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Writer's pictureSarah Ertelt
2 days ago5 min read

Theater of Pain Mythic+ Dungeon Guide for World of Warcraft: The War Within

Theater of Pain is a 5-boss Shadowlands dungeon that's returning for Season 2 of Mythic+ in World of Warcraft: The War Within. In this dungeon, players will need to collect banners to receive a buff, form a strategy against a council boss fight, and find the fastest route through this 5-boss dungeon.


Theater of Pain Dungeon Guide for World of Warcraft: The War Within
Theater of Pain Dungeon Guide for World of Warcraft: The War Within

This complete Theater of Pain Dungeon Guide provides information for the following dungeon encounters:

  • How to get the Necrolord Covenant buff

  • Affront of Challengers boss guide

  • Gorechop boss guide

  • Xav the Unfallen boss guide

  • Kul'tharok boss guide

  • Mordretha boss guide

  • Dangerous trash mobs and kicks


The Theater of Pain is one of 8 dungeons part of the Season 2 Mythic+ rotation in The War Within:

  • Cinderbrew Meadery

  • Darkflame Cleft

  • The Rookery

  • Priory of the Sacred Flame

  • The MOTHERLODE!!!

  • Operation: Floodgate

  • Theater of Pain

  • Operation Mechagon: Workshop


In the original Shadowlands dungeon, players who were part of the Necrolord Covenant could earn their party a buff, similar to the engineering buff in City of Threads. There are three Necrolord banners in the dungeon, each providing the entire party with a 5-minute 10% Versatility and Movement Speed buff.


Since Shadowlands isn't the current expansion, it's unclear if Blizzard will keep this mechanic in the dungeon. If they do, hundreds of players that started playing WoW in Dragonflight and The War Within will have to start thinking about doing old Shadowlands content.


Boss #1: Affront of Challengers


The Affront of Challengers is a 3-boss council fight where the three bosses do not share a health pool. Each boss gains an additional ability when their health falls below 40%, making the encounter more difficult.


Sathel the Accursed gets a 30% health shield and cannot be interrupted. Paceran the Virulent drops Noxious Spores under players every 8 seconds. Dessia the Decapitator gains a 30% health shield and will fixate a random player.


Wowhead recommends this kill order for Mythic+:



If your party has a Druid, this order changes to Dessia the Decapitator first. Dessia will gain a 30% health shield when she falls below 40% that can be removed with Soothe.


After defeating the Affront of Challengers, parties can go to the next three bosses in any order.


Gorechop has several mechanics that players should look out for. Hateful Strike is the tank buster, and both Tanks and Healers should prepare cooldowns to use during this cast.


Range DPS will need to look out for Meat Hooks that drop from the ceiling and drag across the arena. Players will need to dodge the meat hooks.


Gorechop will also pull players in for a Tenderizing Smash, and everyone will need to run out before it goes off.


Xav the Unfallen is a unique encounter that tears two players away from the fight for a mechanic, similar to Nalthor the Rimebinder in the Necrotic Wake. During the fight, two players will be sent into an arena where they're forced to duel each other.


The player that wins will receive a 10% damage buff, while the player that loses will receive 10% reduced damage. If both players refuse to duel each other, both will get the 10% debuff.


Xav the Unfallen summons an add called the Oppressive Banner. This mob needs to be focused by every party member and single-targeted down as soon as possible. This mob slows all players until it's defeated.


Lastly, Xav the Unfallen will perform "Might of Maldraxxus" where he will jump to the center of the arena and perform one of three mechanics:


  • Crushing Slam - A frontal marked by a green circle on the ground

  • Massive Cleave - A front cleave marked on the ground

  • Deafening Crash - AOE damage to the area around him and interrupts all casts


Kul'tharok only has two mechanics - one of which is also the responsibility of two random party members.


Kul'tharok will periodically cast Draw Soul on two players at a time. A soul NPC for that player will spawn and run away, and players have 20 seconds to touch their soul. Players can try to herd their soul into ghost Grasping Hands on the ground so they can easily catch up to it. Players themselves will need to avoid getting caught in the Grasping Hands.


Catching your soul will increase your damage by 30%, but failing to catch your soul in time will cause you to be mind-controlled, and other party members will have to DPS to free you.


The other mechanic is Phantasmal Parasite that just needs dispelled by the healer.


Mordretha, the Endless Empress is a mechanic heavy fight with a tank buster, rotating beam, and 3 other abilities that she can cast.


The tank buster Reaping Scythe deals both magic and physical damage and occurs fairly frequently. Tanks and healers should space out their cooldowns to stay prepared for this frequent tank buster.


Dark Devastation is a periodic frontal beam that will slowly rotate, similar to Amarth's Necrotic Breath in the Necrotic Wake.


Mordretha also marks players with Manifest Death, a debuff that explodes with it expires. It also summons an add that needs to be picked up. This means players will need to stack as close as possible without overlapping when this mechanic happens.


She can also cast Grasping Rift, a portal that will attempt to suck everyone in. This will be a one-shot mechanic on high keys, so players should save movement speed cooldowns for this mechanic.


At 50% health, Mordretha will now also summon Echoes of Carnage for the rest of the fight. For Echo of Battle, players will just have to dodge swirlies on the ground. Ghostly charge will summon ghost riders that run across the area that players cannot touch.


These are all of the original Theater of Pain boss mechanics from Shadowlands. When The Necrotic Wake was added to Season 1 of Mythic+ in The War Within, little changes were made to the dungeon's mechanics. However, check back later to see if any updates are made to the dungeon after Season 2 of World of Warcraft: The War Within releases!


Important Trash Casts/Stops:























You may also be interested in these related World of Warcraft articles:



QuestAccepted! is a PC gaming news source with guides for popular titles like World of Warcraft, Diablo IV, and Stardew Valley. Information is subject to future Blizzard changes.


Tags: wow the war within, world of warcraft the war within, the war within season 2, season 2 mythic+ dungeons, wow theater of pain, theater of pain dungeon guide, theater of pain M+ guide the war within








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