Quick Tactics for All Mythic+ Dungeons in Season 1 of The War Within
The first season of the new expansion has added four new dungeons from The War Within to the Mythic+ rotation, along with four dungeons from previous expansions. While players got a chance to try out the new dungeons only a few weeks ago, the older dungeons may already be quite familiar to veteran players. As a result, developers have made various adjustments and even reworked some mechanics. This guide contains essential information on the key mechanics of all eight dungeons in Season 1 of The War Within on Mythic+ difficulty, so you can review it just a few minutes before your run.
Important Note: This guide focuses only on the most critical boss or trash mechanics that, if ignored, will lead to the death of your character, specific party members, or even a full wipe. None of the eight dungeons contain “helpful” pools, circles, cones (or “cleaves,” which are mostly managed by tanks, by the way!), vortexes, or other mechanics that require you to “drop everything and get out of the glowing area under your feet.”
The same applies to interruptible abilities from bosses or trash mobs—generally, you should strive to interrupt everything that can be interrupted. Of course, in some specific cases, certain interruptible abilities are more dangerous than others, even from the same enemy. A clear example is the Twilight Earthcallers and their “Earth Bolt” (less important) versus “Quaking Slam” (more important and deadly when combined with other mechanics) in Grim Batol. However, such cases will be mentioned sparingly—try to interrupt whatever you can, but avoid situations where the entire group interrupts the same ability at once.
If there are any exceptions to the above rules—like the second boss of Threadweaver City with its crucial mechanic of “stacking on the tank during the ice circle”—such cases will be noted separately.
Overall, this guide is aimed at players running +2 to +10 Mythic+ dungeons and does not cover “professional strategies” used by the world’s top players, like “pulling 3+ packs of enemies and bursting them down while maintaining a rotation of interrupts and crowd control effects.”
Contents:
- Threadweaver City (The War Within)
- Stone Vault (The War Within)
- Ara-Kara, City of Echoes (The War Within)
- Radiant Dawn (The War Within)
- Siege of Boralus (Battle for Azeroth)
- The Necrotic Wake (Shadowlands)
- Mists of Tirna Scithe (Shadowlands)
- Grim Batol (Cataclysm)
Threadweaver City (The War Within)
Stone Vault(The War Within)
Ara-Kara, City of Echoes (The War Within)
Toxic Spiders cast Suicide – this can be interrupted with crowd control or you can immobilize them, letting them explode away from the group. Besides them, there are numerous caster enemies in the dungeon, so to reduce group damage, interrupt everything you can.
To activate the first boss, you need to kill three spiders: Ixina, Nakhta, and Atik. The first one (Ixina) has a dangerous ability: Interruptible Fear. The others only deal passive damage and have cone attacks.
First Boss Mechanics:
The main mechanic of the First Boss involves Spider Eggs and Spiders – you need to kill them, and under no circumstances allow them to reach the boss. Avoid the webs and pools under your feet.
Don’t let any Long, Uninterruptible Screeches from the Elkhide enemies finish – use crowd control, pulls, or knockbacks to stop them! Avoid pulling too many enemies with the Giant Beetle.
Second Boss Mechanics:
- The Arrow mechanic is controlled by a random player—don’t stand in the boss’s path, and if you are the one with the arrow, avoid directing it at the group.
- During the Phase Change, the boss creates a small safe zone. For tanks: this zone moves around the boss, so avoid sudden movements!
- Periodically, the boss will summon Nerubian Casters, whose sole ability needs to be interrupted before they are killed.
Enemies Between Second and Third Boss:
There’s nothing specific here worth mentioning – lots of passive damage, and heavy damage to the tank, especially if you go left or right. Expect to encounter many immobilizing pools left by the Fliers.
Third Boss Mechanics:
- The boss applies Poison Beams to all players. After they end or are dispelled, two waves shoot out from each player, which can be deadly to others. Make sure not to aim your wave at your teammates!
- Small Beetles constantly spawn on the arena. When they take any damage, they leave behind a blue immobilizing pool (similar to the Fliers). When the boss uses the Suction ability, players must quickly locate one of these pools and step into it to become immobilized, preventing them from being pulled in and dying.
Radiant Dawn (The War Within)
Positioning with the “Big Scary Circle“ (magic): When this debuff drops or is dispelled, it deals significant damage to anyone inside the circle. Be cautious of your positioning to avoid unnecessary damage.
To activate the ship, you need to defeat two large groups of enemies onboard (central and left side), but the second group will only spawn once all five players are on the ship. Interrupt the “Absorption Shield“ cast by the Big Guy on the ship.
