Are you having problems in the depths of World of Warcraft? With our 5 tricks, your visit will be much easier – and the loot is guaranteed.
The depths have become a true pillar of endgame content in World of Warcraft. Especially for solo fans, these “mini-dungeons” offer the opportunity to earn some really good gear that they couldn’t get otherwise. This makes the depths so lucrative that even raid fans should occasionally drop by to secure guaranteed loot with item level 259.
However, the depths have changed a bit since their first introduction at the beginning of The War Within. If you’re not exactly sure what to pay attention to in the depths, we have 5 tips for you.
Collecting Small Treasures
In each depth, there are about 10 small treasures – sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. These are fabric bags with a blue border that you can see on the ground. They are often located off the main path.
In The War Within, these treasures became somewhat useless after a while, but in Midnight, they always have gameplay value – this is due to their content.
Small treasures contain, in addition to empty light chalk, resources and experience for Valeera a new thing:
buffs.
Each small treasure contains a golden orb that can grant your character various buff effects. These bonuses only apply for the current depth, but they persist beyond death and can make a significant difference.
The buffs range from an increase in hit points to a reduction in damage taken to an increase in your primary and secondary attributes. If you collect all the small treasures, you can enjoy 20% more hit points, 15% more mastery, 10% more haste, and 10% more primary attribute at the end of a depth. These are significant differences as if you were wearing gear that is 10 to 30 levels above your current gear.
This also includes the campfire that Valeera sets up at the beginning. Use it, as it also grants a 10-minute buff that increases your primary attribute by 5%.
Special Talent Build Just for Depths
Depths are a pillar of endgame in World of Warcraft – even more so with Midnight than in The War Within. Accordingly, you should also regard the depths. For most players, it’s common to have different talent specializations for different content.
They have one talent distribution for raids, another for dungeons, and one for PvP.
That’s exactly how you should treat the depths.
In the depths, you can benefit from talents that you otherwise wouldn’t utilize in other gameplay content.
To give a simple example: As a priest, depths are significantly more relaxing if you take “Mind Control” as a talent. This allows you to basically subdue an elite enemy as a permanent pet and use it throughout the entire depth. This not only dramatically increases your damage, but you also have an additional tank on whom the threat falls if you were to normally give it to Valeera with “Fade”.
Especially additional control and movement effects are worth their weight in gold in the depths. Because sometimes it is not necessary to kill an enemy particularly quickly. It can also be enough to keep that enemy at a distance long enough for Valeera to beat it up.
Take your time to study your talent tree more closely. You’ll find many talents that you would have dismissed in dungeons or raids, but
Utilizing Environmental Effects
One thing that was already present in The War Within but has been drastically expanded in Midnight is the environmental effects in the depths.
At first glance, these are annoying elements that make your visit to the depth more exhausting. Traps that you need to avoid. Watchful eyes that discover you and shortly thereafter fire a barrel attack at you. Big mushrooms that you need to defuse before they explode in an area effect.
The catch with all these effects: They are neutral. This means they deal damage to both you and Valeera – but also to all enemies!
You can significantly simplify a depth by regularly pulling enemies into these harmful effects and positioning yourself so that you are not hit. Depending on the difficulty of the depth, these effects can cost 20% to 40% of an enemy’s hit points and thus reduce a seemingly immortal elite enemy into much more manageable sizes.
Leveling and Using Valeera
It may sound simple and trivial, but it can make a huge difference. Valeera is your companion in the depths and depending on what level she has already reached, depths are either a strenuous event or a pleasant walk in the park of Silvermoon.
This is because Valeera scales in different ways:
- On one hand, her strength depends on your equipment. As your item level increases, so too do Valeera’s stats.
- The second scaling is through her level. While Valeera learns new skills in the first 10 levels, she gains a percentage increase in her damage (or healing as a healer or hit points as a tank) at all subsequent levels.
So if you feel that Valeera is not yet realizing her full potential, visit a few depths and level her up. This also works with alternate characters (best at the maximum level), since your Valeera has the same progress across all characters.
Sooner or later, you’ll be confronted with the fact that Valeera deals significantly more damage than you do. This makes depths much more relaxed and ensures that in DPS specialization, you can easily transfer threat to Valeera, making the fight even more relaxed – even if she is not a tank.
But also remember to equip Valeera with suitable curiosities to get the most out of her.
Note that these bonuses are also stackable with the small treasures. This makes you even more powerful and you can potentially complete depths whose recommended item level is 20 or more levels above what you are actually wearing, taking into account all other tips.
Depths not only offer interesting gameplay and a nice opportunity to collect solid gear for your character – they can even yield some of the best gear in the game. Because every week you can snag a guaranteed hero item with item level 259 if you follow this tip.
Additionally, it can be a valid strategy to simply run away when a fight seems hopeless. Let Valeera continue beating up enemies while you create distance. This way, a seemingly hopeless battle can often still be won, as Valeera often simply executes enemies at under 30% health.
Utilizing Mega-Buffs
In addition to the small buff effects you get from the treasures, you can gain significantly larger buffs at the end of a depth. In the final reward chests, there can be epic items that are consumed instantly upon pickup.
These effects are significantly stronger and are active in your next depth – as long as you complete this depth within the next 24 hours (in-game time, not real time).
There are different effects, which, however, are all relatively similar in strength. We are talking about bonuses in the range of 10% to your primary attribute.
It is not guaranteed that you will receive such a buff at the end of the depth – but if you do collect it, you should consider whether to choose a higher difficulty in your next depth and take on a greater challenge.
Note that these bonuses are also stackable with the small treasures. This makes you even more powerful and you can potentially complete depths whose recommended item level is 20 or more levels above what you are actually wearing, taking into account all other tips.
Depths not only offer interesting gameplay and a nice opportunity to collect solid gear for your character – they can even yield some of the best gear in the game. Because every week you can snag a guaranteed hero item with item level 259 if you follow this tip.
