World of Warcraft popularity is at a fever pitch thanks to the success of the Shadowlands expansion. The new world zones are unlike anything we have seen in previous portions of the game’s world, and a continuous rollout of content and challenges fuels the desire to conquer dungeons on their highest difficulty. There’s a problem, though: Mythic+ dungeons are so popular, nobody can get into a random group. What is there to do about this?
Learn how to tank or heal
You may not want to hear this, but it’s the truth. You can be an international superstar of DPS, post record-breaking numbers on the leaderboards, and the person holding the keystone to get into the dungeon will say, “Get in line.” The cold truth you need to know is that your skills as a DPS will not matter compared to the skills you could potentially have as a tank or healer. Everyone and their parents can stomp into a dungeon and wail away on enemies until they fall down, even on higher difficulties. It takes a different breed of player to watch enemy behavior and look out for four allies’ health bars at once.
Most of the time, people would rather create another DPS character than consider the effort it takes to heal and/or tank. If this is the first time you’ve ever thought about doing a Restoration Shaman or a Guardian Warrior, Shadowlands is practically screaming at you to give it a shot.
Build your reputation
No, we’re not talking about world quests and rep grinding. Before you go after the highest Mythic+ difficulties, spend some time with the groups you find after you have gotten comfortable with tanking or healing. You’re going to stand out already thanks to your role in the party, and if you find a talented collection of DPS players during your dungeons, you won’t need to go through group finders anymore when one of you gets their hands on a Keystone.
Have patience
Regardless of the class you play, remember how many thousands of people are attempting to do exactly what you are. On paper, the only thing separating you from them is a name; you’ll have very similar item levels, and you’re completely anonymous to someone hosting a Mythic+ group. This is where the value in networking lies, and when you get to the point where you are timing your runs and shaving off previous seconds, you’ll remember how silly it seemed when you were stressing over the application process.
