World First +30 Keystone: Shadowlands Edition

Dungeon history has been made! In less than a year since the launch of Shadowlands, we have the World First +30 Keystone of the expansion, timed by the incredible crew of SHEEESH: Andybrew, Thaner, Speed, Ramfam, and Wildi! This team of players, hailing from the EU Region, pulled off an amazing feat today by beating the timer in a +30 The Necrotic Wake.



Since the introduction of the Mythic+ system in Legion, the bar for dungeon prowess has been raised time and time again. The fact that this significant achievement has been reached in less than 12 months speaks to the skill of the players, as well as the high-key-pushing demographic of the Mythic+ community as a whole. While there were many teams on the cusp of being the first to complete the World First +30, it certainly wasn’t a walk in the park for SHEEESH. We’d like to wish the guys a huge congratulations for this impressive run!

Keep reading for our analysis of the record-breaking +30 including the impact of this week’s affixes, their dungeon route, the strengths of their party’s composition, a quick comparison to the World First +30s from previous expansions, and a video of the run.

Table of Contents

The Necrotic Wake: Affixes & Routing

The Necrotic Wake is a dungeon that lends itself well to high key completion due to the sheer amount of borrowed powers available to players. It is an instance marked by big pulls and quick boss fights if the weapons such as the Bloody Javelin, the Forgotten Forgehammer, the Discharged Anima, the Discarded Shield, and the Anima Exhaust activated through the awakening of the Goliaths with the Kyrian’s Steward are used wisely throughout the run.

A quick look at the damage breakdown of SHEEESH’s World First +30 demonstrates the importance of the Necrotic Wake weapon usage:



As shown above, the largest source of the group’s damage was due to the Kyrian Weapons, as we would expect to see in a high Necrotic Wake key.

Additionally, this week’s affixes were particularly beneficial. According to the team, with proper use of a cancelaura macro, it is possible to manipulate the Explosive orbs, which count as enemy mobs, to maintain high stacks of the Signet of Bolstering anima power that you get after killing Incinerator Arkolath.

In fact, it is interesting to note that the Explosive affix provides a sizable DPS increase for Windwalker Monks due to Mark of the Crane stack refreshes:



On large pulls, Thaner solos Explosives because it is a DPS increase for a group, as Speed already has his maximum 5 stacks of Mark of the Crane. Therefore, on smaller packs or single-target enemies, the presence of Explosive orbs offers Windwalker Monks more frequent access to high Crane stacks than they would usually have with other weekly affix combinations. Mark of the Crane also increases Spinning Crane Kick Damage, which contributed to SHEEESH’s impressive Necrotic Wake +30.

SHEEESH managed to acquire their +30 Necrotic Wake keystone by completing a +29 Plaguefall in time. Luckily, they had a +29 Necrotic Wake keystone available, so they were able to go in and practice their route, cooldowns, and key interrupts before they went in to complete the +30.

Here is SHEEESH’s MDT route used to conquer this remarkable World First +30 Necrotic Wake:



Many players are surprised to see the routes used in these bleeding-edge keys. There’s often an expectation that combining multiple packs would no longer be possible in an environment where the enemies are so deadly. In fact, these sorts of large pulls become even more necessary despite their danger because the total amount of health that the players need to chew through in the same dungeon timer is so high. This makes each of these large pulls extremely intricate, as most abilities are one-shots if they’re not properly managed. Even every auto-attack keeps the tank under serious pressure!

Dungeon Analysis

Fortified, Raging, Explosive, and Tormented can be an especially deadly combination in The Necrotic Wake due to the chaotic amount of target swapping for Explosives while still managing large packs with particularly dangerous spell casts to interrupt. SHEEESH showcased their expert team synergy with incredible interrupt management. Each of SHEEESH’s players use focus interrupt macros in order to maintain control of the abundantly dangerous spellcasters. In fact, everything SHEEESH does is scripted. They use a collaborative Google Sheet where they add all of their defensive cooldowns, interrupt and CC assignments, and important notes for each dungeon. For the Necrotic Wake +30, their Protection Paladin, Andy, wore the Divine Resonance legendary, granting him extra Avenger’s Shields on his main target. What’s special about Divine Resonance is that it makes interrupts reliable every 5 seconds, which Andy further managed by timing his Divine Toll covenant ability. Because of this, Andy was designated to solo interrupts on certain targets until he required a backup, in which case, Wildi came in clutch with his Counterspell.

