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 Fortified, Storming, and Bursting.

This is one of the best Fortified weeks on the calendar! Gather your friends because it's a good time to push your Mythic+ score.

Fortified + Bursting is a more difficult affix combination for 14-19 key levels than it is at higher levels, as mobs with lower health pools are more easily defeated, which can lead to high stacks of Bursting and dangerous stack refreshes. Conversely, as your key scales, so do the health pools of Fortified trash mobs, meaning they live longer and are less likely to die and accidentally refresh Bursting stacks during your cooldown windows.

DPS players have complete control over Bursting stacks, and everyone must have a way to monitor the group’s damage taken. There are an abundance of WeakAuras available to help in tracking Bursting stacks. 1-3 stacks are manageable for most healers; however, a surprise stack of 6-8 will almost certainly cause a death if your group doesn't plan properly.

If you need a refresher on the affixes, be sure to check out our affixes guide!

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Do you have a tip or trick to add to our Weekly Route series? Did you discover the next big skip for a RIO Snapshot video? We want to hear about it! Find us on Twitter or join us in Discord to provide feedback.

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

Table of Contents

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ATAL’DAZAR

This week we’re using a standard late-season route. If you are caught in Storming, you’re liable to be chomped by Rezan, dunked in Reanimated Honor Guard’s poo puddles, or run over by a Dazar'ai Juggernaut’s Merciless Assault.

Want to keep your group safe from a Fortified Dazar’ai Juggernaut’s assault? Watch our RIO Snapshot to learn some clever tips for avoiding this particularly devastating charge mechanic:

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BLACK ROOK HOLD

Make sure you are frequently using your personals or defensives on trash pulls this week, as Black Rook Hold’s trash is notoriously painful! Additionally, the healer will be very busy single-dispelling the Ghostly Councilor’s stackable Soul Blade and Rook Spinner’s stackable Soul Venom, so keep in mind that they may not have a dispel available to save a group member (or themselves!) if Bursting stacks get out of control.

Be quick on your feet when heading to the last boss, Dantalionax. The route up to his room includes several narrow hallways and small rooms, with lots of ground effects to dodge. It certainly doesn't look good on the damage meter to be caught in Storming and then stunned for the entire pull by the Risen Lancers’ Fortified Raven’s Dive!

Easily burn down the first boss, Amalgam of Souls with this cool trick from our RIO Snapshots:



Do you want to learn where to pop your defensives on the final boss, Lord Kur’talos Ravencrest? Study up with our RIO Snapshot on the subject:

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DARKHEART THICKET

You’ll have an easy push week in this dungeon if you respect the trash: interrupt casts, dodge charges, and stay out of ground effects. Play safe and smart here, and you will be rewarded.

Some groups utilize an invisibility potion for their Darkheart route. The double Festerhide Grizzly pack before the first boss is super scary with Fortified, as there is a high chance that you will have a bad overlap on double Maddening Roars, so some groups may prefer to take a shortcut around them. If you’d prefer to avoid these nasty bears, check out the clip below to see the skip in action (REMEMBER to dismiss pets):

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DAWN OF THE INFINITE: GALAKROND’S FALL

This dungeon is like chess in the sense that you must be thinking 5 steps ahead. Be very careful with your positioning, as you can easily die or even wipe the group with one simple misstep. The first boss, Chronikar can target you with her deadly Eon Shatter, spawn Storming, then jump on your head as you are stuck in a tornado. Storming can happen at any point during the already-strenuous Manifested Timeways fight, catching you in a bad position. Blight of Galakrond, the third boss, can spawn Storming during a Necrotic Winds cast, causing you to fail the Corrosion pass, get mind controlled, and start whooping your fellow teammates. Iridikron can spawn Storming on your character while you are stacked on Chromie, popping you out of the shield into certain death. Think well ahead and keep an eye on your surroundings!

Ask your group before the key if you are using an invisibility potion at the beginning or on the way to the last boss. This way you will be able to plan the use of your throughput potions properly.

Note that the trash in the Manifested Timeways room is extremely difficult for healers, with several demanding priority dispels; Fortified will make these mobs that much more dangerous this week. Have your interrupts, personal defensives, and any supportive party cooldowns (like Rallying Cry) ready for this particularly stressful room! When blasting massive AOE, be mindful of Bursting, as rolling stacks during these trash pulls can mean lights out if you are also targeted with a Coalesced Moment’s Tainted Sands or Timestream Anomaly’s Bloom. Healers must dispel the DPS affected by Bloom immediately; remember that your healer will be holding their dispel for the Bloom cast, and thus may not be able to save a pull if the group allows Bursting to stack to unmanageable levels.

