The latest War Within Mythic+ changes add new Xal’atath-themed affixes, and a lot less variety at higher levels (hope you like Tyrannical!)

When Blizzard posted planned dungeon and Mythic+ changes to the World of Warcraft: The War Within beta forums, and the community was quick to express its concern in the lackadaisy assortment of new affixes along with a healthy dose of disbelief when their least favorite affixes were still lurking around the corner. Fortunately, the latest round of changes to Mythic+ affixes provides a very different approach to weekly affixes than we’ve seen in the past, and does away with almost all of the previous round of beta changes (and finally does away with the much-hated Sanguine).

All affixes that we’re familiar with will be removed, with the exception of Tyrannical and Fortified, and new Xal’atath-themed affixes have been added. But the real difference is in when affixes are added to your runs, especially for the only two leftovers from the old system. This new affix structure also means that in higher-level Mythic+, there’s no rotation at all, just a fixed set of affixes.

Let’s start by looking at the affixes themselves.

Mythic +2: Xal’atath’s Bargain

At low levels, the Mythic+ rotation adds a new set of affixes called Xal’atath’s Bargain, that provide buffs when you interact with them. These affixes start appearing at Mythic+ 2 and up, and while only two are being tested right now, Blizzard suggests there may be more in the future.

These are the current Xal’atath affixes:

• Xal’atath’s Bargain: Ascendant: While in combat, Xal’atath rains down orbs of cosmic energy that attempt to empower nearby enemies, increasing their Haste and Movement speed. If players disrupt these orbs, they claim this effect for themselves.
• Xal’atath’s Bargain: Voidbound: While in combat, Xal’atath summons Void Emissary to empower nearby enemies, gradually increasing their damage. Upon defeating the Void Emissary, players harness the void energy for themselves, increasing their critical chance by 20% for 20 seconds.
• Xal’atath’s Bargain: Oblivion: While in combat, Xal’atath manifests crystals from the void that can be absorbed by enemies or players. These crystals spawn near enemies and move towards them until they are absorbed by players or collide with their target enemy. Players that absorb these void crystals gain increased Mastery and Leech.
• Xal’atath’s Bargain: Devour: While in combat, Xal’atath tears open rifts that devour the essence of players. The rift unleashes its energy after 15 seconds, healing all enemies in combat. The rift collapses if it is dispelled or players receive enough healing, granting all players critical strike chance and maximum health.

Blizzard has already removed one Xal’atath’s Bargain affix from the pool for testing: Frenzied. It buffed all non-boss enemies with 40% haste and 20% damage taken upon reaching 30% health remaining. In the latest beta build it was replaced by Voidbound as Blizzard responded to feedback that it was not as visible as Ascendant. Ascendant has also gotten a tweak, cutting the number of orbs it spawns in half to reduce visual noise.

Mythic +4: Fortified or Tyrannical

At Mythic+ 4 and up, we see our only two returning affixes: Fortified and Tyrannical, which will rotate weekly. All other familiar affixes are gone.

Mythic +7: Challenger’s Peril

This new affix is different than what we’ve seen in the past, and according to Kaivax, the affix “emphasizes precise play and strategic execution, placing greater risk on players’ decisions.” Here’s what the new affix does:

• Challenger’s Peril: Dying subtracts 15 seconds from time remaining rather than 5 seconds.

Mythic +10: Fortified and Tyrannical

Starting at +10, both of these affixes will be active in every run.

Mythic +12: Xal’atath’s Guile

At top levels Xal’atath’s Guile replaces the Xal’atath’s Bargain, as she empowers enemies in the fight against you.

• Xal’atath’s Guile: Xal’atath betrays players, revoking her bargains and increasing the health and damage of enemies by 20%.

This means keys +12 or higher will always be the same, with no variation week by week. They’ll all have Fortified, Tyrannical, Challenger’s Peril, and Xal’atath’s Guile.

To help make this easier to digest, Blizzard has a graph showing which affixes are active when:

I have mixed feelings about this new approach. I actually enjoy alternating between Fortified and Tyrannical weeks on keys even if I generally don’t get as excited for pushing when Tyrannical is active. I think I could live without as much variety week by week if I enjoyed the overall experience with affixes, but as a player who tends to push higher level keys it won’t be long before Tyrannical will be active on every key — not to mention the added 20% health and damage from Xal’atath’s Guile in +12 and up, which is on top of Tyrannical (and Fortified). But overall, the the community seems to be much more optimistic about these changes than the last.

For those of who you don’t intend to push as high as a +10 or 12, will only two alternating affixes be enough variety for you, compared to a 6-8 week rotation? For those pushing higher +12 and higher, will you miss the alternating affixes when filling your vault for the week? Will Blizzard need to potentially keep bosses weak for lower keys so that Tyrannical doesn’t provide too much of a challenge on top of Xal’atah’s Guile and the natural progression of key difficulty?

The War Within Season 1 starts on September 9: Mythic 0 will be open immediately, and Mythic+ follows a week later, on September 17. Happy hunting, everyone.

Originally published July 9 2024; updated July 22 2024.