The Weekly Route Series showcases Mythic+ strategies that are tailored towards the Beginner and Intermediate levels of Mythic+ with the following criteria in mind:

• Easy to execute - particularly in pick-up-groups (PUGs)
  
• Good tradeoffs between skipping the most difficult enemy forces while not requiring overly complicated strategies or “tech” to do so

This week, the affixes are Tyrannical, Afflicted, and Bolstering.

For handling Afflicted, classes that can dispel are your friend:

• Poison Dispel (Druid, Evoker, Monk, Paladin, Shaman)
  
• Disease Dispel (Monk, Paladin, Priest, Evoker)
  
• Curse Dispel (Druid, Mage, Shaman, Evoker)

Remember, healers may be the only magic dispel in your group and many dungeons have mechanics that healers must reserve their magic dispel for specifically. Be ready to step up and help with Afflicted dispels or off-heals!

For more tips and resources to help with Afflicted, please check out our breakdown here.

Read on to import our Weekly Routes with pull-specific notes, tips, and recommended Bloodlust Timings!

Table of Contents

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BRACKENHIDE HOLLOW

Before your key, ask in your party chat if anyone has a Disease Dispel (Monk, Paladin, Priest, Evoker) and a de-enrage (Druids, Evokers + Oppressing Roar, Hunters, and Rogues).

There are several Decaying Cauldrons located in the dungeon that will help you remove disease debuffs with an extra action button, but activating the Cleansed Rot requires that a player in your group has at least 25 points in Alchemy. Decaying Cauldrons are helpful for your personal Withering debuff if a Witherbolt interrupt is missed. Use your extra action button to cleanse and save dispels for Afflicted when possible.

The first boss fight, Hackclaw’s War-Band, is usually defeated by killing all three council bosses simultaneously and playing from max range. Save personal damage reduction spells for the Gash Frenzy debuff. Players should be prepared to use a personal during Gashtooth’s Marked for Butchery and run away from Rira Hackclaw’s Bladestorm. Tanks should also soak Rira Hackclaw’s Savage Charge.

If it's your turn to be Consumed, stand in Treemouth’s green circle to get eaten. Taking turns getting the debuff from Partially Digested makes healing his enrage, Starving Frenzy, much easier. Players with immunities such as Divine Shield, Ice Block, Aspect of the Turtle, or Dispersion will negate Consume. However, remember to use immunities after the first tick of Consume to ensure that Treemouth does not get his absorb shield.

Gutshot should be positioned in the middle of the arena and away from the ledge. Tanks can be launched off the ledge with the knockback from Gut Shot and fall to their death. Throughout the fight, make sure to kite the summoned Hyenas into the green Ensnaring Traps on the ground. If you allow the Hyenas to reach you, plan to watch the rest of the fight from the floor!

Decatriarch Wratheye’s Rotburst Totem is always the priority target. Tanks can move the boss 5-10 yards to the right (counter clockwise) after Choking Rotcloud has spawned to bait the Rotburst Totem into a more efficient totem spawn location. Rotcloud always travels clockwise and Totems will always spawn on the opposite side of the room from the boss.

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FREEHOLD

For Skycap'n Kragg, make sure to loosely and evenly spread around the boss to minimize the chance that two or more players will get caught in the cone of Azerite Powder Shot. During Skycap'n Kragg’s second phase, Sharkbait will fly into the air and drop green Vile Bombardment puddles on the closest target. If you are a ranged player and you are looking to take your gameplay to the next level, try to max range the boss in Phase 2 while baiting the green poo poo away from the tank and melee; you can sidestep the Vile Bombardment before it lands while also outranging the Azerite Powder Shot.

For Council o' Captains, blue circles (Confidence Boosting Freehold Brew or Invigorating Freehold Brew) are good. Green swirlies (Caustic Freehold Brew) are bad. Boss timer addons such as Deadly Boss Mods or Little Wigs will announce each helpful and harmful brew by default. However, there are also WeakAuras available to aid in this identification process.

