Hi everyone!
I wanted to share my experience during this season as a casual player and explain why it’s come to an end for me.
Background
I’ve been playing this game since 2006, but I only jumped on the m+ train as a healer during Season 1 of Shadowlands. Since then, I’ve managed to achieve all KSMs during Shadowlands and all KSHs during Dragonflight. It’s worth mentioning that I’m a pug healer, meaning I’ve never had a dedicated group to consistently play with. My usual goal each season is to reach KSH, but that’s no longer the case this season.
Season Overview
This season was expected to be the longest, as it’s the first of the expansion. Typically, I wrap up Season 1 within about 2-3 months after launch (as I did in both Shadowlands and Dragonflight). However, this season 1 ended after only 6 weeks. The main reason behind this is gear progression that led to a chain of problems. Let me tell you my experience so far:
Week 0: The Start of the Season
The first thing I want to point out is M0 during the first week of the season. I didn’t understand the point of doing M0 when delves simply provided better gear. The only reason to do M0 was if you were targeting specific trinkets. Allowing players to obtain good gear (or power) from delves was a great idea. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed doing delves despite the poor scaling, but I also wanted to learn the dungeons. I tried pulling one of my friends into an M0 to at least learn the damage patterns, but he refused, stating: “Why should we? Let’s do delves for better, they give better items. We’ll do them when m+ releases.” I did however noticed after m+ launched that most players didn’t know what they were supposed to do—much more so than in previous releases. I can also say the same about myself; I was caught off guard multiple times when my heals weren’t properly set.
Week 1: Struggling to Progress
When Season 1 started, I already had an item level of 608. My thought was: “What the hell? Can I directly go for 9s or even 10s?” Of course not; I was barely able to do some 6s.
Most dungeon difficulties seemed similar to Ruby Life Pools or Sanguine Depths at launch until I got into City of Threads (Boy ohh Boy… was not expecting that 
). After breaking some keys during the first day, I was left thinking: “These dungeons are extremely hard. I need to get more powerful, but how?” I was already fully equipped with champion delve gear (603-606). M+ 6s drop 606, so the only option was to gear up from 7s. I decided the easiest thing to do was to farm a couple of 7s and push my gear from there—maybe Tirna Scythe since it’s easier.
Everyone who posted a 7 key was scrutinizing players meticulously. If you didn’t finish Tirna 7 with at least 7+++ or 8++ and had at least 615 item level, you were automatically rejected.
It seemed like players were overprotective of their keys and only invited those who had already outgrown that key level and were farming specific items.
In my case, Tirna was targeted by many players, almost all looking for Unbound Changeling. Long story short: It was impossible to join a group for 7s unless you were already overgeared for the specific content.
I even had to create a group for Tirna 7. The desperation took me by surprise; many applicants were pleading to join or even insulting me, saying things like, “Why are you taking that tank, idiot!? You already have two paladins.” or “Take me or you will regret. Main is 2,6k rio” etc.
I decided to do some 4s-6s Mythic+ runs to cap crests and earn some Rio, making it easier to join groups the following week. I ended the week with all hero rewards in the vault available, capped crests, and a little over 2k rating. (had a friend who invited me in a couple of 7s, or else i coulden’t have reached this rio).
Week 2: Disappointment in Rewards
Big disappointment in the vault… again. There were no tier sets, only hero gear on slots already equipped with hero gear from Delver’s Bounty rewards. My new item level after doing everything post-reset was 612. I was already behind, which is a first since playing m+.
Most players already had 4 tier sets, while I only had the 2k rio token, which I hadn’t yet exchanged.
It was getting harder and harder to join some groups, and the possibilities to gear up were very limited.
Most of my slots were 610, so getting gear from m+ was not an option.
Capping crests was easily achievable (90 crests per week / 12 per run).
This week, I was least motivated to play, so I only maxed out the rewards in the vault and waited for the week to end.
Week 3: Hitting a Dead End
Finally, a tier piece dropped. I obtained:
2 catalyst charges
1 token
1 tier piece from the vault
My new item level was 615, and my Rio was around 2150. I thought, “Yeees, now we can push.” Spoiler Alert: it did not work out as planned
I decided to push Grim Batol or Stonevault since I hadn’t touched them since the first day of the season. I started applying to groups repeatedly. After about two hours, I received an invite into Stonevault 8, which ended in disaster. The next day i kept looking for a group for Grim Batol but after three hours of applying to all groups (6-8), I closed the game. This never happened in my life. Usual average wait time for me to join a group was a couple of minutes.
The next day, I tried again with the same result.
I decided to look for a 9, but received no invitations.
I successfully completed a smooth Tirna 8++ , considering it easily accessible, yet I didn’t receive any invites for 9s.
Even tried whispering group leaders, but most ignored me or said they were looking for better players (620+ item level, 2400 Rio, etc.).
They were actually seeking players who regularly do 11s and 12s, likely farming big crests or specific items.
I applied for a 7 and was instantly accepted because I had timed it at 8++ with a 615 item level as a healer, which was good. Other applicants below 615 were instantly refused by the leader. However, since I already had the gear I needed for 7 or 8, there was no point in doing them as nothing would be a direct upgrade. I needed 9s to start upgrading, but 9s felt too far away from 8s.
At this moment, I have a few options:
- Get Friends – Not an option for me. I just want to plug and play, not to make friends…
- Wait Until Blizzard Removes the Crest Cap – Maybe after reaching 619, I could apply for 9s and maybe get accepted.
- Wait Several Weeks to Upgrade Gear – Continue farming +90 crests each week until I have sufficient gear and stop getting rejected.
- Push My Own Key – I don’t want to push my own key because it feels bad to break a key and then have to push a lower key I don’t need. Plus, getting a high key for an unwanted or too hard dungeon can be infuriating.
- Apply Relentlessly to All Tirna 9s – Hope to get invited and farm until I improve my item level. (already tested, not worth my time)
- Quit
Final Thoughts
At this point, I no longer feel excitement for pushing because there are too many barriers to entry and progression issues involved. Out of the eight seasons I’ve played, this is the first where I felt progression was on par with mobile game standards. (that’s the reason I’ve decided to post here)
I personally think if the bigger crests were rewarded at key levels 7s or even 8s (with hero gear at 6s), it would have smoothed out progression and made me more inclined to play.
Compared to previous seasons, the big crest rewards are much harder to obtain than ever before.
Combined with the overprotective attitude of most towards their keys (rightfully justified to some degree) of the player base and the high difficulty of dungeons, this results in high toxicity and gatekeeping at certain key levels (7s, 9s, 11s, etc.).
I’ve enjoyed this expansion so far, and I’d be perfectly fine ending the season here, don’t get me wrong. However, at this point, it’s simply not worth the effort or time for me to keep pushing.
I would love to hear your opinions on this!
Thank you for reading!