The Weekly Route Series showcases Mythic+ strategies that are tailored towards the Beginner and Intermediate levels of Mythic+ with the following criteria in mind:

• Easy to execute - particularly in pick-up-groups (PUGs)
  
• Good tradeoffs between skipping the most difficult enemy forces while not requiring overly complicated strategies or “tech” to do so

This week, the affixes are Fortified, Volcanic, and Spiteful.

During a Fortified week, the combination of Volcanic and Spiteful affixes becomes easier to deal with compared to other affixes; these two affixes do not scale in difficulty with the key level after 20, making the week an "easy push" in terms of completing dungeons within the timer.

If you need a refresher on the affixes, be sure to check out our affixes guide!

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Do you have a tip or trick to add to our Weekly Route series? Did you discover the next big skip for a RIO Snapshot video? We want to hear about it! Find us on Twitter or join us in Discord to provide feedback.

Read on to import our Weekly Routes with pull-specific notes, tips, and recommended Bloodlust Timings!

Table of Contents

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ATAL’DAZAR

When blasting bigger AOE pulls, be mindful of Spiteful spawns, especially given some of the particularly nasty Fortified mobs in this dungeon. Be especially wary of the Reanimated Honor Guard and Zanchuli Witch Doctor pulls on the way to Vol’kaal, which deal a lot of high group damage.

Want to keep your group safe from Fortified Dazar’ai Juggernaut’s Merciless Assaults? Watch our RIO Snapshot to learn some clever tips for avoiding this particularly devastating charge mechanic:

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BLACK ROOK HOLD

Make sure you are frequently using your personals or defensives on trash pulls this week, as Black Rook Hold’s trash is notoriously painful!

This dungeon houses an abundance of narrow hallways, and many trash mobs have frontals and ground effects, so watch your feet and position carefully. Be especially careful of the following dangerous abilities:

• Arcane Minions’ Phased Explosion
  
• Risen Archer’s Arrow Barrage
  
• Soul-Torn Champion’s Bonebreaking Strike
  
• Risen Lancer’s Raven’s Dive

When Spiteful spawns, try to run further into the dungeon to avoid backtracking and trapping yourself in a corner away from your group. Always be moving into the dungeon, towards the next pack.

Easily burn down the first boss, Amalgam of Souls with this cool trick from our RIO Snapshots:



Do you want to learn where to pop your defensives on the final boss, Lord Kur’talos Ravencrest? Study up with our RIO Snapshot on the subject:

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DARKHEART THICKET

Some groups utilize an invisibility potion for their Darkheart route. The double Festerhide Grizzly pack before the first boss is super scary with Fortified, as there is a high chance that you will have a bad overlap on double Maddening Roars, so some groups may prefer to take a shortcut around them. If you’d prefer to avoid these nasty bears, check out the clip below to see the skip in action (REMEMBER to dismiss pets):



On Fortified weeks, the Rotheart Keepers between first and second boss always cause havoc with their Vile Mushrooms. Be sure to focus damage into the Keepers and give yourself plenty of space and time to dodge Spiteful and Volcanic in addition to Fortified Mushroom explosions.

Shade of Xavius is a chaotic and punishing fight even on Fortified. After 50%, do your healer a favor and rotate personal defensives or immunities if you are targeted with Feed on the Weak. This is a channeled spell that can become more challenging to heal as the fight progresses and your healer needs to move out of Apocalyptic Fire puddle or stack with the group for Waking Nightmare. Be aware of your surroundings and ready to dodge Volcanic at any moment, as being knocked in the air into a fire puddle will almost certainly spell death.

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DAWN OF THE INFINITE: GALAKROND’S FALL

Make sure you are frequently using your personals or defensives on trash pulls this week, as the majority of this dungeon’s trash is extremely painful on Fortified.

Ask your group before the key if you are using an invisibility potion at the beginning or on the way to the last boss. This way you will be able to plan the use of your throughput potions properly.

Note that the trash in the Manifested Timeways room is extremely difficult for healers, with several demanding priority dispels; Fortified will make these mobs that much more dangerous this week. Have your interrupts, personal defensives, and any supportive party cooldowns (like Rallying Cry) ready for this particularly stressful room! When blasting massive AOE, be mindful of Spiteful spawns, as a long-armed, ghostly melee hit can mean lights out if you are also targeted with a Coalesced Moment’s Tainted Sands or Timestream Anomaly’s Bloom. Bloom will always go on one DPS and the tank. Healers should be ready to dispel the DPS affected by Bloom immediately!

