Preface (Read):
In the latter half of this post, I give my suggestions for specific changes to mythic+. Regardless of whether or not you disagree with anything or everything I have written, please focus on the ideas over the specifics. I provide my suggestions as examples that can be built upon, and I want you, the reader, to concentrate not on them, but on the overarching ideas present in this post. Please stay focused on the topic at hand.
Post Breakdown:
- Introduction
- What is the ‘Obstacle’ philosophy?
- What is the ‘Kiss/curse’ philosophy?
- Kiss/curse affix suggestions.
- A potential alternative philosophy: modifiers.
- Modifier suggestions.
- Final Thoughts.
Introduction:
I have been a part of the mythic+ community since its birth. I’ve been around for the high points, the low points, and everything in between. After being both a title pusher and a weekly Andy, a player and an observer, I feel I have a solid grasp on what has been successful and unsuccessful for our community. Given this, I can confidently say that all 30ish affixes fall under either the obstacle philosophy or the kiss/curse philosophy.
But what are these philosophies? Put simply, the obstacle philosophy follows the idea that affixes should be there solely to slow us down. They get in our way, guard us from timing a key, and do everything in their power to annoy us. In content that becomes difficult enough to time as it is, we are forced to deal with things that simply are not fun. But why does it (usually) have to be that way? Why do affixes have to live solely to punish us—as unrewarding as getting a pizza party instead of a raise at work? This is where the kiss/curse philosophy comes in. Unlike affixes such as sanguine, skittish, infested and the like, kiss/curse affixes reward us for overcoming obstacles. Something like encrypted, buffing us how we choose, gives us something back for the time spent dealing with the affix. This is why reaping was so popular in its time. This is why encrypted is widely considered the best affix we’ve had to this point. They not only worked against us, but also with us. Below, I will delve more into these philosophies.
What is the Obstacle philosophy?:
The obstacle philosophy has made up the bulk of our affixes since the birth of mythic+. Every single non-seasonal affix has fallen under this umbrella, and there are very few that weren’t widely disliked. From the early days of fortified/teeming/skittish weeks to the recent days of bolstering, spiteful, or explosive, we have been overcoming lame obstacles for years. But let me be a bit more specific of why some of these affixes blatantly sucked.
Quaking: Periodically, all players emit a shockwave, inflicting damage and interrupting nearby allies. The original iteration did 20% of every player’s health every X amount of time, increased by 20% per player stacked and interrupted + silenced casting players. A subsequent change took away the initial 20% hit for the affix going out in the first place.
Quaking was notoriously unpopular across both low and high end groups, but let’s disregard its original iteration. Any dungeon with tight corridors (such as Tol Dagor, Sanguine Depths, and Waycrest Manor) threatened to be a nightmare with quaking as an affix. A key that was going smoothly one minute could be flipped on its head and bricked into oblivion the next depending on when quaking occurred. Not to mention, aside from having to split apart when quaking went out, dps with tight timings in their rotation could be intensely punished through no fault of their own by either canceling their cast or getting interrupted and silenced. There was nothing fun about this affix. It was either ignorable or nightmare fuel depending on when it procced. As much as I’d love to go on, I won’t.
Inspiring: Some non-boss enemies have an inspiring presence that strengthens their allies. Essentially, this affix made all mobs around the ‘inspired’ mob immune to crowd control.
Had this been an affix in, let’s say, cataclysm, it would have been okay. However, with the increasing amount of crowd control required, especially with the introduction of mythic+ titles as an acknowledgement of the higher end of key pushers, calling Inspiring a horrid affix would be an understatement. Let’s take a look at Spires of Ascension, for example. Outside of an organized group, certain packs throughout the dungeon would obliterate a pug. It didn’t matter if it was a weekly key or a push key, many groups would simply fail at the start. If not there, then at a nightmare pack later in the dungeon instead. I don’t think I need to delve further into why this affix was terrible.
Necrotic: Yada yada stacking healing debuff doing its best to make your tank quit the game.
Oh necrotic, my loathsome foe. You have bricked many a key over the years. May you rest in piss forevermore. Need I talk about this abomination?
In conclusion, all of these ‘obstacle’ affixes were not only annoying, but also extremely punishing. They were not fun to deal with in an organized group and even less fun in unorganized pugs. It’d be one thing if the dungeons did not generally increase in difficulty or annoyance from expansion to expansion, but that is not the case. If the content is naturally becoming more difficult on its own, why pair it with affixes like these?
