Mythic Amirdrassil: A Challenging Raid with One-Shot Wipes

Written by WowCarry

The Challenging Journey of Mythic Amidrassil: A Week 9 Update

As we delve deeper into the Mythic Amidrassil raid in Week 9, the Hall of Fame remains surprisingly empty. With numerous one-shot raid wipe mechanics, it seems that this tier is proving to be a challenging endeavor for guilds. Let's take a look at the current statistics of Week 9 kills and compare them to previous raids in the Dragonflight expansion.

Dragonflight: Amidrassil

Within the timeframe of November 14th to January 10th, we find ourselves in Week 9 of the Amidrassil patch. Examining the current kill count as of 10:00 AM PT, we see the following:

• Fyrakk - 97 kills
• Tindral - 211 kills
• Smolderon - 974 kills (6/9)
• Nymue - 2,088 kills
• Larodar - 2,022 kills

It is evident that there is a significant drop-off in kills between these bosses:

• Around 47% of guilds who are 6/9 have killed Smolderon
• Only around 22% of guilds who have killed Smolderon have killed Tindral
• Around 46% of guilds who have killed Tindral have killed Fyrakk

Compared to previous raids, the curve of progression in Amidrassil is not as smooth, and Tindral in particular is proving to be a formidable obstacle blocking the majority of guilds who have defeated Smolderon.

Dragonflight: Aberrus

When we look back at the 9th week of the Aberrus raid, which took place from May 9th to July 5th, we can observe a more gradual curve of progression:

• Sarkareth - 309 kills
• Echo of Neltharion - 544 kills
• Magmorax - 833 kills
• Zskarn - 1,188 kills
• Rashok - 1,681 kills

Approximately 70% of guilds who were 5/9 managed to defeat Rashok, and the subsequent bosses followed a similar pattern. In Aberrus, there was no noticeable wall like Tindral in Amidrassil, allowing larger percentages of guilds to progress through the raid more smoothly.

Dragonflight: Vault of the Incarnates

In the Vault of the Incarnates raid, the 9th week spanned from December 12th, 2022, to February 8th, 2023. Comparing the kill counts in Week 9, we find:

• Raszageth - 121 kills
• Broodkeeper - 495 kills
• Dathea - 842 kills
• Kurog - 1,482 kills

Despite encountering a challenge at Raszageth, more guilds have managed to defeat this boss in Week 9 than Fyrakk in Amidrassil. The subsequent bosses have a relatively smooth curve of progression.

Shadowlands: Sepulcher

Within the Sepulcher raid, the 9th week took place from March 8th, 2022, to May 3rd, 2022. Let's examine the kill counts:

• Jailer - 73 kills
• Rygelon - 152 kills
• Lords of Dread - 193 kills
• Anduin - 222 kills
• Halondrus - 779 kills
• Lihuvim - 1,063 kills

Similar to Amidrassil, we observe a curve between bosses reminiscent of the challenges faced in this current tier. Notably, Anduin proves to be the major hurdle, with Lords of Dread and Rygelon serving as victory laps in comparison.

Why is Mythic Amidrassil So Hard?

The last three bosses in Mythic Amidrassil have proven to be some of the most challenging encounters in Mythic raids. Tindral stands out, with nearly 80% of guilds who have defeated Smolderon struggling to overcome this boss. The main reason for this difficulty lies in the numerous one-shot raid mechanics present, where a single mistake by one person instantly results in a wipe for the entire raid. We have seen similar mechanics in the Sepulcher raid, such as Halondrus with bombs and Anduin with a multitude of mechanics to handle. Amidrassil's bosses are filled with these unforgiving mechanics, which ultimately lead to frustrating wipe scenarios.

Let's take a closer look at the mechanics present on each of the final bosses in Amidrassil:

• Smolderon:

• Double Seeking Inferno Orbs early

• Tindral:

• Double Soaking Seed of Flame
• Wild Mushrooms exploding (Green)
• Missing Flare Bomb
• Early Dispel on Fiery Growth

• Fyrakk:

• Missing Intermission Orb
• Blaze Hitting Healer Add
• Not Breaking Shadow Cage
• Perma Stun Seeds and Corrupted Seeds Exploding

It is intriguing to see the inclusion of these mechanics with high frequency on consecutive bosses. The double soaking of seeds on Tindral presents a significant hurdle, which may explain the low clear count for this boss. These mechanics act as pass/fail obstacles, adding to the difficulty rather than allowing varying degrees of success and failure.

Goes Against Stated Encounter Goal

In an interview before the launch of Dragonflight, Ion Hazzikostas discussed the concept of mechanics that instantly wipe the raid for a single mistake. His intention was for such mechanics to be a rare occurrence. However, the encounters in Amidrassil, especially Tindral and Fyrakk, contain a multitude of mechanics that contradict this philosophy.

Looking specifically at Tindral:

• Double Soaking seeds, considering the time constraint and the pace of the fight, resembles the "twitch movements" Ion mentioned in the interview. The punishment of wiping the entire raid for one person accidentally tripping on a seed feels overly harsh.
• Missing a Flare Bomb also results in a wipe, adding an unnecessary level of punishment. It would be more reasonable to allow guilds to struggle through this section of the fight rather than causing an instant wipe.

Examining Fyrakk:

• Missing a single Orb during the Intermission assignments should not warrant an instant wipe. The difficulty of this encounter, coupled with the community's need to develop a weakaura, highlight the excessive punishment for a small mistake.
• The tightly tuned healer adds in Phase 2 make it almost impossible to Blaze them without consequences. Transforming even one add becomes an extremely punishing action leading to certain failure and a raid wipe.
• The Shadow Cages on the Colossus adds are similarly unforgiving. A player missing their break results in permanent stunned players, an infinite duration punishment that hampers both healing and damage output.
• The seeds in the final phase, while a fitting mechanic for a final boss encounter, are further compounded by the challenging mechanics in earlier phases and bosses. The accumulation of these punishing mechanics has made the raid frustrating for many players.

In conclusion, while these mechanics can create tension and excitement during a kill attempt, their difficulty must be balanced with the consequences of failure. If there is already a punishment for failing a mechanic, do we truly need to wipe the entire raid as well? Presently, the number of encounters with these instant wipe mechanics in Amidrassil feels excessive. While the Race to World First may require challenging bosses, it is important to adjust and nerf encounters after the race to provide an enjoyable experience for the wider player base. Want to see the raids for yourself and obtain some especially powerful gear? Join one of our teams in epic encounters against Fyrakk and his forces.