Mythic Dungeons – The Climb #652

Saturday 5^th December 2020

One of the reason doing dungeons causes me such unreasonable levels of anxiety is the fact that, at the start, I don’t know the dungeon. Each boss has their own mechanic, there are favoured routes through the dungeon, there are times to avoid things on the floor and times when to strand in it.

Knowing the mechanics of the fight might seem like a small thing but when you are low geared, you can’t just blast your way through. I don’t want to be the idiot that doesn’t move to a spot when I’m supposed to and wipes the entire group.

Of course, you say, the expansion is new; everyone is learning; surely people will be understanding? Well, not always. There can be some pretty toxic behaviour in PUGs.

And it’s bizarre – because in the real world – I’d tell them to shut up without a flicker of anxiety. In the virtual world… I don’t want to be the idiot. I’m not entirely sure why the process in my head is so different when it comes to the virtual world.

So I was grateful when a couple of new guildmates decided that they’d do a few dungeons with me to help me gear up. Even though I don’t know them all, there’s something about it not being a completely random group that turns running a dungeon from terrifying to enjoyable. Not that it wasn’t a bit scary.

There are a number of levels of dungeon in Warcraft. There are normal. These are designed for people who have just come out of questing. I’ve done a few of these, because it’s more acceptable to be fresh and not know the mechanics. Then there are heroics. You have to have a certain gear level before Blizzard will even allow you to queue for these. Everything is a bit tougher and the bosses have extra mechanics.

Then there are Mythics. You have to form your own group rather than queue up, and there’s no gear level because … well, you’re on your own.

Over the years Mythic + has become a big thing in Warcraft. This is a continuation of the scaling seen in Mythics. Mobs have extra affixes which make them tougher and tougher and there are time limits to try and complete the dungeon in. Weirdly, I had thought about getting into them with my horde characters this expansion, because you only need 5 people. And finding 5 people you know – or get to know – would be easier than creating a raiding team of 20

But the higher level of Mythics only opens next week. Still Mythic 0s are no simple challenge, but it was made a little easier by being on a headset and letting the person who will lead some of our raids practise explaining the fights to a newbie.

We only did a few but I got a couple of pieces of 184 gear that will help me level up ready for raiding in a week. Having played through a few now and having an understanding of a few of the dungeons has reduced my anxiety a little. I don’t feel quite so anxious queuing up on my own now.

I still need a lot of gear but with a week to go, I reckon if I do a couple of dungeons a day, I should be able to make it.