What is the 'Kiss/curse' philosophy?:
The kiss/curse philosophy follows the idea that with every negative affix should come a positive reward. The reward can be granted once the curse is dealt with or even alongside the curse. Variety is good, so different affixes following different routes of when the reward is granted is objectively positive. However, the most important thing here is that it isn’t solely negative. Below, let’s take a look at three well-received affixes over the years.
Reaping: Non-boss enemies are empowered by Bwonsamdi and periodically seek vengeance from beyond the grave. Players were given a 20% damage and healing buff but had to interrupt or stun three abilities mobs would occasionally cast.
Season two of BFA had one of the most popular affixes ever created, one that remains among my own favorites to this day. This affix is a solid example of what a kiss/curse affix could look like. The abilities casted by the mobs were easily stoppable by any group and we knew exactly when the affix would trigger. Want to take it slow and deal with this affix alone? Easy. Want to pull it onto another pack or a boss and take advantage of the 20% damage and healing buffs? Done. It was straightforward, every spec could contribute to its handling, and everyone could reach damage or healing numbers otherwise impossible at the time. And you know us, we love our huge numbers on the meters.
Encrypted: Enemies throughout the dungeon possess relics of the First Ones. Destroy the relics to summon the First Ones’ Automa and gain powerful bonuses, based on the order in which they were destroyed.
Encrypted was a brilliant affix and widely regarded (as far as I know) as the best affix we’ve had in our mythic+ careers. The epitome of a kiss/curse affix, there was a very real threat of dying if you took a direct or unmitigated hit regardless of role yet the payoff felt incredible. Reduced cdr & increased health/mana regeneration, makeshift lust, and blanket mitigation, massive speed & stealth for varying durations were all palpably valuable. Every spec benefited in an observable capacity, and it truly felt like a reward for successfully dealing with the affix.
Shrouded: Nathrezim infiltrators have disguised themselves among enemies throughout the dungeon. Cartel Ta will reward you handsomely for assisting in their capture. At the start of the dungeon you would pick a stat, and for each Nathrezim kill you would gain a stack of the stat you chose.
This was another kiss/curse affix where the curse wasn’t brutal yet the kiss was substantial. Though the Nathrezim added abilities to be wary of and the boss, Zul’gamux, was a dangerous time sink, this curse was not significant enough to be considered unreasonable. On the flip side, the growing stats you gained over the course of a dungeon had an undeniable effect, whether it be through pure damage, casting speed, or mitigation (through versatility). Though Shrouded was not an affix whose effects were always plain to see, it worked diligently in the background to aid each player in considerable ways.
In conclusion, kiss/curse affixes have mostly* received positive feedback for obvious reasons. Thus far, only seasonal affixes have fallen under the umbrella of kiss/curse, but there is no reason it has to remain that way, especially with seasonal affixes having been removed in Dragonflight. It’s also important to note that all three examples above have different ways of being handled, showing that there is plenty of room for variety in what we see in the future. It’s no coincidence that these three affixes are some of the most popular we’ve had. That’s exactly the reason that Blizzard should seriously think about adopting this philosophy going forward. In the next section, I am going to give some examples of how they could do such a thing.
Kiss/curse affix suggestions:
Tyrannical and fortified are likely going to stick around for a long time to come. Though this is the case, let’s do away with their rigidity for the sake of the affix discussion. You’ll notice below that, while I’ve removed these two as they are now, I have incorporated their elements into some of my examples of new affixes. My structure will essentially cover level 4, level 7, and level 10 affixes. I don’t have numerous examples, but it is enough to show one of the many ways to do this. You’ll notice that the higher the key level, the greater both the kiss and the curse is.
Level 4 affix:
- Heckling Hairs: Interrupting a non-boss enemy causes it to deal 15% less damage for 10 seconds, but its next interruptible cast will be 25% faster. This effect does not stack, nor is it triggered by stun effects.
- Developer’s Note: I am not sure how impactful this will be, but I like the idea of being rewarded for kicking. This is an affix that will benefit all players, but mostly the tank. Tanks are scarce enough as it is, so I think it’s a good thing to throw them some bones.
- Defense Mechanism: Bosses have 20% increased health, but grant a 10% absorb shield to all players every 20 seconds. This effect stacks infinitely.
