I’m a solo quester (rarely LFR “raider”) player, so when looking at builds, I generally follow the leveling builds.
But in setting up my alts for leveling (I hadn’t touched them in about two years), I got curious about what is the difference in the playstyles between raids and mythic+?
I think mythic+ is 5-man, and even more go-go-go than LFG heroic dungeons?
In dungeons, especially with timers, I think you want to focus more on AOE damage compared to raids where single target damage is more important
Mythic is all about the AoE to clear packs as quickly as possible, raiding is the opposite for the most part
There isn’t always one single raid build and one single M+ build, it depends on what boss in Raids and what Dungeon/Affixes in M+.
Your talents/Azerite/Essences might change in raids depending on whether the fight is pure single target, cleave, or AoE.
M+ does skew towards AoE because you generally want to AoE down packs to get through the dungeon faster but maybe you want to take certain utility like an extra CC on certain dungeons or a knockback if its a Sanguine week.
Raid rarely utilizes all different types of skill. The majority of it is tunneling. There are mechanics, but mythic plus requires so much more actions per minute with a mix of defensive, stuns, kicks as well as your dps or heals, etc. Raid requires adjustments and reactions to things in phases, whereas mythic plus requires them in milliseconds
Low M+ - “low” means “below the level needed to get the maximum rewards”, so less than +15 - is a lot like LFG heroic dungeons. As you get close to “medium” M+ - around +15 - the timer becomes a bigger concern, rather than just an excuse to be sloppy and go as fast as possible. At this point, you want to kill things fast, but you also want to avoid wipes. “High” M+ - significantly above +15 - starts to involve specialized tactics to get through dungeons faster than you can with the normal tactics dungeons are designed for.
In all cases, though, AOE is important. Also important for low to medium M+ is thinking on your feet, since sometimes things can start to go bad but quick action can still save things.
Raids are more about making sure you do the content correctly. Usually people have to do things right or a wipe cannot be prevented. The number of people who have to do things right rises as you go through the raiding levels, but at all levels, it is harder for strong players to save things after the weaker players have made their mistakes.
And yes, single target damage tends to be more important in raids, since boss fights are more important relative to clearing trash.
I think M+ has helped me tremendously in understanding the utility resto shaman has. I understand why people might not like the “gogogo” feel of it, but I love it. I think m+ is a good tool for me, personally, to get better at my class
Right, and in the raid you just heal and occasionally dispel. in a dungeon you’re using you stun, kick, lust, totems, self res, and healing
Mythic keystone are more like arena, and raiding is more like battlegrounds, if that comparison helps,
Mythic keystones are like an esport, it’s timed, you want to be efficient, there is generally less communication during the instance- plans are better made beforehand to save time on the timer,
Raiding on the other hand is more stop and go, evaluate, more communication mid fights, etc.
I appreciate how different they both are, they both bring something very different to the table.
It was the same way with Shamans and Paladins in Classic as at least Healers, originally. Paladin Healers were defensive Healers and Shaman were offensive Healers, to quote what other sites have said.