World of Warcraft Mythic Plus Affix Guide

World of Warcraft Mythic Plus Affix Guide

Mythic plus dungeons are one of the most popular forms of content in all of World of Warcraft. Offering some of the biggest challenges and greatest rewards, it's no wonder players flock to it.

One of the most controversial aspects of mythic plus's design is its affixes. Affixes are the modifiers placed on top of the dungeons to increase their level of difficulty. In the current iteration of mythic plus design, the tier 1 affix is active from +2 and up, the tier 2 affix is active from +5 and up, and the tier 3 affix is active from +10 and up.

If you want to check what the current affixes are at any given time or what the upcoming affixes are, you can do that here or directly on Wowhead.

For the week of June 4 2024, the weekly Mythic+ affixes are:

The mythic plus affix 'tyrannical'.The mythic plus affix 'tyrannical'.

Tyrannical as an affix is very straightforward and doesn't require you to do any extra work. It simply makes bosses last a lot longer and deal substantially more damage. Generally, for healers and dps players, tyrannical is the harder of the two tier one affixes.

The key to handling tyrannical well is to understand when the big chunks of damage are going out. As a tank player this is usually in the form of a tank buster mechanic. For healers and dps players, this is usually in the form of either a big AoE or a powerful DoT. You want to pay attention and be aware of these high-burst damage moments in the fight and rotate your defensive cooldowns accordingly so you're reducing the amount of damage you take from the big chunk mechanics by as much as possible.

The mythic plus affix 'afflicted'.The mythic plus affix 'afflicted'.

Afflicted is a simple affix that requires the group to pay attention. At random points, while in combat, 1 or 2 Afflicted Souls will spawn and need to be helped by a player in the group. They attempt to cast Afflicted Cry which lowers the parties haste by 100% for 10 seconds. It's extremely important to not let this go off.

How difficult it is to deal with this affix depends on your group composition and how aware everyone is. If all the dps are tunnel visioned while the healer is dealing with lots of group damage, it can be fairly easy to miss one of them. As long as people are paying attention though, the affix is one of the easier ones. All you need to do is use any dispel on them which will instantly resolve it and make it despawn. If dispelling is not an option, you can also heal them to full hp which will cancel their cast and make them despawn.

The bolstering affix for mythic plus.The bolstering affix for mythic plus.

Bolstering sucks. This is one of the most difficult affixes to deal with. Functionally, it doesn't require any active action. You don't need to do anything to counter this affix. What bolstering does, it make every enemy substantially stronger after another nearby enemy dies. This effect stacks.

The way to beat bolstering is by killing enemies evenly. You want them to die as close to the same time as possible. This affix puts a lot of pressure on dps players to spread their damage equally to the entire pull and it's important for tanks and healers to be aware of when the dps players mess up so they can react accordingly with bigger cooldown usage for the increased damage. As a tank, it's also good to not chain pull on bolstering weeks so that you don't give your new group enemies stacks of bolstering as the previous pull is finished off.

Here is the order of the mythic plus affix rotation:

  • 06/04: Tyrannical, Afflicted, Bolstering
  • 06/11: Fortified, Incorporeal, Sanguine
  • 06/18: Tyrannical, Entangled, Bursting
  • 06/25: Fortified, Volcanic, Spiteful
  • 07/02: Tyrannical, Storming, Raging
  • 07/09: Fortified, Entangled, Bolstering
  • 07/16: Tyrannical, Incorporeal, Spiteful
  • 07/23: Fortified, Afflicted, Raging
  • 07/30: Tyrannical, Volcanic, Sanguine
  • 08/06: Fortified, Storming, Bursting
  • Top 10 DPS Specs for Cataclysm Classic Phase 1

    Top 10 DPS Specs for Cataclysm Classic Phase 1

    With phase 1 of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Classic going live recently, many players may be looking to get back into the fray with a highly desired dps spec so they'll have no issues finding raid groups. In this article, we'll discuss the ten best dps specs to play in Cataclysm Classic right now.

    An unholy death knight commanding his minions of undead.An unholy death knight commanding his minions of undead.

