Mythic+

The Mythic+ dungeon system provides an endlessly scaling challenge in 5-player Mythic dungeons. This system allows a group of five players to compete against a timer, similar to Challenge Mode, but has much more lenient times so that the emphasis is on solid execution rather than pure speed.

Overview

 * Completing a Mythic+ dungeon rewards epic gear at a higher base ilvl than any other source besides raiding
 * Mythic+ dungeons have levels; a level 3 dungeon will be more difficult than a level 2, but less difficult than a level 5
 * Enemies in the dungeons deal more damage and have higher health pools with each level your party conquers
 * A higher-level Mythic+ dungeon rewards higher-ilvl loot
 * At certain levels, the dungeon gains an "affix" that changes the way enemies will act, adding additional complexity to the content
 * Each week, players will receive a guaranteed item of loot based upon their performance in the previous week's Mythic+ dungeon lockout

All the dungeons introduced with Legion have a Mythic+ mode, except for Assault on Violet Hold. All Battle for Azeroth dungeons also have a Mythic+ mode, as do all Shadowlands dungeons.

Starting
In order to start a Mythic+ dungeon, at least one player in the party must have a Mythic Keystone.


 * 1) Set the dungeon difficulty to Mythic before entering the dungeon.
 * 2) A Font of Power object will be present near the dungeon's entrance, similar to the Challenge Mode dungeon object.
 * 3) The player with the Keystone must click on the Font of Power to open the Mythic+ UI.
 * 4) Place the Keystone from the bags into the socket in the center of the UI window.
 * 5) Wait a few moments so that it will update with the Keystone level and additional information about the dungeon.
 * 6) Click the red "Activate" button at the bottom of the window.

Once the Activate button is clicked, this will force all players to reload their UI, place a ghostly green wall in front of the party, and begin a 10-second countdown timer. When this reaches 0, the wall is removed and the Mythic+ timer begins.

Completing
Just like in Challenge Mode, the players' aim is to defeat all of the bosses in the dungeon, as well as a set amount of trash, before the Mythic+ timer expires.


 * Beating the timer rewards the party with a new, higher-level Keystone of a random dungeon, and a Challenger's Cache that contains 3 pieces of loot at an appropriate ilvl, plus a chance at more loot for Keystones over 15.
 * Once the timer finishes before completing the objectives, a Challenger's Cache will still spawn upon killing the final boss of the dungeon that will contain 2 pieces of loot, plus a chance at more loot for Keystones over 15.
 * If you don't complete the dungeon in time, you will have a Keystone that is one level lower for the same dungeon.

A toast window will pop up when you complete the dungeon, displaying whether you beat the timer or not. This window also shows how many levels the Keystone is upgraded by if you successfully beat the timer.

Lockouts
The Mythic+ system has no lockouts, meaning the same Mythic+ dungeon can be completed as much as desired, as long as at least one player in the party has a Mythic Keystone. Since Mythic+ dungeons have the exact same loot as normal Mythic dungeons, lower level Mythic+ dungeons can be taken advantage of to farm mounts from these dungeons.

Composition and Preparation
You cannot change party members once you have begun a Mythic+ dungeon. If one of your players disconnects, or leaves the group, the dungeon must be reset in order to refill the group. This will lower your Keystone by one level since patch 7.2.5.

Mythic+ dungeons, at least up to level 10, are balanced so that proper execution is a bigger factor in the party's success than any particular composition.

You cannot change talents or specs while inside the dungeon once you have begun. However, you can zone out of the dungeon and use a Tome of the Tranquil Mind to change your talents before re-entering.

Challenger's Burden
While inside a Mythic+ dungeon, all players are affected by Challenger's Burden. Whenever a player dies, 5 seconds is removed from the timer as a penalty. The Challenger's Burden debuff forces the party to consider whether a "death run" - streaking past a long stretch of trash mobs only to die and be resurrected in a safe location beyond them - is strategically beneficial. In certain cases, such as the opening hallway in Black Rook Hold, the party may determine if it is worth saving their potion cooldown (and using potions for 10 minutes), instead of killing the trash or using Invisibility potions.

This also serves as an indicator to the party that they may not be ready for a certain Mythic+ level. If accidental deaths are too frequent, the party will run out its clock long before completing the dungeon. Players will either need to come back with better gear, or improve their techniques and strategies in order to succeed.

Mythic Keystones
The Mythic Keystone are special items that allow a player to begin a Mythic+ dungeon. Two examples of Mythic Keystones are shown to the right. The tooltip for these Keystones lists important information:


 * The dungeon for which the Keystone is attuned
 * The level of the Keystone
 * Any affixes that might be in play for that dungeon (see below)
 * The remaining duration on the Keystone item, which expires on the weekly dungeon lockout

A player may only possess one Mythic Keystone at a time, and will only receive one keystone per week. If the current Keystone was deleted, another one won't be available from any of the possible Keystone sources until after the weekly dungeon reset.

If it was accidentally deleted, it can be recovered through the Blizzard Battle.net Item Restoration service. However, with patch 8.1.0, the keystone can no longer be deleted.