For the “catch the pig” event in the Ring of Booty before Ludwig Von Tortollan, a handy tip is to keybind an “Interact with target” hotkey to catch the pig in a matter of seconds. Simply Hit Escape to open the Blizzard standard menu -> use the search bar on the top right to find “Interact with target”. Then, bind whatever key you desire to spam on the pig. I chose a button that I rarely use so I didn't accidentally unbind my primary spells. When the pig spawns, simply target it and spam your new hotkey. When the pig is in range of you, you will see the quick cast bar signaling your interaction with him. While you’re in the Ring of Booty, avoid running up or along the wooden border; if you travel too far up the wooden sides of the arena to dodge shells or dispel Afflicted, fans will throw Rotten Food at you, causing certain death.

Trothak’s Flailing Shark targets the closest player to hunt after it lands on the ground. Players should try to avoid being chomped by using quick movement abilities to flee from sharks and then focus on slowly moving the sharks into the nearest Chum puddle. Most healers have taken on the task of kiting sharks, which allows DPS to focus on killing Trothak. However, it is important that ranged DPS players are also prepared to pick up sharks and kite them away from melee if the healer is busy kiting a different shark.

On the way to the last boss, the Irontide Officer will apply Oiled Blade on the tank, which reduces healing received by 75%. This debuff is very scary on these final large trash packs, so be sure to dispel Oiled Blade on the tank right away! Because the healers must magic dispel the tanks here, it's important for damage players to quickly handle Afflicted.

For Harlan Sweete, players should be stacked and move together during Flaming Shrapnel, which will leave large fire patches on the ground. If players are not stacked, fire patches will cover too much of the room, making add management much more challenging as the fight progresses.

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HALLS OF INFUSION

Before your key, ask in your party chat if anyone has a Poison Dispel (Druid, Evoker, Monk, Paladin, Shaman). Poison dispels are helpful for the second boss area and trash due to the Gulp Swog Toxin cast by the Curious Swoglets and the Gulping Goliath.

Also, ask your party if anyone has at least 25 points in Engineering or Herbalism. Engineers can click the Orb on the northern loop of trash before the first boss which unlocks a “budget” group-wide cheat death called Limited Immortality. Only one person with Engineering must interact with the Orb for everyone to receive the buff. Herbalists can unlock several Infused Mushrooms located in the hallway after Gulping Goliath that will help greatly with the fixated Curious Swoglet debuffs during the long boss fight.

If your group is lucky enough to have an Herbalist, we recommend walking around Gulping Goliath to clear that first Glacial Proto Dragon pack and access the Infused Mushrooms before facing Gulping Goliath. Cleansing Spores are very beneficial for these long Tyrannical fights, especially if your group does not have a Poison Dispel.

Always fight Khajin the Unyielding near an unbroken Ice Boulder so that players can quickly hide behind it to survive Hailstorm. However, Khajin does a frontal Frost Cyclone that targets a player and will break any Ice Boulders in its path, so be sure to bait the Frost Cyclone away from your team and any nearby Ice Boulders.

For the Primal Tsunami boss fight, players should stack up for clean Infused Globules space management. If players stack together in a melee group and a ranged group and move the same direction when the Infused Globules spawn, this will help your tank safely dodge them while still staying in melee range of the boss. Since Primal Tsunami is a stationary boss, it will start attacking the next closest target if the tank moves a step out of melee range, resulting in a one-shot for whomever he turns to next. In Stage Two, after each player has completed their personal gauntlet, you will see four Primalist Infusers channeling. It might be best to wait for the rest of your team to gather up before you interrupt the Primalist Infusers’ casts unless you have strong damage cooldowns and stuns ready for Inundate.

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NELTHARION’S LAIR

Before your key, ask in your party chat if anyone has a Poison Dispel (Druid, Evoker, Monk, Paladin, Shaman). Poison dispels are helpful for the third boss, Naraxas’s Toxic Retch.

You may have noticed popular key runners jumping down between 2-5 seconds before their key begins. To learn more about this particular time-saving trip, check out our RIO Snapshot video below:



On the first boss, Rokmora, be sure to have DPS players immediately swap their damage to the small Blightshard Skitter adds because the damage Rokmora deals with his big Shatter AOE will scale up based on the number of Skitters that are still alive at the time of his stomp.