- Developer’s Note: Different key levels are more dangerous for some groups than others. Here, boss fights will go longer (as they do with tyrannical) but players will be given an absorption shield to both help the healer and help players survive a mechanic that may otherwise kill them.
- Earthen Ally: At fixed locations throughout the dungeon, an earthen trader awaits. Talk to them to trade 3% of one secondary stat of your choice for 10% of another for the duration of the dungeon. If mastery is chosen, X mastery will be given or X will be received.
- Developer’s Note: I used Shrouded as an inspiration for this one. Whether or not it would be any good, I’m not sure, but it certainly fits under kiss/curse. You lose some stats to gain another stat~ the level of impact will differ for every spec, but it will still be impactful nonetheless.
- Pain Reduction: Non-boss mobs deal 10% reduced damage, but their maximum health is increased by 25%.
- Developer’s Note: I took a page from fortified’s book here. Packs will last longer, but they will be less of a threat, especially to the tank.
Level 7 affix:
- Burning Ambition: Every 60 seconds, burn for 3% of your max health every 2 seconds but gain 100% cooldown reduction for 10 seconds.
- Developer’s Note: The danger of this affix depends precisely on when it procs, but the cooldown reduction will be a boon for everyone regardless of when the effect takes place. Keep in mind, 100% cooldown means a 1 minute cooldown will turn into 50 seconds.
- Ashen Remains: Enemies leave behind a patch of burning cinders upon death. Players standing within the patch take 3% of their maximum health as damage every 3 seconds, but gain 15% of their second highest secondary stat. This effect does not stack.
- Developer’s Note: Trading off constant ticking damage that will be both healed and mitigated per tick is a solid tradeoff for 15% of a secondary stat. However, I don’t want the kiss to be too strong, which is why I made it the second highest secondary stat. There will obviously be plenty of groups who decide to game this affix and use the increased secondary stats during a boss encounter, which is great for those who want to. I want the kiss to still have value, but I don’t want it to be too strong to the point where more casual groups feel obligated to game it.
- Freezing Pulse: Enemies take 20% more damage for 12 seconds after being stunned, but pulse for 2% of each player’s maximum health while stunned.
- Developer’s Note: While 2% may seem small at first glance, it grows increasingly more powerful given the size of a pack. For higher keys where pack size grows larger and area-of-effect attacks deal more damage, this affix will appropriately scale with skill level. Of course it can be immuned or mitigated, but it will also be healed during its duration. A fair trade for 10% increased damage during the crowd control so often chained during combat.
- Death Throes: Upon death, enemies apply “Death Throes” to its non-boss allies within 5 yards and players within 40 yards. Death throes regenerates enemy health by 1% every second for 3 seconds, refreshed by new applications but not stacking. However, it increases player cooldown reduction by 100% for 5 seconds. Cooldown reduction durations do not refresh, but their timers stack.
- Developer’s Note: Another situation that grows more dangerous as keys scale. The healing is completely manageable by killing mobs in quick succession or by using wound poison, for example. Additionally, it’s nothing like sanguine in the sense that it has a low duration and no area-of-denial, and it’s an affix where specs that can funnel will shine a little brighter.
Level 10 affix:
- Tyrannical Price: For the duration of a boss encounter, your highest secondary stat is increased by 20%. If mastery is your highest secondary stat, X mastery will be given. However, bosses and their minions deal 15% increased damage.
- Developer’s Note: This is an affix where I took a piece of tyrannical and paired it with a kiss. For some it will act as a budget lust, for others it will act as harder hitting finishers.
- Fortified Price: Non-boss mobs deal 20% increased damage, but take 10% increased damage.
- Developer’s Note: A simple example of a kiss/curse. I took an aspect of fortified and paired it with a kiss.
Above, you’ll notice I play a lot with the ideas of damage based on maximum health as well as cooldown reduction. Damage based on maximum health prevents affixes from overscaling the higher a dungeon goes. It will become more difficult with key scaling, but it won’t be unreasonable. I also love the idea of cooldown reduction, courtesy of Uhr, and I think it would make mythic+ a more unique experience. We deal with our base cooldowns during raids, but there is no reason for us to continue doing so in dungeons.
While I love the idea of kiss/curse over what we have now, let’s not act like changing affixes is the only path ahead. What’s another option?
