For years, Mythic+ has dominated the end-game landscape in WoW. It is an esports-inspired dungeon system built on timers, third-party scoring, and min-maxing group compositions. While it did reward coordination to a degree, it also fostered burnout, toxicity, gatekeeping, and a meta so rigid it alienated casual and solo players. In other words, if you weren’t running Mythic+, you were irrelevant. The War Within changed that completely.
Delves: Scalable, Solo-Friendly, and Stress-Free
Delves are Blizzard’s boldest shift in endgame design since the introduction of Mythic+ in Legion. Not only is it a new endgame pillar (replacing PvP in the Great Vault), but they are scalable, replayable instanced content that you can run solo, with a friend, or even in a small group. There’s no key to manage, no timer to stress you out, and no strangers leaving after a single wipe.
Delves are tuned to scale with you. If you want to take it slow and focus on the Delve’s unique story, you can absolutely do that. If you’re just learning a new class or spec, Delves are the perfect place. What about a challenge at higher tiers? That’s there too. The best part is, the system doesn’t punish you for how you play. Sure, there are lives to manage, but that’s a lot less stressful than being screamed at for missing a single interrupt in Mythic+.
Gear Without the Mythic+ Gatekeeping
One of the most frustrating aspects of WoW has been the “raid-or-die” or rather, “raid-M+-or die” loop. Even though world quests and open-world content exists, their rewards cap out early. Delves are the answer to that issue.
In The War Within, you can get gear that’s on par with with Heroic raid content through Delves alone. If you don’t want to deal with finding a group or the chaos of Mythic+, you don’t have to any longer. Delves give solo and small-group players a very rewarding path to progression.
You’re Not Alone After All!
In The War Within, Brann Bronzebeard accompanies you on your Delving journey! He is customisable and upgradable, which adds a layer of depth for solo players who want more than just filler. It opens up class synergy experimentation without feeling as though they are the subject of a performance review.
Having played Delves extensively during The War Within, I can say it is engaging and extremely flexible. It leans into what made WoW enjoyable in the first place.
A Counter to the Mythic+ Culture Problem
To be completely honest, Mythic+ has become toxic in many corners of the community. There’s the pressure to perform, the near constant rage-quits in PuGs, the obsession with Mythic+ scores. All it does is turn something fun into a job interview. Blizzard has noticed, and they are finally responding.
Blizzard has already announced gameplay suspensions for players who repeatedly leave Mythic+ groups a “great many times” in The War Within Season 1. In addition, Mythic raid level loot is gone from Mythic+.
Delves are straightforward! All you have to do is login, go to one of many Delves within Khaz Algar, select your difficulty, and go! No spreadsheets, no job applications, and certainly no performance reviews.
Looking Forward
Although Delves aren’t replacing Mythic+, they are there to finally offer a meaningful alternative for solo and small group players. They give players a way to progress without all of the unnecessary stress. For players burned out on keystones or excluded by elitism, Delves are certainly a breath of fresh air. One that WoW desperately needed.
