In Season 2 of The War Within, Delves have undergone major changes, now offering far better rewards than before. But to get your hands on the best loot, you’ll need to clear high-tier Delves—and that’s no easy task. The higher you go, the tougher enemies become, hitting harder and taking longer to kill, not to mention the steep gear requirements you’ll need to meet just to survive.
Luckily, we know how to make your runs much smoother and more rewarding! In this guide, we’ll show you how to conquer tougher Delves and maximize your rewards as quickly and efficiently as possible. And if you ever feel like taking a break from the grind, check out our friends at WowVendor. They offer a huge selection of WoW boost services, always with fast delivery and at surprisingly low prices, so you can upgrade your WoW experience without spending a fortune.
Preparations
Before entering a Delve, there are a few things you’ll want to take care of. First and foremost—your gear. The higher your ilvl, the easier your runs will be. But if you’re a bit undergeared or haven’t leveled up enough, you can use Brann’s campfire for a small stat boost. When your companion sets up a campfire before a Delve, join him and start eating. This won’t just restore your HP and mana—you’ll also gain a 5% bonus to your primary stats, which can make a big difference, especially in tougher Delves.
Consumables
Just like in raids and dungeons, consumables can give you a huge edge in Delves—especially as you push into higher tiers. Flasks, weapon oils, and potions can make a real difference during harder pulls, helping you survive and save a life or two to progress up the tiers faster. So don’t forget to stock up before your run and use those consumables whenever needed.
Brann’s Role and Abilities
In Season 2, Brann can now fill all three roles—Healer, DPS, and Tank. While the Tank spec was recently nerfed, it can still work well depending on your class. For Healers, we’d recommend sticking to Brann as a Tank; DPS players should run Brann as a Healer, and Tanks should set up Brann as a DPS. This is just a guideline, though, so it’s always a good idea to test different setups to see what works best for you. Some Delves might also favor a different Brann spec, so if you’re struggling, try switching it up through Explorers’ League Supplies and see if it helps.
It’s also crucial to level up your companion as much as possible to ensure the best performance. A high-level Brann will be much more effective in battle, meaning he’ll deal more damage or perform any role you’ve assigned him much better, getting a stacking bonus to DPS and healing with each level he gains. This will make clearing Delves a lot easier and faster.
Keep Brann’s Healing Buff Stacked
If you’re using Brann as a Healer, make sure to take full advantage of his Dwarven Medicine healing buff. The potions he drops apply a stacking effect, and you can extend the buff by picking them up just before the previous stack expires. The potions stay on the ground for about 20 seconds, so timing your pickups carefully will help you maintain those stacks almost infinitely, which will give you massive survivability throughout the run. If you’re having trouble tracking the buff duration, consider using the Dwarven Medicine Tracker WeakAura to help with timing.
Make the Most of Brann’s Traps
If you’re running Brann as DPS, you can use his traps for a solid damage boost. When enemies step on traps, they take decent DoT damage, but Brann doesn’t always place his traps in the most effective spots. If you kite mobs over the traps, you can make sure those DoTs hit the targets and help you burn through enemy HP much faster.
Combat Strategies for Higher Tier Delves
In this part of the guide, we’ll go over key strategies that can help you tackle tougher Delves more efficiently.
Don’t Kill Everything
You don’t have to clear every single mob in a Delve. Sometimes, skipping fights is a much smarter move. Certain Delve scenarios require minimal combat, so you should avoid those unnecessary battles whenever possible. If you can walk around enemies, do it. Not only will this make your runs faster and easier, but you’ll also have your cooldowns ready for the mobs that you actually need to take down.
Use Your Utility
Delves are not as hard as Mythic+ dungeons or raids, and many players just rush in and fight mobs head-on, forgetting that they can rely not only on pure DPS but also on other abilities in their class’s toolkit. Some packs can be eliminated significantly easier if you interrupt the main cast or stun the most dangerous mob. Interrupts, stuns, blinds, knock-ups, and other crowd control abilities are incredibly useful in battle, so make sure to explore your class talent tree for any extra utility you might not typically use, especially if you usually run DPS-focused builds.
Wait for Your Cooldowns
If you’re struggling on higher-tier Delves, it might be a good idea to wait for your major cooldowns to come back up before tackling particularly large and troublesome packs of monsters. Yes, this might make your run a little longer, but it’s a much safer and smarter approach. Waiting a few extra minutes is far better than losing one of your lives, right?
Maximizing Your Delve Rewards
Now, let’s talk about the most important part—rewards! After all, that’s why we’re running Delves in the first place.
Starting from Tier 8, Bountiful Delves drop 639 ilvl Champion-track gear and 649 ilvl Hero pieces in the Great Vault, which are the highest item level rewards available. So if your main goal is gear, there’s no reason to push beyond Tier 8. Also, using a Delver’s Bounty Map on a Tier 8 or higher Delve guarantees you a 649 Hero-track piece every week.
If you’re aiming for maximum Gilded Crests, the best strategy is to complete three Tier 11 Bountiful Delves and use your Map on one of them—this will get you 10 Gilded Crests instead of 7. After that, you can do Tier 8 for your remaining five weekly runs to fill up your Great Vault progress and get extra loot.
Use Wave Scrambler 2,000 to Get Delver’s Bounty Maps
Most players try to farm Delver’s Bounty by running as many Delves as possible, as the chances of getting a Map increase with each run due to the bad luck protection system. But there’s a much easier way. You can buy the Wave Scrambler 2,000 from Sir Finley Mrrgglton for 2,000 Undercoins. This item summons The Underpin Nemesis directly to the Delve you’re doing. When you defeat The Underpin, he’ll drop a huge pile of loot, which guarantees a Delver’s Map if you haven’t got one that week, along with a couple of extra Gilded Crests.
Wave Scrambler 2,000 can also randomly drop from Mislaid Curiosities scattered around your Delve, so keep an eye out for those as well.
Conclusion
Delves have proven to be a fantastic and, most importantly, accessible way to gear up your character without having to dive into challenging group content. Now, armed with our best tips, you’ll be able to tackle those higher-tier Delves and score the best loot much faster and easier.
Good luck with your runs, and see you in Azeroth!