Acquiring the Keystone
There are three ways to obtain one a Keystone:


 * Complete a Mythic dungeon to receive a level 2 Keystone
 * Participate in a Mythic+ dungeon using another player's Keystone to receive a Keystone
 * If at least one Mythic+ dungeon has been done, open the Great Vault in Oribos after a weekly dungeon reset to receive a new Keystone
 * The Keystone from the Great Vault will be at the same level as the best Mythic+ dungeon you completed last week if the dungeon was in time, one level lower if it was not in time, or a Keystone Level 2, whichever is higher

With the changes in patch 7.2, each player will have their own keystone that cannot be depleted. If the level gets too high for your liking, you may lower the Keystone's level by 1 step at a time by starting the dungeon, and then resetting it. This can be done solo.

Upgrading the Keystone
If one successfully complete a Mythic+ dungeon within the time allotted, the Keystone that was used to start the attempt will become upgraded by at least 1 level. The faster one clears the content, the larger the upgrade, up to a maximum of 3 levels higher.


 * Beating the timer with less than 20% remaining (e.g. less than 6 minutes for a 30-minute dungeon) results in a +1 upgrade, e.g. from 3 to 4
 * Beating the timer with more than 20%, but less than 40% remaining (e.g. less than 12 minutes, but more than 6, for a 30-minute dungeon), results in a +2 upgrade, e.g. from 3 to 5
 * Beating the timer with more than 40% of the alloted time remaining (e.g. more than 12 minutes for a 30-minute dungeon) results in a +3 upgrade, e.g. from 3 to 6

At the end of the dungeon run, the upgraded Keystone will be placed in the initiating player's bag. Each time a Keystone is upgraded it will select a new dungeon at random from the set of dungeons the initiating player has access to (Cathedral of Eternal Night does not follow this rule). For example, if the player who started the run has not yet unlocked The Arcway/Court of Stars dungeons, the Keystone will only choose from the remaining valid dungeons.

Affixes
An affix is an additional property that affects the way enemies within the dungeon will behave. Since Battle for Azeroth, Affixes appear on all Mythic+ dungeon keys. However, each affix now has an assigned minimum level for it to be eligible to appear. The first affix is gained at level 2, the second at level 4, the third at level 7, and the fourth at level 10. If the Keystone has an affix listed on it, then all of the enemies in that Mythic+ dungeon will inherit this property unless specified.

Active affixes are set game-wide on a week-by-week basis (excluding the seasonal affix), and will remain the same for all players until the next weekly reset. This means that every keystone will have the same set of level 2, 4, and 7 affixes for the week.

Level 2 Affixes
At Mythic Keystone level 2, players will see their first affix. It will be printed on the keystone's tooltip, and information about it will appear both on the Font of Power interface, Mythic Dungeons interface, and the objectives frame (where the timer and kill count are displayed) during the dungeon run. The Level 2 affix will always be one of two specific affixes, switching between them each week.


 * Fortified &mdash; Increases the health and damage of non-boss enemies.
 * Tyrannical (affix) &mdash; Increases the health and damage of boss enemies.

Level 4 Affixes
At Mythic Keystone level 4, players will see a second affix added to their keystone. This affix comes exclusively from the following list:


 * Bolstering &mdash; When any non-boss enemy dies, its death cry empowers nearby allies, increasing their maximum health and damage by 20%.
 * Bursting &mdash; When slain, non-boss enemies explode, causing all players to suffer damage over 4 sec. This effect stacks.
 * Inspiring &mdash; Some non-boss enemies have an inspiring presence that strengthens their allies.
 * Raging &mdash; Non-boss enemies enrage at 30% health remaining, dealing 100% increased damage until defeated.
 * Sanguine &mdash; When slain, enemies leave behind a lingering pool of ichor that heals their allies and damages players.
 * Spiteful &mdash; Fiends rise from the corpses of non-boss enemies and pursue random players.

Level 7 Affixes
At Mythic Keystone level 7, players will see a third affix added to their Keystone. This affix comes exclusively from the following list:


 * Explosive (affix) &mdash; While in combat, enemies periodically summon Explosive Orbs that will detonate if not destroyed.
 * Grievous &mdash; Injured players suffer increasing damage over time until healed above 90% health.
 * Necrotic &mdash; All enemies' melee attacks apply a stacking blight that inflicts damage over time and reduces healing received.
 * Quaking &mdash; Periodically, all players emit a shockwave, inflicting damage and interrupting nearby allies.
 * Storming &mdash; While in combat, enemies periodically summon damaging whirlwinds.
 * Volcanic &mdash; While in combat, enemies periodically cause gouts of flame to erupt beneath the feet of distant players.

Level 10 Affixes
Since Battle for Azeroth, a 4th affix is applied to keystones at level 10 or higher. Unlike the other affixes, this affix does not change week by week. Instead it will span for the entire Mythic+ season, and then change with every new Mythic+ season going forward. At the start of the new season, the previous season's affix is permanently removed. The seasonal affixes have so far been themed off of a major boss found in the patch's current raid instance.