    Death Knights are eating good in Cataclysm with Blood DK being an incredibly powerful tank and both DPS specs ranking in the top ten to start. Unholy DK is particularly strong because of its ability to produce massive AoE burst and sustained single-target damage. They are great at dungeon farming and there are no raid encounters they won't excel at. The ability that contributes most to their power is the insanely strong Summon Gargoyle. Unholy death knight is the best dps spec for phase 1 of Cataclysm Classic.

    A survival hunter in the woods wielding a polearm.A survival hunter in the woods wielding a polearm.

    Survival hunters biggest strength is that they don't require a ton of gear to be useful. They still get better with better gear, obviously, but they'll start doing great damage before more gear dependent specs will. With great damage and access to the powerful utility hunters as (such as Misdirection, for example), you can't go wrong with having a couple hunters in the raid and one of them should definitely be a survival hunter. They also boast the best instant burst AoE damage in the game.

    A mage consumed with fire.A mage consumed with fire.

    Fire mage gets access to its iconic Combustion spell in Cataclysm Classic. This takes the spec to entirely new heights. Through good play with proper setup and a bit of luck, fire mage can put up numbers that no ther spec can get close to in many scenarios. As mentioned, it does require a bit of luck to do the best dps possible. This RNG element doesn't take away too much from how great it is but can be frustrating for some players and worth staying away from.

    A demonology warlock with his summoned minions.A demonology warlock with his summoned minions.

    Demonology warlock had started going through reworks since Wrath and in Cataclysm it all comes together in the beginning. They provide incredible burst for both AoE situations and single target encounters. Being warlocks, they also still provide tons of great utility and group cooldowns. Phase 1 of Cataclysm Classic is a phenomenal time to play a demonology warlock.

    Garrosh Hellscream leads his horde into battle while wielding Gorehowl.Garrosh Hellscream leads his horde into battle while wielding Gorehowl.

    Arms warrior is incredibly strong in Cataclysm and stays as an S-tier spec for the entire expansion. They have amazing and sustainable single-target damage and great burst windows with short cooldowns as well. If you're looking for a spec that is not only good now, but will be great and highly desired for the entire duration of Cataclysm, there is probably no better pick than Arms warrior.

    A tauren elemental shaman holds a totem and casts a spell.A tauren elemental shaman holds a totem and casts a spell.

    Elemental shamans lack the burst damage of the specs above them but still boast great on demand AoE damage and sustained single-target damage. Being shamans, they also bring a ton of valuable raid buffs to the group making them a great inclusion into any raid comp.

    A shadow priest surrounded by the horrors of the void.A shadow priest surrounded by the horrors of the void.

    Shadow priest has solid damage in both single-target and AoE scenarios but are far behind the likes of the specs above them. What makes shadow priest incredibly powerful this tier, is the incredible utility that they bring to the raid. Some encounters even outright require priest utility. You can't go wrong with having a shadow priest in your raid group, which makes them a solid pick for anyone this tier.

     A frost death knight wields his blades. A frost death knight wields his blades.

    Death knights really are enjoying life right now in Cataclysm Classic. Similar to unholy in some ways, frost differs in how it deals its damage. While unholy focuses on summoning minions and applying DoTs, frost is all about just hitting enemies hard over and over again with strong hitting abilities and passive procs with short burst windows. Frost also falls off in AoE when compared to unholy. Even though it's definitely worse than unholy, it's still a great spec and vastly superior to most other dps specs in the game, at the moment.

    An affliction warlock stands ready to fight.An affliction warlock stands ready to fight.

    One of the three classes with multiple specs in the top ten, it's fair to say warlocks should be almost as happy as death knights are. Affliction warlocks offer great AoE damage through spreading their DoTs around and bring all the great utility you'd expect from the warlock class. They do however lack in sustained single target damage.

    An arcane mage riding a flying disc.An arcane mage riding a flying disc.

    The final of the three classes with multiple top tier specs, mages must also be grinning right now. Arcane mage is similar to frost dk in that it's a strong spec with great utility and single target damage but there is another spec for its class that offers all those same benefits but with vastly superior AoE damage. For frost dk that was unholy and, in this case for arcane mage, it's fire. Arcane mage is a solid choice but will be noticeable behind a similarly skilled fire mage.