A potential philosophy alternative~ modifiers:
If, for whatever reason, it is decided that the way Blizzard has approached affixes is no longer the answer, a new thing they could adopt is the concept of modifiers. The closest things we have now to a ‘modifier’ rather than an affix are tyrannical and fortified—blanket buffs for mobs without any intricate effects. These are genuinely okay for mythic+, and if Blizzard were to abandon the current philosophy of affixes then more modifiers like the two above are the way to go. However, the catch here is that they cannot be solely negative. Positive modifiers must be mixed in.
The great thing about changing affixes to modifiers is that modifiers are inherently more simplistic than its predecessor. Coming up with them is significantly easier and takes less creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, yet the effects will still be palpable within any dungeon setting. If we were to follow the original model of how affixes were attached to key levels, then it would make sense for the current +10 key (the lovely portal-giver) to have two modifiers on top of tyrannical or fortified. That being said, like in the affix discussion, let’s remove tyrannical and fortified from the rotation.
Assuming we remove tyrannical and fortified as they are now, an example of how a week of modifiers would look is this~ for a +10, a dungeon will have a negative modifier, a positive output modifier (damage, healing, mitigation, whatever), and a positive utility modifier. It would be a considerably easier task to mix and match modifiers in new ways every X amount of weeks than it is to do so with the concept of affixes we’ve had until now.
For the remainder of this post, please take note that my thoughts are in their infancy on the matter. As this philosophy has not been implemented in any real form, the most I can do is theorize how it could look. Now, let’s continue.
Modifier suggestions:
Level 4 modifier (utility):
- Flow State: When an enemy is killed, gain 5% movement speed for 20 seconds. This effect both stacks and refreshes its duration, up to an additional 60% movement speed.
- Developer’s Note: This modifier will be a boon for slow classes like death knight or paladin. It will help tanks gather packs, help groups move from one pack to the next, and help players dodge mechanics. It also allows creativity with how some groups, organized or not, will pull. Will you chain kills together to keep the buff up, or will you just take advantage of it between pulls?
- Iron Will: Every 20 seconds, you are granted an absorb shield for 10% of your maximum health. This effect stacks up to 3 times.
- Developer’s Note: This lovely modifier will be helpful for everyone in the party. It eases the burden off healers while giving tanks and damage dealers a little breathing room for mechanics. The cherry on top? Depending on the run back after a death or wipe, you can make the first mechanic of a trash mob or boss encounter easier to deal with.
- Hidden Wards: During combat, you gain 5% of all tertiary stats. When combat ends, you gain stealth for 15 seconds.
- Developer’s Note: While 5% tertiary is not extremely impactful, any of them can be the difference between life and death. All of them combined will help with gathering packs, saving the healer some work, or even surviving something that would have otherwise killed you. The stealth given after combat ends will allow groups to be more creative with their routes without requiring a blanket invis like shroud or invis pots.
- Unforeseen Aid: Every 20 seconds, gain 12% of two random tertiary stats for 10 seconds.
- Developer’s Note: With this modifier, players will get the tertiary stats they can’t easily grind for. Proccing leech or avoidance during combat, whether it be a trash pack or a boss encounter, will always be helpful. Proccing speed, while not necessarily as useful during combat, will be helpful for gathering packs, making it to a kick as a melee, or running to the next pack or boss encounter. All tertiaries have uses.
Level 7 modifier (output):
- Lottery Ticket: Every 60 seconds, gain 20% of your highest secondary stat for 15 seconds. If your highest secondary stat is mastery, instead gain X amount of mastery. Both the timer for this effect and the duration of the effect itself pause outside of combat.
- Developer’s Note: Lottery Ticket will have different impacts for different specs, and I think that’s great. Some specs will have more powerful finishing abilities, while others will get a budget lust.
- Unified Front: During combat, gain 25% cooldown reduction when standing within 10 yards of another player.
- Developer’s Note: This is a simple modifier to take advantage of—one that rewards players for being aware of their surroundings. Encouraging players to move a bit for cooldown reduction is a worthy trade in my book.
- Gale Winds: Your body swells with the spirit of wind. Cooldown reduction increases by 1% every 1 second for 20 seconds, diminishing at the same rate over the next 20 seconds. This cycle endlessly repeats itself.
- Developer’s Note: The “Incanter’s Flow” talent in the mage tree inspired this modifier. I will always love the concept of blanket cooldown reduction as it makes gameplay feel more smooth, and I think a buff that works even when you die and release will simply feel good to play with.
