Mythic+ Dungeon Difficulty Rankings and Tier List for Fortified/Spiteful/Volcanic Affixes

• Easy
  • Mists of Tirna Scithe
  • Halls of Atonement
  • Plaguefall
• Moderate
  • The Necrotic Wake
  • Spires of Ascension
  • Theater of Pain
  • De Other Side
• Hard
  • Sanguine Depths

We have MDT routes for this week's affixes and for all dungeons, which you can find in the guide linked below.

Making use of your Covenant's dungeon-specific buffs is crucial for having a smooth and efficient run. While by no means necessary to time your key, these buffs are extremely helpful. You can find out all about that on our dedicated page.

This week's affixes are Fortified, Spiteful, Volcanic, and Prideful. The MDT routes linked above provide enough flexibility for you to choose if you do want to play with Prideful (only +10 keystone difficulty) or not.

First, we will provide you with a few general tips for the week, and then you can read on below for our difficulty rankings of the dungeons.

• This week's affixes are extremely welcoming if you are looking to increase your Raider.io score or generally looking to complete a higher weekly key. That being said Spiteful can still be extremely dangerous, and potentially deadly, if you let a Spiteful Shade hit you 2-3 times. Make sure to use Crowd Control abilities such as stuns, knockbacks, and slows while keeping a safe distance from the spirits, or, if you are a melee, using personal defensive cooldowns. In addition, it is important to understand that Spiteful Shades do NOT target tanks. Finally, the Melee range of Spiteful Shades has been reduced in a recent change, making it easier for both ranged and melee players to escape the hard-hitting autoattacks of the spirits.
• Volcanic is an amazing affix to have, but sometimes it can prove rather dangerous especially when paired with other frontal abilities from enemies. Remember to avoid the Volcanic Plumes; the damage is not lethal but will knock you into the air. The more mobs you engage at the same time, the more Volcanic spawns you will have. Beware of narrow corridors in particular. Finally, when the mobs are under a Stun effect, they do NOT spawn Volcanic Plumes, so if you are engaging a large group of mobs consider holding AoE stuns accordingly.
• Fortified makes some mobs extremely dangerous, so having smaller-sized pulls will be the standard this week; timing Prideful buffs for some packs will be essential, but for more information regarding that check out our weekly routes!

Mists of Tirna Scithe is the easiest dungeon with this week's affixes of Fortified, Spiteful, and Volcanic. Fortified severely impacts the difficulty of this dungeon making boss encounters like Ingra Maloch twice as fast. This reflects on the overall dungeon timer.

Spiteful is quite easy to handle for the majority of the dungeon, as the open-space dungeon design allows you to effectively kite the Spiteful Shades without taking additional damage from them. Be aware that once you enter the "maze" of the dungeon, the space can be limited. Make sure to finish the Spiteful Shades quickly since they will prevent you from entering the next room due to being in combat.

Finally, Volcanic has little to no influence on the overall difficulty of the dungeon making it one of the easiest affixes to handle.

Considered one of the easier dungeons to time, Halls of Atonement will be, yet again, a great dungeon to focus on. The hardest part of Halls will be the massive HP inequality of the non-boss-enemies, particularly the Shard of Halkias paired with any other mob type. Once the Spiteful Shades from Spiteful appear, make sure to use your CC abilities to avoid being hit by them while still doing damage to the Shard of Halkias.

Volcanic is quite easy to handle, but beware of extra spawns during the Echelon boss encounter due to Undying Stonefiends; avoid them at all cost.

One of the best dungeons on Fortified, Plaguefall is definitely a dungeon you should pay a visit to. Playing the Rigged Plagueborer strategy will allow you to save tons of time, especially on Fortified.

Spiteful is also quite dangerous. Due to the high mob density in each pull there will be tons of Spiteful Shades spawning and each one of them can be lethal, so make sure to use crowd control accordingly. If you have a Necrolord in your party, make sure to take advantage of Fleshcraft's passive effect on the dead slimes prior to Globgrog for additional buffs to the whole party such as Rapid Infection, Congealed Contagion, and Corrosive Gunk.

The Necrotic Wake can be arguably one of the easiest dungeons on a Fortified week if you play appropriately with the weapons scattered throughout. Check our MDT routes if you are not sure where to use them to gain maximum efficiency.

Spiteful is one of the toughest affixes to have active in this dungeon due to the majority of the pulls being rather large. Pay extra attention in the first area of the dungeon, where Blightbone is located. The massive health differences in enemies will make each pack of mobs extra difficult.