First Boss Mechanics:
This is one of the most challenging bosses in the dungeon due to its mechanics:
- Portals: Two random players (usually a healer and a ranged DPS) will leave behind a Portal-Pool. Pay attention to the timer on this ability. To avoid damage, run away just before the purple flash—portals appear two seconds later in the spot where you were two seconds ago. Place these carefully so you don’t block movement paths around the boss.
- Rotating Beams: The boss periodically casts 4 rotating beams. During this time, the tank must have full health and use defensives, as the beams deal massive damage. The rest of the group needs to avoid being hit by the beams.
- Healing Absorption: After Explosive Magic Dispersion, four players (not including the tank) will have a healing absorption debuff. Make sure no one has this debuff before the group transitions to flight, as it can kill players mid-air.
In the city, you’ll encounter Cultists and Nerubians. The Cultists have familiar mechanics (same enemies from earlier), but you must interrupt the Absorption Shield cast by Spellcasters. Avoid engaging Nerubians, as their Frequent Web Circles make melee combat difficult.
Third Boss Preparation:
Before fighting the third boss, you need to kill three lieutenants, each of whom uses one of the second boss’s mechanics:
- Nerub in the Church: This one uses Circle of Fear on the tank. Have the tank stand still, and just move out of it to simplify things.
- Nerub in the House: This one applies Passive Group Damage, which can be healed through.
- Nerub in the Tavern: This one shoots a Purple Orb at a random player. The targeted player has a few seconds to guide the orb away. Make sure it flies as far as possible without hitting any walls or obstacles to minimize the damage.
Once these three are dealt with, the boss’s mechanics are essentially identical, aside from periodically summoning small, non-mechanic enemies. It’s highly recommended to clear the entire market square (with the fountain), as the fountain is not a blocking obstacle for the purple sphere.
Activating the Fourth Boss:
To activate the fourth boss, return to the original ship where you fought the first boss and kill the Cultist Summoner. Focus all damage on the summoner—he will continuously summon enemies, and they will not despawn after his death, so killing him fast is crucial.
Fourth Boss Mechanics:
In the first phase, the healer and ranged DPS should focus on picking up Explosive Barrels and delivering them to the boss’s face (trigger them with the extra action button). This is the primary source of damage in this phase. There are a few other mechanics to manage:
- White Circles: Place White Circles compactly to the left or right of the group, especially during the second phase.
- Green Line: Players marked with the Green Line will notice that one side of the line has a green gradient. This indicates the direction the Wave will go, destroying all webs in its path (and lightly damaging players for each destroyed web). Do not let the wave hit other players! It will deal significant damage if it does.
By handling these mechanics carefully and coordinating well with your group, you can mitigate a lot of the potential damage and complete the encounter efficiently.
Siege of Boralus (Battle for Azeroth)
Avoid fighting more than one Enforcer at a time — two can use “Shout“ simultaneously and wipe the entire group. Also, try not to engage a Raider together with an Enforcer or a Horse, especially with additional mobs (this combination appears before the 3rd boss). The “Pull“ ability from Raiders can coincide with deadly mechanics from other mobs.
The Necrotic Wake (Shadowlands)
All consumables, except “Anima” are recommended to be used exclusively during boss fights.
Tanks:
- 90% of enemies in this dungeon are out to kill you. This applies to both regular mid-sized and larger enemies, as well as half the bosses (especially the first and last). There are few enemies with dangerous auto-attacks; most of the damage is either magical or bleeding. Instead of listing every enemy in detail, follow this rule: if you see large enemies or casters, be ready to use all your defensive abilities.
First Quarter:
- It’s highly recommended to interrupt all interruptible abilities—there’s a lot of passive damage across the group, and random enemy abilities can kill players. The most critical ability to mention is “Flesh Mending” from the Fabricators, but you’ll only encounter one at the start, with more appearing before the third boss.
First Boss:
- You need to focus on two main tasks:
- Direct the “Green Cone” away from the group, preferably into a dead-end or behind the boss.
- Do not let the larvae that spawn after the green cone bite you.
Necromancers:
- Every time you see a Necromancer, focus all your damage on them using single-target abilities. Killing the smaller adds is unnecessary, as they’ll die once the Necromancer is defeated. However, make sure to interrupt the “Volley” from the skeletal mages.
Giant Skeletons:
- Interrupt their “Mass Fear“! They also perform a “Cone Attack” in front of the tank and will briefly receive a small amount of damage absorption after.
In general, avoid standing in any pools or cones, and always watch your footing. There are no “beneficial” ground effects in this dungeon.
