Cannot push mythic+15s - what am I doing wrong?

Hey. I thought I’d post here since I realised I must be doing something fundamentally wrong this season. So, I’ve been trying to get Keystone Master as I really liked that elemental mount. At first my progression did not go bad – I went from +6s, to +10s and then eventually to 13-14s without much issue. However, even after having done more than half the dungeons on +14 and repeatedly pushing my own key, I cannot make the move over to timing anything +15 and above.

The push I do is with a set disc priest healer and the rest of the team is pugged, different every time. This week, we’ve fallen into the pattern of completing (sometimes even 2-chesting!) a 14, getting a new key out of that, gathering a group and then falling back down because the group either fell apart before the first boss or we simply did not time it. That keeps happening over and over again, and is starting to feel a little bit frustrating.

What’re we possibly doing wrong? I am doing competitive damage on my mage and have been significantly out-dpsing our pugs in every single run, I use my utility where I can, I do not die to stupid mistakes. How can I jump over the milestone that is mythic+15 and above?

https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports/CxjdwctrQKLF4WvX#fight=2&type=summary - there’s a log from one of my runs. None of the others were logged, but if someone could point anything I or the priest have messed up in this one, that’d be appreciated.

Communication. What really starts to matter on higher keys is communicating with your team. Which you don’t get to do with pugs.

Find a full team, or a guild.

It’s quite difficult to pinpoint what’s the main issue from your post (since you only provided one log, and didn’t state which dungeons you 2 chest (apart from HOA - the easiest one by far together with MISTS, and which 15s you failed).

The multiplier difference from a 14 to 15 is pretty non-existent if so. Ok if you struggle really hard with a 14, there is no way you will do 15, but if you for example 2 chest a +14, there is no way a +15 will massacre you.

There is one thing however, that comes to mind. The dungeon balance this expansion is so off, that it’s actually crazy. The last time this happened, was in Legion, when Upper and Lower Kara were made M+ in 7.2.5, alongside with Cathedral dungeon being overtuned as hell. The weeks on tyrannical are generally way overtuned, and only a few dungeons are viable for ‘non MDI groups’. Plaguefall, Necrotic Wake, Sanguine Depths, De other Side, Theater of Pain are insane on +13,14,15 keys on tyrranical. The bosses require near perfect execution, and atleast 5k+ dps. The knowledge of the routes is also important, so you get the prideful add right before the boss. I can’t even imagine killing some bosses on tyrannical without this (Ventunax SOA, all Plaguefall bosses, all TOP bosses, SD Executor and 1st boss, Hakkar & Manastorms in DOS and so on…)

On the other hand, fortified weeks make Spires of Ascension a pure nightmare. The trash there is so overtuned, that it’s crazy. Sanguine Depths aswell, but not so difficult as SOA imo.

Other than that, I don’t see any major reasons why you complete a +14, and miserably fail a +15.

Bad luck probably. Maybe need to play more keys per day.

From your description, the only thing YOU can do, is find a set group (guild, friends, communities, people you did keys with who did well who you can add on bnet) and be on voice. Or maybe be more critical who you invite with the help of Rio but I’m sure I’ll get burned on a stake for suggesting that.
Outside of that, it’s up to the other people in your group. Doesn’t matter if you do good damage, use utility and don’t die when Jimmy over there dies to every ground mechanic and does one third of the dps he should be doing.

You seem to be doing above the pug average by a quite large margin, I wouldn’t be too disappointed seeing a fire mage with that DPS in a group of mine. This is already a good sign. I think you just need to be persistent. Good playing will be rewarded eventually.

Since you are doing your own keys, picking people who have completed that dungeon above a +15 is usually a good method, or who have an unusual high score (for now, I think +1.5k is good enough). Yes, you do need to bring overqualified people. And if they have no score to gain from your run, it’s likely they’re just running a weekly, so there’s little pressure on them to perform that amazing as well. Generally you’ll do a 15 in time if you’re not wiping.

Lastly, let me tell you a little story. My friends and I pugged a +15 recently (well, there was 3 of us, 2 dps and 1 healer) and we almost depleted that key. It was a mists +15. All three of us are above 1.5k score, yet we almost failed. You cannot always be successful. I think a lack of communication makes dungeons already a lot harder, and the tank is in a very critical role as well. Since you always pug a tank, make sure to apply everything I’ve said tenfold when picking one: this can sometimes be difficult, but try your best. They’re your biggest asset and weakness at the same time.

2 Likes

Use a proper route and perhaps get on discord with the group.
Also, never run double mage. :face_with_monocle:

You should probably run a guild or friend team. Also team buffs do tend to matter so taking the warrior, mage, priest, and (some times druid) buffs can actually ironically help. But with pubs it’s a bad idea since people usually won’t run flask, oils, food. As petty as it sounds, I have indeed found out re-fooding after a death can make a difference in the long run, also personal hot spot, take battle pots. I used unbridled fury with my sharp stones (since I wasn’t spending 1k for 9±10 keys in battle pots.) and it made a big difference on bosses, the additional 20-30k damage can help. So if your pugging honestly any key, you should enforce that and route checking. Haven’t gotten above a +11 myself, but having those even with a trash comp in my opinion has made us usually in time it with a bit to go.

Don’t try it in PUGs cause blizzard killed pugs xD find 4 people go to DS easy win GG bye

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