Volcanic is one of the easiest affixes to handle in The Necrotic Wake due to the open-dungeon design, allowing you to sidestep the Volcanic Plumes freely.

Spires of Ascension is known to be one of the hardest dungeons on Fortified with tons of difficult mobs to handle, such as Forsworn Castigator and its lethal Burden of Knowledge debuff along with Forsworn Vanguard and its Sweeping Blow.

In addition, having Spiteful present will add additional difficulty toward completing the key in time. Avoid getting hit from Spiteful Shades at all costs while keeping important casts under control such as Rebellious Fist from Forsworn Goliath — it can be especially lethal on Fortified.

Surprisingly, this week Theater of Pain is one of the dungeons to look forward to play as the affixes are definitely great for it. Additionally, having a Necrolord in your party will definitely increase your chances to time the key, especially on the higher end, because of the unique Covenant-specific Necrolord's Command buff.

Spiteful will slow you down the most, as being in combat will prevent you from swapping platforms in the Altars of Agony area where you will lose the most time. In contrast, it is one of the easiest affixes to handle in this dungeon due to the low-density mob pulls.

Volcanic can be problematic due to the limited space the dungeon has to offer; you might get caught in a Volcanic Plume spawn under you. Always look under your feet and try to avoid them at all costs.

De Other Side will be a rather tough dungeon. Due to the limited space, Spiteful will be hard to deal with. In addition, the high-density pulls in the Ardenweald area of the dungeon will further add difficulty to completing the dungeon in time.

Having a Night Fae will definitely help you on some dangerous packs due to the Covenant-specific Haunted Urn dungeon buff, so if you are going in this dungeon, consider having a Night Fae among your party! It is also important to note that during the Urn's 10 second stun, the mobs do NOT spawn Volcanic Plumes!

The hardest dungeon this week without a doubt, Sanguine Depths offers a great challenge to any group looking to enter. Having a Venthyr in your party will definitely increase your chances of timing it, as Sinfall Boon can be quite a neat buff to have — it is great but not a must-have.

In addition, the narrow corridors make the Spiteful affix a great challenge so make sure to avoid being hit by them and use your group utility accordingly.

• Easy
  • Plaguefall
  • Mists of Tirna Scithe
  • Halls of Atonement
• Moderate
  • The Necrotic Wake
  • Spires of Ascension
• Hard
  • Theater of Pain
  • De Other Side
  • Sanguine Depths

We have MDT routes for this week's affixes and for all dungeons, which you can find in the guide linked below.

Making use of your Covenant's dungeon-specific buffs is crucial for having a smooth and efficient run. While by no means necessary to time your key, these buffs are extremely helpful. You can find out all about that on our dedicated page.

This week's affixes are Tyrannical, Raging, Explosive, and Prideful. The MDT routes linked above provide enough flexibility for you to choose if you do want to play with Prideful (only +10 keystone difficulty) or not.

First, we will provide you with a few general tips for the week, and then you can read on below for our difficulty rankings of the dungeons.

• This week is considered relatively "tough" compared to the others. Raging is unpleasant if none of your party members can dispel Enrage effects. Having a Hunter for Tranquilizing Shot, Druid for Soothe or Rogue for Shiv will provide additional safety and increase your chances of timing your key!
• Explosive is significantly nerfed compared to its version in Battle for Azeroth, as the current version of the affix does not scale with key level. This is great if you are looking to jump into a high weekly key! Consider bringing at least one melee in your group for better efficiency in dealing with the Explosives from this affix. In addition, they do NOT spawn from enemies that are under a Stun effect, so make sure to use one as often as you can to prevent them from spawning. Plan accordingly for the density of mobs in each pull, as the more you pull the more Explosives you have to take care of; make sure to check our weekly routes to see the best pathings for each dungeon!
• Tyrannical makes boss fights extremely difficult so saving defensive and offensive cooldowns combined with the Prideful buff from Prideful will increase your chances of timing your key!

Despite being one of the dungeons with the toughest bosses, Plaguefall is considered one of the easiest dungeons this week even with Tyrannical present. Having Raging is actually an advantage in some cases by deliberately Enraging Rigged Plagueborers to take advantage of their Plague Bomb and chain them to a pack. However, remember that Margrave Stradama is the hardest boss of this dungeon and will frequently make-or-break a run of Plaguefall. Be sure to check our weekly route to ensure the most optimal Prideful timings!