Second Boss:
- You will once again encounter necromancer minions (interrupt the “Volley” from mages!), but this time, you need to kill them as fast as possible. If even one survives, it will cause a “party wipe.”
Activating the Third Boss:
- You need to kill every single creature inside the Necropolis. Many of them are the same as those you encountered earlier, so the rules remain the same: interrupt everything you can see. There’s an enormous amount of passive damage to the group and burst damage from bleeds to the tank.
The only new mechanic here is the “Red Arrow.” A random player controls it, and it must be directed behind any enemy to deal heavy damage. Don’t stand in its path! If there’s no way to aim it behind an enemy, the tank should absorb the damage.
Third Boss:
- You’ll start the fight against a cadaver. Any “Hook Arrow” must be aimed either at the platform with the boss (for every odd hook: 1st, 3rd, 5th, etc.) or at the boss himself, as long as he is active, to interrupt the “Focus on a Random Player“
- New cadavers will spawn on a timer, so don’t let a second cadaver appear before the first one is dead—otherwise, you risk a “party wipe“
Fourth Boss:
- Do not use your powerful abilities at the start of the fight. After about 15 seconds, the boss will send a random player “off the arena,” where they’ll have to run a long distance and defeat a weak enemy. Once they return, they should head to the nearest corner of the square arena to “drop a puddle,” and they’ll receive a “Powerful Buff” in return.
- Do not dispel or remove “Magic Immobilization” while other players are inside the radius—give them time to move out!
- Dodge your own and others’ “Comets.”
Mists of Tirna Scithe (Shadowlands)
When fighting the Dogs at the beginning of the dungeon, remember the key rule: everyone must stand within melee range to prevent them from “jumping.”
Before the First Boss:
- There are two Brutes. Do not bring both of them to 50% health at the same time, or you’re likely to cause a wipe.
First Boss:
- There are only two rules:
- Always interrupt the boss’s “Lightning” ability.
- Don’t use all your powerful abilities with a cooldown longer than ~1 minute on the tree to maximize damage during the “Bonus Damage” phase.
Moths:
- Dispel the “Blue Circle” from players at all costs.
Healers:
- Interrupt their “Heal” ability at any cost – it’s cast roughly every 20 seconds.
Guards:
- They physically dominate the tank, “stomping them into the ground.” The tank must use strong defensives if fighting two Guards at once.
Second Boss:
- Two main rules (aside from “Arrows” and “Spears during the phase transition“):
- Only the tank should interrupt “Clap Hands.”
- Do not step into the “Blue Fox,” even if it’s not yours – it spawns near a random player.
Optional: In the TWW, “Arrows” now deal damage not only to the “Blue Fox” but also to “Clones during the phase transition.” You can pre-position yourself under the correct clone and send 3-4 arrows into it to deal massive damage and shorten the transition phase significantly.
Rogach:
Flyers:
- Can be grouped together to prevent them from stacking “Cumulative Poison.” Otherwise, use strong defensives/dispels.
Third Boss:
- The critical mechanic that can cause a group wipe is the “Blue Lines.” These always target the tank, so players should pre-position themselves to avoid taking any ticks of damage.
Additionally, if you’re targeted by the “Arrow,” try to kite the beetles through the tank so that after 20 seconds, the aggro transfers to them instead of staying on you.
Grim Batol (Cataclysm)
Conclusion
The first season of The War Within expansion introduces four new dungeons into the Mythic+ rotation, alongside four returning dungeons from previous expansions. Each dungeon has been reworked or adjusted to fit the Mythic+ challenge, and this guide highlights key mechanics that are crucial to survival in all eight dungeons. These mechanics focus on dangerous boss abilities and trash packs that, if mishandled, can result in deaths or a full party wipe. The guide is especially aimed at players tackling Mythic+ runs from levels +2 to +10, and covers essential interrupts, positioning, and defensive cooldown usage to overcome key encounters.
The guide avoids covering advanced “professional” strategies such as pulling multiple packs and coordinating complex rotations but highlights the most important moments where timing, interrupts, and positioning matter. It includes breakdowns of each dungeon’s most lethal mechanics, including boss phases and trash packs, and provides tips for dealing with dangerous effects like AoE damage, crowd control, and debuffs. For example, in Threadweaver City, players must handle interruptible spells from enemies like the Herald of Ansurek and carefully manage positioning during boss fights, while in Stone Vault, players need to prioritize interrupts and avoid deadly mechanics like Seismic Reverberation and Howling Fear.
Each dungeon includes unique mechanics and challenges, but the overall advice remains to focus on interrupts, avoid deadly AoE effects, and keep a close eye on boss phases that require immediate attention.
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