World-class interrupt management and route scripting isn’t all that SHEEESH has going for them. With a group composition of Protection Paladin, Restoration Shaman, Frost Mage, Windwalker Monk, and Subtlety Rogue, their team has an inherently large degree of interrupt coverage. However, managing all these kicks in real-time is a different story—especially on an Explosive and Raging week where they must swap targets frequently to either kill Explosives, or quickly dispel the Enraged buff on a powerful enemy with Ramfam’s Shiv and Numbing Poison combo. Despite SHEEESH being pros with their focus interrupt macros, the degree of potential error is steep in a Fortified dungeon with so many dangerous mobs and target swapping. In this way, SHEEESH’s World First +30 Necrotic Wake really showcased their skill and expertise to the fullest extent.

In fact, SHEEESH’s group composition lends itself particularly well to the second boss, Amarth. The amount of kicks they can cover combined with their strong single-target and AOE damage output enables them to melt the adds, optimize healing for incoming damage, and even allows them to save an extra Kyrian Spear for the final boss, Nalthor.

Aside from the ridiculous amount of interrupt coverage from the Avenger’s Shield procs, it is no secret that Protection Paladin is a tank spec that pumps a LOT of damage. Having a tank with large damage output helps with the group’s survivability through strong threat generation, a faster overall dungeon run, and the group’s ability to kill dangerous mobs quickly and avoid extra spellcasts.

Protection Paladin and Restoration Shaman synergize well as a tank/healer combo. Restoration Shamans excel at group-wide healing, which is especially useful for a melee-heavy group composition. Restoration Shamans lack large damage reduction cooldowns compared to some of the other healing classes, but Protection Paladin makes up for this through their ability to off-heal members of the group with Word of Glory, Lay on Hands, or use Blessing of Sacrifice to reduce incoming damage on a group member. Paladins and Monks also bring extra disease dispels (Cleanse and Detox), which a Shaman lacks. Having both Cleanse and Detox is particularly useful in mitigating the Disease DoT that is applied to the player targeted by Heaving Retch on Blightbone, the first boss of the instance.

With a melee-heavy group comp, it is also helpful to have the Paladin’s Blessing of Protection in the group’s utility kit to allow a melee class to avoid all incoming physical damage, or to help the Protection Paladin clear their debuffs a quick cancelaura macro into a taunt. Additionally, Blessing of Freedom comes in clutch on the final boss, as Andy uses it to preemptively negate the Nalthor’s Frozen Binds on his party members. Minimizing and even removing Frozen Binds as a mechanic from this boss fight is a huge time-saver in terms of both damage output and survivability.

SHEEESH’s group composition contains many stuns and disrupts to help allow their Protection Paladin do what they do best and face tank big packs while carefully managing their kit of large defensive cooldowns such as Guardian of the Ancient Kings, Ardent Defender, and Divine Shield. With a Windwalker Monk, their group has access to Paralysis, Leg Sweep, Ring of Peace, and Mystic Touch. With a Subtlety Rogue, they have Blind, Kidney Shot, Cheap Shot, and Shroud of Concealment. With a Frost Mage, they have access to a ranged interrupt, slows, and strong kite control. Frost Nova alongside Blizzard can be invaluable tools to allow a tank to kite if things get scary. In fact, the addition of a Frost Mage in their comp allows their Protection Paladin to forgo the Consecration Ground slow talent and play with more off-healing capability. On top of all of that, Restoration Shamans also bring an AoE stun with Capacitor Totem, and are the only healing class with an interrupt. Wind Shear is a powerful addition to a group since it is not only an interrupt that can be cast from ranged, but it is the interrupt with the shortest cooldown in the game. All hail Wind Shear!