In addition, Explosive can cause a lot of trouble especially when engaging the Gushing Slime or Plaguebound Devoted due to their quantity. You might want to split the pulls with these enemies to prevent any unnecessary Explosive spawns!

Mists of Tirna Scithe is one of the easiest keys on Tyrannical, making it perfect if you want to focus on a high weekly key. Explosive is also easy to handle due to the majority of trash packs being rather small with only 4-5 mobs per pack; make sure you do not combine several packs together.

Pay extra attention to Mistveil Defender and their frontal Spear Flurry attack which becomes far more lethal once they Enrage from Raging. Having Soothe or a similar effect would be ideal

Halls of Atonement remains a great dungeon to focus on despite the unfavorable weekly affix rotation. The vast area allows tanks to kite Raging mobs even if you have no Soothe (or a similar effect) in your party. Just make sure to use slows or stuns to prevent the Enraged mobs getting close to them. However, beware of frontal abilities such as a Depraved Houndmaster's Rapid Fire or a Depraved Darkblade's Deadly Thrust. They can become especially deadly when Enraged, so watch out!

Finally, Explosive can be especially problematic if combining several Toiling Groundskeeper with other trash mobs, so make sure to be diligent in your Explosive removal!

The Necrotic Wake is considered "moderate" with this week's affix rotation, so if you are going there be sure to check our tips and tricks below!

Explosive is tough here due to the high mob density in each pack so pay extra attention of the size of each pull. Necrotic Wake is a dungeon where having big pulls can save you a lot of time, but in this case can also turn especially lethal if you decide to chain patrolling groups of Blight Bags with other mob types.

Raging is relatively easy to handle, especially on Tyrannical. The only mob types you should be paying close attention to are the abominations using Mutilate and Tenderize in the Stitchwerks area — the room after defeating Amarth. Make sure to kite or use Soothe (or similar effect) once the mobs Enrage, as both abilities can become lethal for the tank.

Finally, you can also use Raging to your advantage by aiming the Enraged Throw Cleaver from Flesh Crafter to an enemy mob or Prideful to speed up the dungeon!

Spires of Ascension can be really tough, especially with this week's affix rotation. Raging is extremely punishing if you do not have a Soothe or similar effect in your party. Non-boss-enemies like Klotos and Forsworn Helion become deadly once they reach Enrage so make sure to Enrage Dispel and avoid letting casts go through by interrupting or otherwise disrupting them.

Luckily, Explosive has little to no influence in this dungeon as the majority of pulls consist of low mob density in each pack. This makes the affix fairly easy to handle with any composition.

Theater of Pain is one of the hardest dungeons this week not only due to Tyrannical but also because of Raging. Shambling Arbalest become lethal as soon as they reach the Enraged threshold, so having Soothe or a similar effect will save you from certain death. Moreover, Portal Guardian and its AoE damage from Soulstorm can also be dangerous if not Enrage-dispelled so pay close attention for that!

In addition, The Upper and Lower Barrow of Carnage — the areas leading toward Gorechop — consist of large groups of mobs which can spawn tons of Explosives if not dealt with swiftly and be significantly harder to deal with.

Having a Necrolord within your party will bolster your chances to time the key due to Necrolord's Command granting the whole party 10% Versatility. This not only increases your damage but also decreases your damage taken!

One of the hardest dungeons on the Tyrannical affix, De Other Side provides a great challenge for any group looking to complete the dungeon. Explosive is extremely tough in the Ardenweald area leading towards Dealer Xy'exa, so make sure you do not pull an excessive amount of mobs.

Hakkar the Soulflayer is arguably the hardest boss in all of the Shadowlands dungeons, so customizing your route to ensure you have the Prideful buff for this boss combined with all of your offensive and defensive cooldowns will increase your chances of timing the key.

Raging can turn especially deadly on the Rage cast from the Enraged Spirit, so having a Night Fae to use Haunted Urn on its cast or Enrage Dispel to remove the Enraged effect will prevent your from a sure death.

Sanguine Depths is notoriously known for being one of the hardest dungeons on a Tyrannical week. Executor Tarvold and Grand Proctor Beryllia are the toughest bosses in this dungeon to handle, so making sure to time the Prideful buff with all of your cooldowns will be the main focus.

In addition, Explosive is rather hard due to high density of mobs especially around the Gauntlet area leading toward General Kaal. Raging has also a large impact on the overall difficulty of the dungeon, making some mobs like Insatiable Brute and Grand Overseer lethal once they Enrage. If you do head to Sanguine Depths, make sure to bring Soothe or a similar effect to increase your chances of timing the key!