’s one more week until Mythic+ opens. Use it to experiment, explore and try new things. Try a different strat for a boss, try a new route through an instance, start pushing for quicker times or fly to Paris. Season one is nigh.

Useful links

Dungeon Debuff List | QE on Twitter