In terms of damage, Windwalker Monk and Subtlety Rogue are both solid burst classes that can coordinate their DPS cooldowns to either land on the same pack, or alternate using their big cooldowns depending on how quickly packs die. Windwalker Monks and Subtlety Rogues naturally synergize well since Subtlety Rogues are big priority single-target damage dealers, whereas Windwalker Monks shine on the AoE burst cleanup. Furthermore, Frost Mages are known for having big priority single-target damage output and generally consistent overall damage output. Subtlety Rogues and Windwalker Monks have their burst cooldowns on relatively short timers, so that combined with the relentless damage output of a Frost Mage allows their group to manage one dangerous pull after another.

While this group composition does not contain a natural battle res, they do have a Shaman Reincarnation and access to battle resses via the Engineering profession’s Disposable Spectrophasic Reanimator item. In the World First +30, there were a total of 6 deaths — 2 of which were forced at the last boss, and 1 death due to a missed Explosive Orb. Despite this minor error, the group recovered with little to no consequence by a quick engineering battle res from Ramfam, as they did not need to commit any major cooldowns to that pull that weren’t already in their script.

One of the biggest things to note about this World First +30 Necrotic Wake is the way that SHEEESH managed their special weapon usage:

• 1 Spear used on the first boss
  
• 1 Orb used on Nar’zudah
  
• 2 Shields on Rotspew
  
• 1 Spear and 1 Hammer on the third boss, Surgeon Stitchflesh
  
• 2 Spears and 1 Orb on the last boss, Nalthor the Rimebinder

For many groups, using the Shields items in The Necrotic Wake is not always planned so closely, but SHEEESH made sure to utilize each weapon and buff to the fullest extent. Through careful preparation, practice, and their ability to perform under immense pressure, SHEEESH is the full package. They have shown us that, not only can they script live keys like pros, but they always show up and perform in any competitive Mythic+ content from the MDI to World First keys of the highest order.

For more information on SHEEESH’s covenant choices, soulbinds, conduits, legendaries, talents, and more, check out the details of their World First +30 Necrotic Wake here.

World First +30 Through the Ages

Comparing the World First +30 Keystone from the previous expansions, the high-end Mythic+ playing field has certainly gotten increasingly competitive, as this milestone is being hit faster and faster with each new expansion. In Legion, the World First +30 wasn’t completed in time until the Legion Post-Season. In the Battle For Azeroth Pre-Season, we saw our first +31 in time. Then in Battle for Azeroth, the World First +30 was completed during the 4th Season of Mythic+. This was back when we had corruption on our gear, and Season 4’s affix was Awakened, arguably one of the best seasonal affixes Blizzard has developed. Corruption gear and the Awakened affix were instrumental in allowing for quick and creative routes.

SHEEESH’s completion of the World First +30 today is a remarkable feat, as it was achieved less than a year after the expansion launched. In contrast, the World First +30 of BFA was completed in almost a two year gap from the date of the expansion’s release (August 14, 2018) until the day the World First +30 was timed (July 9, 2020). The BFA World First +30 came in Operation: Mechagon-Junkyard and was achieved by a team from China playing Protection Warrior, Holy Paladin, Outlaw Rogue, Havoc Demon Hunter, and Fire Mage.



By the end of BFA, the highest completed Mythic+ dungeon during regular Season play ended up being a +32, and we saw a +34 completed during the Season 4 Post-Season, both in Operation: Mechagon - Junkyard.

While there are a variety of factors involved in the timing of the World First +30 keys over the past three expansions, it’s safe to say that the high-end Mythic+ playing field has become increasingly competitive. It will be interesting to see how high the keystones will climb in Shadowlands, especially as we likely have at least one more Season left to go in the expansion!

The Video

For your viewing pleasure, check out the video of Andybrew’s perspective for the World First +30 below!

What’s Next?

With the +30 barrier broken and plenty of Shadowlands left to play, it is very likely that we’ll see an all-time Mythic+ record this expansion. We can also safely expect to see a key completed higher than a +30 later this year during The Great Push MDI event, but that does take place on the Tournament Realm, so it is a separate feat from that of live servers. If you want to see some of the best key pushers in the world go head-to-head including SHEEESH, definitely tune into The Great Push from December 10-12th.

We eagerly await all the Mythic+ dungeon records to come throughout the remainder of Shadowlands. What do you think will be the highest level key timed this expansion? Let us know on Twitter!

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