The fourteenth week of Mythic+ in this season is over, and Nightstalker314 is breaking down the latest Raider.IO data. The dungeon event once again pushed Retail activity upward. Although higher run numbers on Chinese servers were the main driver, activity in the other regions was slightly lower week by week. Remix metrics continued the downward trend from the last few weeks. After the Argus content release, the numbers might bottom out entirely. So, let’s look at the details.
Weekly Total Run Performance Compared To Other Seasons
The global numbers increased by 4.02% compared to week 13. 14.98% more runs on the Chinese servers dragged this value into the positive. In the other four regions, we saw a drop of -5.46%. Compared to the previous seasons for the four regular regions, TWW S3 is trailing behind quite a bit. DF S4 in the same week saw a major rebound because back then, Pandaria Remix had ended. For TWW S3, this effect might be less pronounced and happen gradually over the weeks leading up to the pre-patch.
Chinese players took the dungeon event more seriously. The regional split reached the highest percentage value for the entire season so far. 51.28% of all runs worldwide were completed over there. The biggest gains happened on the lower key levels, which is rather unusual for Chinese players. They focus on higher keys a lot more and sooner into each season.
Remix activity dropped by 31.90% compared to the previous week. The trend of focusing on the highest M+ rewards continued. But there is also another relevant factor. Over time, more and more raids became available for daily farm runs. And you can make a lot of progress by just clearing those on heroic or mythic. That shift is drawing players away from M+. The mode was the main source of infinite power gain during the first weeks of Remix.
Total Runs Across All S3 Dungeons
The dungeon split widened once again. During a dungeon event week, players chase fast, low-stress dungeons a lot more. Eco-Dome, Gambit, and Halls are quick to reach and easy to clear with a high success rate. The popularity order didn’t change. The gaps between the top and the bottom just stretched out. And Ara-Kara, being the furthest away and in the deep end of the TWW zones, is a perfect mirror of its popularity.
Success rates dipped by 0.16 percentage points to 87.47%. The larger share of low-level keys had led to this. The affix combination of Ascendant and Fortified for key levels 7 to 9 is the roughest in the rotation. Buffed trash and the orb spawn are harder to manage in those weeks, especially for less experienced players. The Ascendant affix is getting nerfed in Midnight, though.
Gambit (92.52%) finally surpassed Eco-Dome (92.35%) this week. Streets of Wonder (90.95%) benefited from having less trash as a 5-boss dungeon. Halls of Attonement (88.67%) was again the worst of the top half. The Dawnbreaker (85.82%) led the lower half with a larger gap towards Priory (84.22%). The latter is always impacted the most by Ascendant and Fortified. Floodgate (82.82%) and Ara-Kara (79.38%) were once again in the last two spots.
Split Across All S3 Key Levels
80.46% of all keys were done at key level 10 and above. 22.96% on key level 10 alone. Relative split and absolute numbers increased for all keys up to 10 this week. Key level 12 and above still represented the majority with 52.40% of all keys. Level 12 once again was the main draw with 27.79%. Keys at 13 and above are slowly tapering off. Only the top three key levels still see growth week by week.
Compared to TWW S1 and S2, S3 is still 2 key levels ahead. But the quick progress within the early weeks might have led to burnout for high-end players. While we see World Records being shattered in the MDI finals with key levels reaching 23 and 24, this has not been replicated on the live servers.
The slight change in the success rate compared to the previous week does not tell us everything. As mentioned above, the worst affix combination impacted the lower keys a lot. Key levels 4 to 11 saw their rates drop by 1.19 to 3.41 points. This is a huge swing. The nerf to the Ascendant affix comes way too late, though. In our first recap articles, almost a year ago, we already highlighted this major difference in affix design.
Legion Remix Dungeon Split
The overall split has gotten a bit tighter compared to week 5. This is a general trend for most seasons, long-term. The order has been shuffled a bit. The top and the bottom end stayed the same for reasons of efficiency and avoiding RP and long runs. After debuting in week 5, Cathedral has dropped down to the lower half. It is still a rather trivial dungeon, but quite a long one with way too many staircases.
Legion Remix Key Level Split
The top key level didn’t increase this week. Players only made it to level 185. It seems that 187 is the limit so far. A better affix combination might make that possible. High-end players have already capped out their infinite power and gear by now.
78.72% of all keys were done at level 20 and higher. The total number of runs has decreased for all levels up to 47. The relative share on the lower ends is somewhat consistent. Level 20 increased from 3.01% to 3.18% again. Level 30, though, dropped once again from 13.47% to 11.31%. But level 40 also saw way less participation and decreased from 4.37% to 4.25%. The gap between 40 and 50 was quite populated. And key level 50 rose from 1.57% to 2.36%.
The overall participation for M+ is on a steep decline. Raids offer a more appealing path for casual players. And for grinding out infinite power, players are shifting towards key levels between 45 and 70. This is far beyond what the average Remix player wants to engage with.
Conclusion and Week 15 Forecast
Retail and Remix M+ are reaching their seasonal floor, just at different speeds. The next few weeks will determine how much the switch from Remix back to retail affects those metrics. S3 of retail remains a bit of a let-down. The dungeon balancing could have been more impactful for the lower end. And the changes to affixes should have arrived before Midnight. In that expansion, it is justified by reduced complexity and add-on capabilities. But it also would have helped during TWW.
As of this writing, 120 hours after the US reset, hourly numbers for the main regions show the usual decline after a dungeon event week. The US and EU servers are around 20% behind. The Chinese servers still see a major rebound. Players over there might have finished their Remix grind a lot faster. For this region, it looks like another 10% increase. But that is also part of the round-up next week.
