This week’s affixes are Fortified, Sanguine, Grievous, and Awakened.

This is one of the better weeks on the calendar for pushing high keys, but it’s not without its drawbacks and for many groups the affixes will be quite frustrating. Sanguine is a technically challenging affix, especially in the more confined dungeons, but its impact can be minimized by a well coordinated group and a skilled tank. Grievous adds a serious amount of healing required to the dungeon, and Sanguine adds dozens of ways to start stacking that bleed on unaware group members.

The biggest adjustment you can make this week is to go a little lighter on Corruption - Grievous punishes players who take damage from effects like Eye of Corruption, AND the extra damage instances will cause more Things from Beyond to spawn, so unless you are confident you should try to play below 40.

Atal'Dazar [back to top]

Sanguine means much of the benefit from “snapping” enemies disappears, so be ready to fight packs the old fashioned way, or snap them and then take them off the snap spot as they get low. Grievous is challenging when fighting Saurids and Vol’kaal.

Read more on Atal’Dazar Dungeon Abilities.

Freehold [back to top]

It’s a fantastic Freehold week, as it’s a Fortified week and a Eudora-friendly week, trivializing an otherwise tough boss fight. Grievous shouldn’t increase the lethality of too much here, though Sanguine can be a problem if you fail to plan for it while fighting packs that include Harpooners. We’d recommend fighting an Awakened enemy with the last boss - just try to finish it off before pushing into phase two.

Read more on Freehold Dungeon Abilities.

Kings' Rest [back to top]

Kings’ Rest brings a number of challenges this week. Grievous is tough in many of the boss fights, and Grievous+Fortified Shadow of Zul is a huge test of your group’s numbers. Saving Bloodlust for that might be necessary, though that can make for an awkward inability to lust much else in the second half of the dungeon.

Read more on Kings’ Rest Dungeon Abilities.

Shrine of the Storm [back to top]

Both Grievous and Sanguine are tricky Shrine affixes, but they can be managed. One trick during the second boss fight is that the Reinforcing Ward will reset your stacks of Grievous when you step inside it. This can be useful if a cast gets through or someone gets hit by a tornado!

Read more on Shrine of the Storm Dungeon Abilities.

Siege of Boralus [back to top]

Our Siege of Boralus route is based off the Horde pathing and will require some modification if you’re Alliance.

Sanguine is a very painful affix in this dungeon, though you can also use it to your benefit and heal up an Ashvane Spotter if you intend to use it to help kill the rest of the dungeon. Be warned, however, that if you’re planning to use a strategy that includes a spotter staying alive for a long time, Grievous will tax your healer’s mana pool substantially more than normal!
Read more on Siege of Boralus Dungeon Abilities.

Temple of Sethraliss [back to top]

Most of this dungeon is fantastic this week - the big challenge is Grievous Galvazzt as a healing throughput check, followed by the last boss which is perhaps slightly less difficult but can still easily run a healer out of mana if they’re not being careful.

Read more on Temple of Sethraliss Dungeon Abilities.

The MOTHERLODE!! [back to top]

Sanguine can be problematic if your tank isn’t thinking a few seconds in the future - Mechanized Peacekeepers have a nasty habit of planting themselves for several seconds while casting a sequence of abilities, and if there are other enemies dying before them, as they often do, this can lead to a lot of Sanguine healing. Proactive movement from tanks can keep this to a minimum, but it’s still less of a good week in this dungeon than it is in most of the others.

Read more on The MOTHERLODE!! Dungeon Abilities.

The Underrot [back to top]

It’s a good week for The Underrot, as usual. Grievous will be the operative affix, during trash pulls and bosses, especially during Cragmaw’s Tantrum.

Read more on The Underrot Dungeon Abilities.

Tol Dagor [back to top]

Tol Dagor is a big challenge this week. Sanguine in the tight corridors can easily be lethal or a massive time sink, and Sanguine in the cannon section can also be a huge problem if you don’t have an expert cannoneer. If you’re looking good on the timer as you get to the cannons, you may want to use them very conservatively and not attempt to take out more than a few enemies with each cannon. Grievous Overseer Korgus is a healing check - though this can be made a lot easier with good communication and staggering of defensives and Abyssal Healing Potions.

Read more on Tol Dagor Dungeon Abilities.

Waycrest Manor [back to top]

Sanguine in the tight corridors of this dungeon is a pain - we’d advise pulling enemies back to the closest open area and fighting them there. Whatever you do, make sure not to kill enemies in space that you’ll want to use during boss fights in the near future! Grievous can also be a huge problem in almost all of the boss fights, but especially the Heartsbane Triad - saving bloodlust for that boss fight is a very good idea.

Read more on Waycrest Manor Dungeon Abilities.

Mechagon Junkyard [back to top]

Finding early Shock Bots is the name of the game here - so as long as the hard mode enemy prevents you from executing the route below, you can use it to get four of those robots by the second pull. If you have a player with a vanish effect, they can even venture into the tunnels before you pull anything and pick up two robots down there before dropping combat.

Read more on Operation: Mechagon Dungeon Abilities.

Mechagon Workshop [back to top]

One tip for this dungeon on Fortified is that one of your best Bloodlusts is actually the triple Defense Bot pull in the gauntlet after K.U.-J.O - so if you find yourself there with the ability off cooldown, hit it! That gauntlet is also a tricky Sanguine area - try to kill stuff near the edges of the room and away from the spawn points of future waves.

Read more on Operation: Mechagon Dungeon Abilities.