Make sure to stun and kill any Understone Drummers that are pulled; if they reach their drums, they will summon additional Mightstone Breakers. Side step any Avalanches from Mightstone Breakers. Use personal defensives if you are targeted by multiple Rockbound Pelters’ Jagged Discs in a row.

When fighting Ularogg Cragshaper, try to stand loosely spread around the boss to avoid splash damage from Falling Debris or Strike of the Mountain.

For Naraxas’ Toxic Retch, try to dispel as many of these poison debuffs as possible. Since Naraxas is a stationary boss, melee players should stay max range on this fight for the tank’s safety (and if they value their lives) since the tank must dodge the boss mechanics without moving out of melee range of the boss.

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NELTHARUS

Before your key, ask in your party chat if anyone has a Curse Dispel (Druid, Mage, Shaman, Evoker). The last boss, Warlord Sargha, will put a stacking curse on each player who interacts with his trinkets around the room. Three usable trinkets will be deployed with an extra action bar per intermission, since these items are required to break each Magma Shield. Players can hold more than one trinket at a time. For those of you who played Shadowlands, these trinkets are reminiscent of the Necrotic Wake weapons.

Before the run begins, ask in your party chat if anyone has 25 points in Blacksmithing. Once Forgemaster Gorek is defeated, a Blacksmith can click the Blazing Aegis for a big single-use extra action button that deals AOE damage to enemies.

Respect Magmatusk’s Blazing Charges and Lava Waves. Magmatusk has a large character model and will require most of the room for fire management. If you are fixated by Lava Spray, try to point it into the wall or move yourself away from fixated players.

For the trash on the way to Chargath, Bane of Scales, there will be several interactable piles called Burning Chains. Watch our RIO Snapshot to learn how best to utilize these chains in your runs:



Remember to stagger snapping your chains this week due to Bolstering!

Chargath, Bane of Scales will Fiery Focus a player. The tank will need to run Chargath into a Binding Spear. Three Binding Spears equals three stacks of Slag Eruption. After the third spear, Chargath will become stunned and take 50% more damage for 12 seconds. Snapping Spears too quickly can cause a death, so be mindful of your team's health and the Slag Eruption debuff before triggering another chain.

On Forgemaster Gorek, positioning for the Blazing Aegis is key, as shown in our RIO Snapshot video below:



Players who are first targeted by the Blazing Aegis can Shadowmeld, Feign Death, or Vanish to cancel this mechanic. This is similar to the Season 1 Halls of Valor, Fenryr mechanic: if the first leap is canceled, then the other two leaps will not go off. If you have achieved this, let us know on Twitter or join our Discord Community!

When Warlord Sargha casts Magma Shield, three players must search through gold piles around the room for usable items to break the shield. There are some useful WeakAuras available to aid in this timing.

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ULDAMAN: LEGACY OF TYR

To find Uldaman, take the portal to The Badlands in Valdrakken, shown on the map below:



Before your key, ask in your party chat if anyone has a Poison Dispel (Druid, Evoker, Monk, Paladin, Shaman) or Disease Dispel (Monk, Paladin, Priest, Evoker).

Remember that you can line-of-sight any Afflicted Cry, so the tight corners in this dungeon can be used to your advantage if you are struggling to dispel Afflicted during particularly difficult pulls!

The Hulking Berserkers’s Brutal Slam can stun you if you are in melee range within their brown swirly ground effect. Being stunned in these bigger trash packs is especially dangerous, so watch your feet! Hulking Berserkers have high health compared to the mobs around them, making them a prime Bolster target. The Berserkers in the first few pulls should be your focus target as their Brutal Slam can be catastrophic when Bolstered. Some experienced groups take the double Hulking Berserkers pack into the first two bosses for the additional damage buff from Reckless Rage. Here’s a highly accomplished player, Naguura, demonstrating the Hulking Berserker pull tech. However, this is an especially risky strategy this week. Remember, always discuss advanced strategies with your group before attempting them!

