wow The Great Mythic+ Challenge: From Zero to Hero (Episode 4)

[Petko 7]

Our Mythic+ writer Petko challenged himself to earn Tormented Hero: Shadowlands Season 2 on a fresh character before the end of Season 2. Check out Episode 4 of his journey!

The Great Challenge, from Zero to Hero

Hey guys, Petko here! I have decided to challenge myself before the end of the current season, and earn the Tormented Hero: Shadowlands Season 2 achievement on one of my fresh characters, and since I have done it numerous times in the past, I will guide you through every step of my journey.

In the mini-series, I share my experience and guide you through what you can do to increase your current Mythic+ Rating. The challenge would be boring without some limitations, so here they are!

Rules of the Challenge

If you've missed the previous 3 episodes of the challenge, make sure to read the articles below. They cover the basics like challenge rules, intentions, end goals, and more.

• The Great Mythic Challenge: From Zero to Hero: Episode 1
• The Great Mythic Challenge: From Zero to Hero: Episode 2
• The Great Mythic Challenge: From Zero to Hero: Episode 3

Chapter 1, Episode 4

Finally, I have managed to break the 2,400 rating barrier and will now dabble into the higher keys. My goal for this episode will be to climb as close to 2,600 rating as possible since that's when I know it will be close to impossible to climb higher without finding pre-mades or people to play with from the LFG.

I've spent more than 4 weeks trying to climb all the way to 2,600, from 2,400, and here are a few important lessons that I recommend to everyone being currently stuck in this "elo":

• Networking is the most important aspect as soon as you cross over keys above +20 difficulty. Having good gear is important, but it's not as important as finding people to play with.
• Having a leader in each Mythic+ group helps enormously, as having the ability to help your team craft an MDT, suggest different approaches or help with the shot-calling of interrupts/disruption effects will significantly improve your quality of life. Often enough, people deplete keys not because they lack damage, but because they lack coordination and communication, which is an aspect you can easily help out by providing the right information.
• Yes, gear matters, but what matters the most is team-play and coordination. Gear, however, will help you buy time in case you have a team wipe (which will happen), so always look for possible upgrades in your current backpack.
• Cooldown management is another quite important aspect of the game to answer; there comes a point where you will eventually have similar gear to everyone else (endgame) and the only thing that can separate you from the rest of the crowd is having good resource and cooldown management. It's something that comes with experience and if you are interested, comment down below and I will create a separate article with a lot more details on how to improve at that aspect of the game.

What to Expect Once You Get Closer to 2,600 Rating?

The general player base is a lot more skillful compared to the lower keys, with much higher knowledge toward their spec/class and Mythic+ in general. You can expect active communication, call-outs like interrupts/disturb effects, strategies, and defensive external cooldowns. This is the perfect area for you to invest in getting familiar with other classes and what exactly they do:

• How many classes in the game offer an AoE stun? Now you don't need to memorize every single ability right away (it comes naturally after years of playing), but what you can do is get an addon called OmniCD, which tracks those cooldowns for you. Then you get to understand that Havoc Demon Hunters have Chaos Nova (AoE Stun), Windwalker Monks have Leg Sweep (AoE Stun), and so forth.
• Outside of generic utility, external cooldowns are also another point that can definitely save your life. If for example, you are fighting Blightbone and you have no defensive cooldowns, you can tell your healer, who is a Restoration Druid in this example, "If the next frontal is on me, you have to use Ironbark or I die", giving them a heads-up in case it's on you. This helps eliminate the danger in worst-case scenarios.
• Another major issue is that people still tend to leave after a wipe or two; this happens and there is nothing you can do but just to go to the next key. It's happened to me so many times, and it's not just you, it's the game.

End Results

The total days spent so far on the challenge is 97. This is longer than anyone has ever attempted and I am so close to being the first ever to do it, yet it's extremely frustrating and hard. I needed 32 days to break from 2,400 to 2,600 from LFG, and along the way I also found a few decent players to add to my friend list, which later on helped me form a better group for my keys. I can truly feel the pain of faction imbalances; it affects it deeply. Sometimes you hang in the queue for minutes, which eventually turns into hours. I went through all of it and documented every single minute, live on Twitch (You can watch the challenge live every day from 11:00 AM CET here). Also, as many of you requested, here is my current armory in case you are interested.

What's Next?

The next step for me is to turn my 2,600 rating into a Rank 1 title. When I started the challenge, I never thought I would come as close as now, and I am motivated, more than ever, to prove a point to everyone that if I can do it from 0, then so can you. If you enjoy this type of content, let us know in the comments below and for the next season, we may just make this into a YouTube series as well, outside of our regular "Journal-type" of work.