Dungeons in WoW need help – and that’s why the delves have to get even better

The depths of World of Warcraft have created a new problem. Dungeon fans, of all people, are now suffering from this.

World of Warcraft is in crisis right now when you look at the Mythic+ area. The dungeon system is one of the great endgame pillars of Blizzard’s MMORPGs and has served well for many years. But currently players are frustrated. Tanks and healers are becoming increasingly scarce and reports from people who have absolutely no idea about M+ are becoming more and more common.

There are several reasons why this happened, and one of them is the depths. Because they were supposed to satisfy solo gamers, but in some cases they had the opposite effect. Because anyone who has exhausted the depths has to enter a system that he or she doesn’t want to play.

The problem of the depths: loot is too bad

The Delves have solved many problems in World of Warcraft. Solo adventurers can finally plunge into small mini-dungeons, play through them at their own pace and pause when real life knocks on the door. The whole thing is rewarded with quite solid equipment up to item level 616 from the weekly box.

But the depths have also created a problem. Because once you have reached item level 616, many people have the impression that there is more that needs to be done. And that’s true, after all it still goes up to item level 626 or even 639 – but not in the depths.

The logical conclusion: after the depths you go “Mythic+”. With an item level of 616 you are roughly at the level of “M+6” to “M+8” – at least in terms of your own equipment.

But many who move from depths to M+ have no or very little experience with the system. They don’t know the affixes, nor do they know the bosses or the different enemy groups. This is knowledge that “M+” players acquire quite early in a season and usually at lower levels. “Working up slowly” is part of the Mythisch+ principle. This is the only way to learn the dungeons, understand the affixes and understand what actually happens there.

Depth fans don’t want an M+ – but they have to

Another problem is that many of these characters who come from the depths actually don’t really want to spend hours or days dealing with Mythic+. They want better equipment after their desired game mode – namely the depths – simply no longer offers it.

The YouTuber and streamer Bellular made a very interesting video about this in which he explains many of the points a little more clearly:

Many tend to condemn their fellow players, especially in the WoW subreddit or the official forums. But that is not very effective. Because no matter how much you complain about the supposedly “bad players”, they won’t change their behavior or their playing style. Most of them probably don’t want to be in Mythic+ at all, but it’s the only sensible alternative that’s reasonably open to them.

If you compare depths and M+ directly, it is obvious that depth fans will not have much fun with M+. After all, this is almost completely the opposite gameplay:

Or in short: Everything that a depth player doesn’t actually want.

Solutions are obvious

There are several possible solutions for this. One of these would be a system of “unlocks” in the Mythic+ area. Every season you first have to complete a “Mythic+2” in order to then be allowed into a “Mythic+3”. You first have to unlock each level individually and “work your way up” at least once per season and account. You could also do this for each dungeon individually. That would make the system a little longer, especially at the beginning of a season, but it ensures that everyone has already seen the dungeon once and worked their way up to the current difficulty.

This would mean that there would no longer be people who only enter the system with M+6 or M+7 and have no idea what is actually happening.

However, the most obvious solution seems to be: give depth fans what they want. Better gear by scaling depths even further and increasing difficulty. Why shouldn’t depths at levels 9, 10, and 11 grant even better gear? Why is the system already over?

With The War Within, World of Warcraft has placed a particularly strong focus on the fact that you can achieve a lot solo – at least in the beginning. The developers have even published guides on how to never have to interact with other people.

I know some of you are now thinking and already starting in the comments: Why should I still raid or do Mythic+ when I can ultimately get good equipment from the depths?

The answer is obvious: because it’s fun. Think about your most successful, most enjoyable visits to dungeons. Think about raids with friends and guild. When everyone is on the same level, when everyone is having fun with the same content, it just puts you in a good mood and has a great time.

Mythisch+ is a great system – for anyone who enjoys this kind of content. Then it can be incredibly fun to collect the best equipment in the game and continue to improve together with a close-knit group of friends (or strangers).

But anyone who doesn’t value it and doesn’t enjoy it at all shouldn’t be indirectly “forced” to do so by only having item improvements there. Give solo fans equal access to powerful items. Because then hardly anyone meets these people in Mythisch+ and then has to be upset about “what an idiot you had with you again”.

The guy is probably not an idiot at all. The game’s item system only makes him play content that he doesn’t actually want to play and that he’s not prepared for. And that doesn’t have to be the case.
If the whole topic upsets you: just listen to Elwynn’s song 133 times. Another WoW fan did that too.