Analysis of Mythic+ Dungeon Popularity and Performance in Season 1

Intro

With the second season of Mythic+ dungeons approaching, players are beginning to prepare. Some are mentally gearing up, while others are diving into various data analyses. Icy Veins recently conducted a study based on available dungeon data to determine what makes certain dungeons more appealing for players.

Since Season 1 is coming to an end, we now have a clear picture of the most frequently run dungeons, those with the highest completion rates, and—more importantly—the reasons behind these trends. Understanding these patterns can also shed light on what players want to avoid and help make informed predictions for Season 2.

Dungeon Popularity Trends

Graph Insights

Below are two key graphs:

• Dungeon Popularity: This graph illustrates how often players chose to run a specific dungeon. Each line represents the percentage of total Mythic+ runs for that dungeon.
• Completion Rate: The second graph showcases the percentage of runs that were successfully completed.

Top Performing Dungeons

Among all dungeons, some clearly stood out as the most popular choices:

• Mists of Tirna Scithe (16.05% of runs): This dungeon’s familiarity played a key role in its popularity. Even during Shadowlands, it remained a fan favorite.
• Atal’Dazar (14.10% of runs): Similar to Mists, this dungeon features a short 30-minute timer and only three bosses. Additionally, it offers a highly sought-after trinket for spellcasters.
• Grim Batol (13.06% of runs): Home to one of the best healer trinkets and a strong melee DPS trinket, Grim Batol remained attractive despite its longer 34-minute timer and low success rate.
• Siege of Boralus: Its high popularity stemmed from player familiarity, though it was initially quite challenging.
• Dawn of the Infinite: Galakrond’s Fall (12.48% of runs): This dungeon gained popularity toward the end of the season, thanks to its compact layout, fast completion time, and high success rate.
• The Necrotic Wake (11.73% of runs): The difficulty of Surgeon Stitchflesh, whose single mechanic could make or break a run, deterred many players.
• The Stonevault: Infamous for its difficult trash mobs with mechanics capable of wiping groups. Despite a reasonable success rate, few players had a strong incentive to run it.

 

Least Popular Dungeons

The least favored dungeon of Season 1 was:

• Threads of Fate (9.02% of runs): This dungeon suffered from numerous one-shot mechanics that could easily wipe a party or ruin a key. Additionally, players found the roleplay mechanics, such as spy-hunting and escort missions, tedious and time-consuming. Despite a generous timer, the dungeon’s overall length made it unappealing.

A similar trend was observed with Lower Karazhan in Shadowlands Season 4, where players avoided it for similar reasons.

Factors Affecting Dungeon Popularity

By analyzing the trends, several factors stand out as major contributors to dungeon popularity:

• Completion Time – Shorter dungeons with efficient mob density tend to be preferred.
• Success Rate – Players gravitate towards dungeons with manageable difficulty, even if they take longer.
• Loot Quality – Powerful trinkets and gear drops significantly impact the desirability of a dungeon.
• Familiarity – Returning dungeons often gain traction faster, as players are already comfortable with mechanics and routes.
• Seasonal Affixes – Certain dungeons can feel much harder depending on the affix of the week.
• Checkpoint Placement – Graveyard positioning drastically impacts the frustration of death runs.

Many of the most successful dungeons in Season 1 combined multiple positive factors, explaining their sustained popularity.

Conversely, Threads of Fate showcased nearly all negative factors, making it a dungeon players avoided whenever possible.

Historical Patterns and Returning Dungeons

Looking at previous expansion seasons, it becomes evident that returning dungeons tend to perform well due to players’ prior experience with them.

Another crucial factor is how Mythic+ affixes interact with a given dungeon. For example:

• Tyrannical Weeks: Dungeons with punishing boss fights (e.g., high-damage unavoidable mechanics) are avoided.
• Fortified Weeks: Dungeons with dangerous trash mobs become significantly harder.
• Xal’atath’s Pact (affix): Its orb-collection mechanic was particularly frustrating in narrow corridors or dungeons with excessive obstacles.

Impact of Death Runs on Dungeon Popularity

One factor that’s difficult to quantify but plays a huge role in dungeon enjoyment is the time spent running back after dying.

Some dungeons excelled in this aspect:

• Dawn of the Infinite: Galakrond’s Fall had very short corpse runs, making wipes less punishing.

Other dungeons, however, suffered greatly from long corpse runs:

• Threads of Fate: Players who died late in the dungeon had to endure lengthy flights and slow on-foot travel inside buildings.
• Grim Batol: Running back to the first or third boss could take over a minute, meaning every death consumed 3% of the dungeon timer. Combined with the standard death penalty, this made the dungeon even less appealing.

It’s possible that powerful trinkets were the only reason players were willing to endure the long runs in Grim Batol.

Conclusion: Key Takeaways for Mythic+ Design

Mythic+ dungeons are designed to be timed challenges, meaning any element that slows progress without a meaningful reward makes a dungeon less appealing. If a factor—such as long death runs or slow mechanics—cannot be mitigated by better gear, players will actively avoid that dungeon.

Players have repeatedly voiced concerns about these issues, and many are hoping that Blizzard will take this feedback into account for future Mythic+ design improvements.

Final Thoughts As we move into Season 2, the best-designed dungeons will likely be those that balance difficulty with fair mechanics and rewarding loot. Dungeons that force unnecessary delays or require excessive backtracking will likely suffer the same fate as Threads of Fate, being avoided whenever possible.