- Ignition Chamber: Store 5% of the damage you deal to your primary target in a chamber over 30 seconds. After 30 seconds have passed, ignite your chamber, dealing all of the damage stored split between enemies within 5 yards of your target. Both the timer for this effect and the duration of the effect itself pause outside of combat.
- Developer’s Note: I love this one. It rewards players using their cooldowns to essentially release a nuke at the end of the timer. It can be gamed to activate during certain dangerous packs, providing much-needed aid, or it can provide decent boosts in damage if not played around. It also allows specs with better funnel capabilities to shine.
- Consecutive Strikes: (Output) Whenever an enemy is killed, deal 2% increased damage for 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times. Subsequent kills refresh the duration.
- Developer’s Note: It’s a simple modifier, but has tons of potential for use. Do you want to chain packs together to keep up the buff for as long as possible? Perhaps you want to chain packs into a boss to get as much damage out with the buff as possible. Or, even if you don’t game it in any form, you will still get a solid damage boost for your opener on the next pack of mobs.
Level 10 modifier (negative):
- Sweeping Bulwark: (Negative) Enemies gain a 5% absorb shield while stunned. This modifier does not apply to disorients.
- Developer’s Note: This modifier gives groups without heavy crowd control a benefit while giving a slap on the wrist for the groups with absurd crowd control potential. A 5% absorb shield is not major, but over the course of a stun rotation it will certainly increase the time sunk into the pack. Despite that, it pairs well with the level 7 modifiers. With all that said, keep in mind that a world with these modifiers cannot be imagined with the way we play the game right now. It would be horrid if it were to be implemented alone into the game as is next season, but with this would come everything else in this section.
- Isolation Protocol: (Negative) After two seconds of being more than 15 yards from another player, deal 10% reduced damage. Isolation Protocol is lifted from a player when they come within 15 yards of another.
- Developer’s Note: This modifier encourages players to be aware of their surroundings. It will undoubtedly be more impactful in unorganized groups, but can still cause issues in organized groups if a pull goes awry.
- Prolonged Contact: (Negative) Enemies gain 2% damage every 5 seconds in combat, stacking up to 10 times. This effect is not applied during boss encounters.
- Developer’s Note: Taking a page from fortified, a pack will get progressively more difficult as time passes. It caps out at 50 seconds making the end of a pack much more dangerous than the beginning. The quicker you eliminate lower health mobs, the easier this modifier will be. Although, it’s important to note that, at max stacks, this modifier will be akin to fortified when it comes to damage output.
- Berserking Might: (Negative) Enemies more than 8 yards from a player gain Berserking Might, increasing their damage and casting speed by 15%. Enemies within 8 yards of a player pulse damage equal to 0.25% of each player’s maximum health every 2 seconds. This effect stacks per enemy, but does not apply to bosses.
- Developer’s Note: The first half of this modifier encourages players to use their kick button, something too many don’t do to this day. The second half becomes more impactful the larger the pull size. For example, a pull size of 8 enemies will be dealing 2% of a player’s maximum health as damage every 2 seconds.
In conclusion, modifiers are something that can turn out to be a wonderful alternative to affixes as we know them now. They are simplistic and provide engaging buffs that we don’t have now. Gone would be the days that we deal with solely punishing affixes that sap the fun out of dungeons, and the ability of unorganized groups to time keys will naturally increase. I know there are many players who avoid group finder like the plague, and something like this would make the experience much less frustrating and all the more enjoyable. The highest keys timed will almost certainly go up, but it will allow a more solid path of progression from one key to the next. For anyone that is worried about too many people timing high keys, keep in mind that there will always be a differentiation between the good and the great.
Final Thoughts:
In the past, I used to love running keys. Whether it was pushing as high as I could go or running dungeons for fun, I enjoyed all of it. But as time went on, and dungeons became more difficult alongside dull, punishing affixes, mythic+ grew stale for me. I, like most others, enjoy being rewarded for how I play, and modifiers or kiss/curse affixes would do just that. I dislike having specific weeks I avoid because I no longer run with a group and it would be a nightmare to join group finder. I dislike having specific push weeks I need to dump my time into. That’s why I’ve spent the time and effort in creating this forum post. That’s why I’ve come up with my own solutions, even if they aren’t even close to perfect. I just want to enjoy my time playing the game, and that means I want to enjoy more parts of WoW. After all, why put time into something if you aren’t going to enjoy it?
Edit Log: Changed values of certain affixes/modifiers. Slightly changed the names of two section titles.