Shadowlands

 * Shadowlands Season 1: Prideful &mdash; Players overflow with pride as they defeat non-boss enemies, eventually forming a Manifestation of Pride. Defeating this Manifestation greatly empowers players.

Battle for Azeroth

 * Battle for Azeroth Season 1: Infested (affix) &mdash; Some non-boss enemies have been infested with a Spawn of G'huun.
 * Battle for Azeroth Season 2: Reaping (affix) &mdash; Non-boss enemies are empowered by Bwonsamdi and periodically seek vengeance from beyond the grave.
 * Battle for Azeroth Season 3: Beguiling &mdash; Azshara's Emissaries are present throughout the dungeon.
 * Battle for Azeroth Season 4: Awakened &mdash; Obelisks throughout the dungeon allow players to enter Ny'alotha and confront powerful servants of N'Zoth. If a servant is not dealt with, they must be faced during the final boss encounter.

The aim of these level 10+ affixes is to make the high-level Mythic+ dungeons noticeably more difficult, so that progressing beyond level 10-15 represents extreme dedication to this type of content. Mythic+ teams who wish to push beyond Mythic+ level 10-15 are likely to require specific group compositions and use highly refined strategies. Currently, loot does not improve past level 15, and players do not need to beat the level 15 timer to achieve the greatest possible loot reward from Mythic+ content, so all specs and classes should be able to compete for the best loot available.

Retired Affixes
The following is a list of non-seasonal affixes that were removed from the game, and will no longer appear on keystones.
 * Decay &mdash; All players suffer damage over time while the challenge is active. (Removed during beta testing for  Legion)
 * Overflowing &mdash; Healing in excess of a target's maximum health is instead converted to a heal absorption debuff effect. (Removed in patch 7.2.0)
 * Skittish &mdash; Enemies pay far less attention to threat generated by tanks. (Removed with Shadowlands Season 1)
 * Teeming &mdash; Additional non-boss enemies are present throughout the dungeon. (Removed with Shadowlands Season 1)

Loot
There are two sources of loot associated with Mythic+ Dungeons: a chest at the end of the instance (known as the Challenger's Cache), and an additional one to three options for one item from the Great Vault the week after. The Challenger's Cache drops are taken from the loot table for the dungeon the players have completed, while items in the Great Vault may be from any dungeon.

Challenger's Cache

 * At the end of a successful run, one chest will appear that all players can loot.
 * The chest will always contain one item, and one additional item if the key is completed within its time limit. These are randomly awarded as personal loot, so all players should open the chest.
 * Players who loot gear will receive an item that is appropriate to their class and specialization.
 * These items can be traded to other eligible players in the party so long as they are not an item level upgrade for the player who won them.
 * All players will loot anima tokens.
 * All players will loot 135 Valor.

The chart below shows the item level granted from each source:

Legion
Artifact Power rewards have received some updates in patch 7.2:
 * Mythic Keystones can now direct the player to Lower Karazhan, Upper Karazhan, and Cathedral of Eternal Night.
 * Artifact Power rewards for Mythic Keystone dungeons have been adjusted:
 * Longer dungeons, such as Halls of Valor, now award a proportionately higher amount of Artifact Power.
 * Shorter dungeons, such as Maw of Souls, now award a proportionately lower amount of Artifact Power.
 * Artifact Power bonuses have been added to the weekly chest rewards. These increase based on the highest level Mythic Keystone that was completed.

Artifact Power
In 7.3, the amount of Artifact Power has changed since the dungeons have been rescaled.

Type of dungeons:


 * Lesser Dungeons: Maw of Souls
 * Regular Dungeon: Black Rook Hold, Cathedral of Eternal Night, Court of Stars, Darkheart Thicket, Eye of Azshara, Upper and Lower Karazhan, Neltharion's Lair, Vault of the Wardens, Seat of the Triumvirate
 * Greater Dungeons: Arcway, Halls of Valor

There are also Artifact Power rewards from the Order Hall chest awarded weekly.

Legion gear
The dungeon chest drops are taken from the loot table for the dungeon the players have completed.

The Order Hall chest drops may be from any dungeon, including dungeons that have not yet been unlocked for that character (e.g. Court of Stars/The Arcway) or dungeons that do not have a M+ mode (e.g. Assault on Violet Hold). This gear will be at least a Warforged version of the type of gear you would have gotten from your best Mythic+ dungeon - so for example, if you cleared a Mythic 5, you will get at least a Mythic 5 Titanforged item. The chart below shows the minimum ilvl you will get from each source:

Mythic+ caches in patch 7.3.2 now reward 20 Wakening Essence, needed to upgrade a Legion Legendary to ilvl 1000 or used to craft a Legion Legendary in patch 7.3.5.

Achievements
Legion
 * Legion Keymaster
 * Keystone Initiate
 * Keystone Challenger
 * Keystone Conqueror
 * Keystone Master
 * Realm First! Legion Keystone Master

Battle for Azeroth
 * Battle for Azeroth Keymaster
 * Realm First! Battle for Azeroth Keystone Master