To help your group get through this nasty Manifested Timeways trash cleanly, do your homework with our RIO Snapshot on the subject:



In order to skip the single Infinite Infiltrator on the way to Blight of Galakrond, check out this RIO Snapshot:



If your group has a Rogue & Distract, a Hunter, or Shadowmeld, you’ll have a few extra tricks to help you get around this Infinite Infiltrator.

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DAWN OF THE INFINITE: MUROZOND’S RISE

Murozond’s Rise has a very simple, standard route and should be fun for an IO push this week. There are frontals and ground effects to consider, but as long as your team focuses on interrupting and stunning dangerous trash, you should find this timer very forgiving! Try not to fight any mobs too close to the edge in Tyr’s room or Storming may shove you right off the platform.

Before Tyr, there are three mini bosses: Valow, Timesworn Keeper, Lerai, Timesworn Maiden, and Spurlok, Timesworn Sentinel. You must defeat all three mini bosses to trigger the boss’ 30 second RP event. If you are pushing keys, remember to focus-fire these named mobs, allowing the RP to begin as you work through the remainder of the trash.

Taking advantage of Lerai’s boomerang Orb of Contemplation can really help your healer out (and save you some serious time)! Take a peek at our RIO Snapshot to learn how to make use of Lerai’s orb to handle the remaining trash in this room with a quickness:



The trash before the Time-Lost Battlefield boss, Alliance Destroyers, are scary on Fortified with their Volatile Mortar. If you find yourself targeted by Volatile Mortar, face the Destroyer and move backward slowly. Keep walking backwards in a straight line away from the Destroyer and make sure to move into the center of the room to avoid hitting a wall. By following these steps, you can effectively handle the Volatile Mortar fixate without feeling overwhelmed by this stressful room!

To save time with some of Chromie’s excessive RP this week, check out our RIO Snapshot:

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THE EVERBLOOM

I shudder when thinking of Bursting in Everbloom. Bring your health potions or you will likely die during one of the many massive, dangerous trash pulls. Even on Fortified, play extra safe on the bosses by dodging Storming during high movement mechanics like Dulhu’s Noxious Charge or one of Archmage Sol’s nasty overlaps.

There are a lot of enemy forces in Everbloom, so we will need to take advantage of a wall hug to skip some trash near the second boss. 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 skip is marked with a gold exclamation point (!) on our weekly route. Check out the clip below to see this skip in action:



Given that it is a Fortified week, you may want to plan ahead and skip some of the worst trash pulls on the way to Ancient Protectors. Check out our RIO Snapshot to see how:



If you’re looking to give yourself a little extra time in this key, take a peek at our RIO Snapshot to learn how to skip the final bit of RP before Yalnu:

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THRONE OF THE TIDES

While this may be an unpopular opinion, plan to do smaller pulls through Throne of the Tides. There are loads of frontals and punishing mechanics from the trash mobs as well as the mini bosses, which makes this dungeon a dangerous one on Fortified. It's better to handle multiple smaller pulls successfully than to constantly run back one by one. Be diligent about Bursting and don't rush your key with AOE.

DPS must be extremely aware of Bursting stacks during trash pulls. The healer will often need to save their single magic dispel to handle the Lightning Surge debuff from the Naz'jar Tempest Witch, and may need to dedicate many of their throughput CDs towards healing off the Naz’jar Sentinels’ terrifying Crushing Depths debuff.

Take a look at Roiben’s sketch below to help manage Lady Naz'jar’s Focused Tempest:



TL;DR: Make certain that the group organizes into a diamond shape surrounding the boss/tank. Every player needs to be spaced evenly, taking up positions at the square's corners, and keeping the tank as the closest player to anyone positioned along the square's perimeter.

For some quick tips on handling Ozumat, take a peek at our RIO Snapshot:

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WAYCREST MANOR

We love Waycrest for the big pulls, but be careful to avoid pulling too many enemies with smaller health pools, such as Gorestained Piglets, that die quickly and can easily refresh or extend Bursting. Try to fight as much trash as you can in open spaces so that you don't get caught in Storming tornadoes and bounced into Fortified ground effects like Splinter Spike, Shadow Cleave, and Dinner Bell.

Would you like to master the final boss, Gorak Tul? Check out our quick RIO Snapshot for the specifics:

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Links

• The Weekly Route Series
  
• The Play Like the Pros Series
  
• Learn about the Raider.IO Auto Route Creator
  
• Try Raider.IO Mythic+ Replays
  
• Set up Raider.IO Discord Alerts
  
• Download the Raider.IO Client
  
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