To help your group get through this nasty Manifested Timeways trash cleanly, do your homework with our RIO Snapshot on the subject:



In order to skip the single Infinite Infiltrator on the way to Blight of Galakrond, check out this RIO Snapshot:



If your group has a Rogue & Distract, a Hunter, or Shadowmeld, you’ll have a few extra tricks to use to get around this Infinite Infiltrator.

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DAWN OF THE INFINITE: MUROZOND’S RISE

Murozond’s Rise has a deceptively standard and straightforward route, but during Fortified, any frontals or missed interrupts can be deadly! If you play slow and steady, you’ll find this dungeon to have a generous timer.

Before Tyr, there are three mini bosses: Valow, Timesworn Keeper, Lerai, Timesworn Maiden, and Spurlok, Timesworn Sentinel. You must defeat all three mini bosses to trigger the boss’ 30 second RP event. If you are pushing keys, remember to focus-fire these named mobs to progress the time-gated event quickly.

Taking advantage of Lerai’s boomerang Orb of Contemplation can really help your healer out this week! Take a peek at our RIO Snapshot to learn how to make use of Lerai’s orb to handle the remaining trash in this room with a quickness:



The trash before the Time-Lost Battlefield boss, Alliance Destroyers, are scary on Fortified with their Volatile Mortar. If you find yourself targeted by Volatile Mortar, face the Destroyer and hold down the 'S' key to move backward slowly. Keep walking backwards in a straight line away from the Destroyer and make sure to move backwards into the center of the room to avoid hitting a wall. By following these steps, you can effectively handle the Volatile Mortar fixate without feeling overwhelmed by this stressful room!

To save time with some of Chromie’s excessive RP this week, check out our RIO Snapshot:

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THE EVERBLOOM

Everbloom has some of the nastiest trash out there, so trash-buffing affixes like Fortified and Spiteful can be terrifying! Bring your health potions and be on point with your defensives during the many massive, dangerous trash pulls.

There are a lot of enemy forces in Everbloom, so we will need to take advantage of a wall hug to skip some trash near the second boss. No special tricks or abilities are required; all you need to do is walk your character into the wall and slowly inch your way towards the other side of the room. This skip is marked with a gold exclamation point (!) on our weekly route. Check out the clip below to see this skip in action:



Given that it is a Fortified week, you may want to plan ahead and skip some of the worst trash pulls on the way to Ancient Protectors. Check out our RIO Snapshot to see how:



If you’re looking to give yourself a little extra time in this key, take a peek at our RIO Snapshot to learn how to skip the final bit of RP before Yalnu:

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THRONE OF THE TIDES

While this may be an unpopular opinion, plan to do smaller pulls through Throne of the Tides. There are loads of frontals and punishing mechanics from the trash mobs as well as the mini bosses, which makes this dungeon a dangerous one on Fortified. It's better to handle multiple smaller pulls successfully than to constantly run back one by one. DPS must be extremely aware of Spiteful spawns, because the healer may not be able to save you if they need to triage a single dungeon ability or use critical throughput CDs to heal through the Naz’jar Sentinel’s deadly Crushing Depths debuff.

Take a look at Roiben’s sketch below to help manage Lady Naz'jar’s Focused Tempest:



TL;DR: Make certain that the group organizes into a diamond surrounding the boss/tank. Every player needs to be spaced evenly, taking up positions at the corners, and keeping the tank as the closest player to anyone positioned along the perimeter.

For some quick tips on handling Ozumat, take a peek at our RIO Snapshot:

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WAYCREST MANOR

We love Waycrest for the big pulls, but be careful to avoid pulling too many enemies with smaller health pools, such as Gorestained Piglets, that can spawn Spiteful and interrupt your huge dps windows!

Waycrest hosts a variety of narrow hallways and a handful of particularly dangerous frontals and ground effects, so plan your positioning carefully! Mobs and casts of note include the following:

• Banquet Steward’s Dinner Bell
  
• Bewitched Captain’s Shadow Cleave
  
• Pallid Gorger’s Retch
  
• Thornguard’s Shatter

When Spiteful spawns, try to run further into the dungeon to avoid backtracking. Always be moving towards the next pack!

Would you like to master the final boss, Gorak Tul? Check out our quick RIO Snapshot for the specifics:

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Links

• The Weekly Route Series
  
• The Play Like the Pros Series
  
• Learn about the Raider.IO Auto Route Creator
  
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• Download the Raider.IO Client
  
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