~5 MIN
Intro
If you’re diving into World of Warcraft: Midnight Season 1, this particular week is one of the most important windows you’ll get early on. With the Sign of the Explorer buff active, Blizzard has essentially created a perfect storm for efficient farming — boosting your Delver’s Journey progress, Valyria’s experience gains, and Undercoin income all at once.
At first glance, this might just look like a routine weekly bonus. In reality, it’s much more than that. It’s a setup week — the kind that determines how smooth (or painful) your progression will feel in the coming weeks.
Why You Should Focus on Valyria Right Now
One of the biggest quirks of the current system is that Delver’s Journey progression is capped at Rank 4 this week. That means no matter how much you grind, you simply won’t unlock the next tiers of rewards yet.
So what’s the play?
Instead of wasting effort trying to push a capped system, the smartest players are shifting focus toward something that isn’t capped — Valyria’s level.
And this is where things get really important.
A higher-level Valyria isn’t just a small stat boost. The difference between, say, a level 30 companion and a level 50 one is massive. It directly affects:
- How fast you clear Delves
- How safely you can pull larger groups
- How efficient your farming routes become
In simple terms, leveling Valyria now means you’ll be farming faster than everyone else later — especially once Delver’s Journey progression unlocks again.
If You Don’t Want to Grind Everything Manually
Let’s be honest — not everyone has time to spam Delves for hours just to optimize efficiency.
If your goal is to stay competitive without burning out, there are faster routes:
- You can gear up quickly through Mythic Plus Bundle, which gives you immediate access to stronger gear scaling.
- If you’re aiming to stay ahead in PvE progression, the Midnight Raids Bundle is one of the most efficient ways to secure upgrades early.
- And if you’re still working through content unlocks or alts, speeding things up with WoW Leveling Boost can save you dozens of hours.
For players focused specifically on dungeon progression, both Mythic Plus Keys and WoW Mythic0 Runs offer a fast-track into competitive gearing.
Bountiful Delves — Your Highest Value Runs
The most straightforward way to gain experience is still through Bountiful Delves, especially at higher tiers.
When you complete a high-tier Delve (for example, Tier 11), you’re not just getting a flat reward. Instead, you’re stacking multiple sources of experience:
- The completion itself
- Bonus chests (Nemesis rewards)
- Banner chest rewards (from Delver’s perks)
Altogether, this can push your total gain close to 180,000 experience per run, which is extremely efficient for the time invested.
However, there’s a catch — these runs are limited. You can’t infinitely repeat them at full efficiency, which is why they should be treated as priority content, not your main grind method.
Regular Delve Farming — Useful, But Not Optimal
If you start repeating standard Delves outside of Bountiful runs, you’ll notice a steep drop in efficiency.
At Tier 11, for example, you’re looking at roughly 25,000 experience per completion, which is significantly lower than Bountiful runs.
That doesn’t mean it’s useless — far from it. These runs still serve a purpose:
- Farming Undercoins
- Picking up gear for alts
- Practicing routes or builds
But if your goal is purely to level Valyria as fast as possible, this method quickly falls behind.
The Real Meta — Curio Farming
This is where things shift from “normal gameplay” into optimization territory.
Instead of fully completing Delves, players have discovered that looting curios alone is far more efficient — especially when done correctly.
The best location for this strategy is Grudge Pit in Herender, mainly because of its compact layout and high curio density.
Rather than clearing the entire Delve, the method looks like this:
- Enter the Delve
- Clear only the first wave of enemies
- Move along the edges collecting curios
- Exit and reset
Because curios are tightly grouped, each run is short and repeatable. Over time, this creates a much higher experience-per-hour rate compared to full clears.
Why Lower Tiers Are Actually Better
One of the most surprising discoveries is that higher-tier Delves barely increase curio experience.
For example, the difference between Tier 6 and Tier 11 curios is only a few percent. That means you’re gaining almost the same experience — but spending significantly more time killing tougher enemies.
This leads to a simple but powerful conclusion:
👉 The best tier is not the highest one — it’s the lowest tier that still gives experience.
By doing this, you:
- Kill faster
- Reset faster
- Complete more runs per hour
And ultimately, that’s what matters most.
RNG Factor — Why This Farm Scales So Well
Curios also come with an important mechanic — rarity procs.
Occasionally, when looting:
- You’ll get a rare proc (double XP)
- Or even an epic proc (massive XP spike)
These moments can dramatically boost your gains, sometimes giving you as much experience as an entire Delve completion in a single click.
Over long sessions, this randomness works in your favor, making curio farming one of the most efficient long-term strategies.
What You Should Actually Do (Simple Strategy)
If you want a clean, effective plan without overcomplicating things, here’s the best approach:
Start with Bountiful Delves to secure your biggest rewards early in the week. Once those are done, shift into curio farming for sustained experience gains. Only fall back to regular Delves if you need specific resources or gear.
This layered approach ensures that you’re always maximizing your time — instead of grinding inefficiently.
Final Thoughts
This week in Midnight isn’t about pushing everything — it’s about preparing smartly.
Since Delver’s Journey is capped, the real progression lies in:
- Building up Valyria
- Optimizing your farming routes
- Preparing for future unlocks
Players who invest time into this now will find themselves progressing significantly faster once restrictions are lifted.
And in a system like this, being ahead early doesn’t just feel good — it compounds into every future activity you do.