After Emberon, there is a newly discovered wall hug skip to avoid a painful Ebonstone Golem pull. No special tricks or abilities are required; all you need to do is walk your character into the wall and slowly inch your way towards the other side of the room. This new skip is marked with a gold exclamation point (!) on our weekly route. Check out the clip below to see this skip in action:



When approaching the room before Chrono-Lord Deios, you can skip the difficult double Infinite Timereaver pack via wall jumping or jumping along the benches on the sides of the room.
Warlock, Priest, Evoker, and Potion of the Hushed Zephyr are also an option, although they are not necessary with the jump skip, which you can see below in our RIO Snapshot video:

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THE UNDERROT

Before your key, ask in your party chat if anyone has a Disease Dispel (Monk, Paladin, Priest, Evoker) and a Curse Dispel (Druid, Mage, Shaman, Evoker).

Upon entering the dungeon, the first few packs with Chosen Blood Matrons are going to be very challenging with Afflicted and Bolstering. Feel free to break up some of these multi-pack pulls depending on your group comp and availability of stuns and interrupts. Underrot’s route is simple and easily timeable without any extravagant tech or tricks, as long as you ensure clean gameplay.

Cragmaw the Infested should be tanked facing a wall or the skeleton on the left side of the room to reduce how far he Charges away, and everyone needs to help stomp the ticks that he spawns in his path. However, be careful not to stand in front of the boss when he casts his frontal Indigestion on the tank! Save defensives, healing cooldowns, and health stones for each Tantrum phase.

Between the second and third boss, Death Knights can Control Undead on the Fallen Deathspeaker to grant 100% Haste and 100% Speed to the party.

Before Sporecaller Zancha, there is a double Bloodsworn Defiler pack where each mob requires a double melee interrupt rotation for their Shadow Bolt Volleys and Withering Curses. Assign one melee interrupt to each Defiler to avoid fatal Withering Curse stacks.

Sporecaller Zancha’s Upheavals should destroy clusters of mushrooms, ideally those opposite the tank’s position. The tank should use Sporecaller Zancha’s Shockwave frontals to help clear more mushrooms out of the room before the boss casts her deadly Festering Harvest. Any remaining mushrooms can be immune cleared (Rogues, Paladin, or Hunters),etc to save the group from an amplified Festering Harvest.

During the Unbound Abomination fight, stay stacked, move as a group counterclockwise, and bait the Vile Expulsion frontal towards the outside wall. Stand in the yellow circles (Cleansing Light) as often as you can to clear your personal stacking Putrid Blood debuff while simultaneously using the light to clear some ground space behind the boss.

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THE VORTEX PINNACLE

Before your key, ask in your party chat if anyone has a Poison Dispel (Druid, Evoker, Monk, Paladin, Shaman). Poison dispels are helpful for the trash towards the second boss, Empyrean Assassin’s Lethargic Poison.

On the first boss, Grand Vizier Ertan, we recommend that the group spread evenly around the boss to ensure that there is always someone facing every unique direction of the room. You should ensure that at least one player is facing towards each Lurking Tempest to avoid extra Lethal Current AOE damage.

For Altairus, your teammates should all be stacked for Upwind of Altairus to take advantage of the haste buff. Downwind, however, will greatly increase your global cooldown timer. Deadly Boss Mods or Little Wigs announces when the winds change so you can be sure to move Upwind. Thankfully, there are also WeakAuras available to aid in this buff tracking. This Upwind haste buff occurs when the winds are against your back, so be sure to always be facing away from the winds. Everyone wants this buff, so if you’re having trouble figuring out which direction to go, you can generally follow your tank. If you are unable to watch the winds and you are relying on your tank’s positioning, you must be sure to keep a close eye on the boss’ frontal Chilling Breath and be prepared to dodge.

When Altairus casts Downburst, you need to dodge the shiny white wave by stepping into Twisting Winds and popping into the air over the Downburst ring. Some veteran players say the Downburst mechanic feels like So'azmi in Tazavesh: Streets of Wonder, but instead of Shuri waves and teleports, Altairus has winds.

On the last boss, Asaad, the TL:DR is to move away from other players when targeted by his Chain Lightning, jump before he finishes his Static Cling, stand in the safety triangle during Supremacy of the Storm and immediately focus damage into the adds that spawn. Deadly Boss Mods or Little Wigs announces when to jump for Static Cling to avoid being rooted in place and taking monster damage. However, there are also WeakAuras available to aid in this timing process.

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