Hey! I just PUG’d Brewmaster to 3k IO in my first full season playing Brewmaster Monk, and my third season playing M+.

There are tons of people with more score than I have. But I learned a lot getting this score, and have some tips to think about, if you want to PUG your way to higher IO. (Whatever that IO may be.)

How to get into groups faster.

The number one way to time more keys is to run more keys. And the number one thing holding most people back is time spent getting into groups.

There are easy ways around this:

If you are a tank or healer then you just need to finish each “tier” before you move up. Want to get into 6s? Finish your 5s, first.

If you are a DPS then just run your own key and form your own groups. I know it is a little more work than running someone else’s key… but not only will you form groups 2-3x faster, you also will make tank & healer friends who can help you “cut” the line.

I personally only got around 50-75 total score with a pre-made healer or DPS, but if I were a DPS then my number one goal after pushing my own key would be making tank & healer friends.

How to push to KSM / 7s and 8s

I feel like any player can get KSM or time 8s for gilded crests. (This puts you in position to have full heroic gear at max ilevel, and sets you up to approach mythic raiding or +10 keys.)

There are two major mistakes I saw in myself and other players, which make pushing this key level tougher than it has to be:

First, being “unprepared” for the dungeon. WoW is a RPG, and so gear matters a lot. So do your talents. And so does your rotation. Gear comes naturally from filling your vault, so your main goal is to learn how to play your spec: Talents & rotation.

Luckily for you, most classes have discords or websites which will teach you the talents and the rotation. You can go to Icy Veins for example, or even just search your spec on youtube.

When you have a good item level, good talents and a basic handle on your rotation, you will find dungeons much, much easier to time.

Second, prioritizing DPS or healing over kicks, interrupts & mechanics. Yes, mythic plus is all about timing keys. But this season, the hardest thing to do is survive.

Therefore, interrupting spells, using your aoe stuns to immobilize packs, and doing dungeon mechanics are 10x more important than your actual DPS or HPS. (No matter what role you’re playing.)

As a tank, I can get a group of low dps players through a dungeon at this key level on time, as long as they interrupt spells. But there are MANY dungeons, this tier, which can’t be timed unless you interrupt spells (even if your team does huge DPS.)

(For example: City of Threads is one of the least timed keys because of the number of important kicks, and pass-or-fail boss mechanics.)

If you install Quazii’s plater profile then all you have to do is interrupt the orange spells, or the yellow ones if you can.

Simply doing this will increase the percentage of dungeons you time by a LOT. I can not stress this enough.

How to time 10s and 11s

There are two things that helped me survive the damage increase from 10s and start timing them quite easily: A better rotation and using my defensives more effectively.

To get a better rotation I started using warcraftlogs. I would upload my own dungeons, then paste my log URL into WoW Analyzer.

Additionally, I would compare my cast amounts to logs from top people. And, every time I saw a mismatch (they cast twice as many tiger palms, for example), I would watch their run in the player and see what they did differently than me.

I think this method works for all classes and specs: Look at what you’re doing and compare yourself to the better players at your spec. Then learn a lesson, implement it, and repeat.

The other thing that helped me time 10s was using my defensives better. 10s are where the damage starts to ramp up. If you want to time these keys, you need to survive.

So even DPS need to start pressing their defensives on cooldown, and planning how to survive bosses.

The biggest thing you can do to time 10s and 11s if you have enough DPS for 8s and 9s is to interrupt more spells, and press your defensives MORE OFTEN and at better times. This alone will put you over the Keystone Hero hump and get you portals.

How to time 12s and 13s.

The increase in damage taken and performance required from players from 11s to 12s is frankly ridiculous this season.

But 12s and 13s were the kinds of keys that forced me to go from playing my spec well to pulling all the juice out of my spec.

There were a few main things I focused on:

First, doubling down on interrupts and defensives. The damage in 12+ will straight up kill you if you do not do something about it.

The absolute #1 reason I didn’t time 12 + 13 keys was a lack of interrupts. There is not even a close second reason.

I think I missed a single key timer due to low DPS and maybe one or two on boss healer checks. By far the number one thing to brick keys was simply a lack of interrupts, either caused by not kicking or DPS being dead due to not using defensive abilities.

Second, squeezing all of the juice out of your spec. Remember how we used warcraft logs? Well, now its time to join your class discord.

Get in there and ask your theory crafters about specific, niche situations which help you get the most out of your spec. To time 12s and 13s, you should be extremely clear on the nuances of your class. Especially if you’re an off-meta spec.

For example: The biggest thing that helped me survive 12s comfortably was pre-casting my purified brew before I overcapped. PB is capped at 2 charges, so, doing 10s and 11s, I would wait until I had 2 charges to cast it.

Instead, I started casting it a second before I had two charges. So that I didn’t miss the 1-2 seconds of cool down timer.

This sounds like a small thing. But this is the key level where small things add up. That change alone made me 20% tankier by itself.

Specific tips for tanks

How to make your own routes. There are great places to find routes; but I like making my own routes. This doesn’t have to be complicated.

All you have to do is pick a route and then try it. Every time a group wipes to a pack, try to avoid that pack.

All of my routes are just routes where I saw PUGs die and said, “Well, I guess we don’t fight that pack anymore.” And they have led to some really interesting pulls that I don’t think other tanks do.

You don’t have to pull big to time keys. You can go pack by pack and time 8s. And you can CHAIN packs – instead of pulling them together – and still be almost as quick.

Basically, if you’re going into a key either undergeared or unsure whether or not you will live a pull… just split it up. Your DPS might rage, but it won’t have any effect on the actual timer.

The only exception are dungeons where you lust the first pull. (Necrotic Wake, Stonevault come to mind.) You need to put lust on cooldown early for those dungeons, so you will have to learn how to survive those pulls.

Don’t listen to PUG players. The truth is that most PUG players have been nice, friendly and cool to play with.

… But there are occasionally players who have feedback for the tank. Sometimes it’s well intentioned. Sometimes it is not.

In both cases, just ignore it. I think I got maybe 10 critical comments in my push. Not one of them improved my route, play or ability to time keys. So don’t take it to heart.

Hope this helps somebody have more fun with Mythic plus. It’s a great game mode and we need MORE PLAYERS to do keys with.

So I hope you’ll be gentle with players in your keys who are struggling as they learn.

Hey! I just PUG’d Brewmaster to 3k IO in my first full season playing Brewmaster Monk, and my third season playing M+.

There are tons of people with more score than I have. But I learned a lot getting this score, and have some tips to think about, if you want to PUG your way to higher IO. (Whatever that IO may be.)

How to get into groups faster.

The number one way to time more keys is to run more keys. And the number one thing holding most people back is time spent getting into groups.

There are easy ways around this:

If you are a tank or healer then you just need to finish each “tier” before you move up. Want to get into 6s? Finish your 5s, first.

If you are a DPS then just run your own key and form your own groups. I know it is a little more work than running someone else’s key… but not only will you form groups 2-3x faster, you also will make tank & healer friends who can help you “cut” the line.

I personally only got around 50-75 total score with a pre-made healer or DPS, but if I were a DPS then my number one goal after pushing my own key would be making tank & healer friends.

How to push to KSM / 7s and 8s

I feel like any player can get KSM or time 8s for gilded crests. (This puts you in position to have full heroic gear at max ilevel, and sets you up to approach mythic raiding or +10 keys.)

There are two major mistakes I saw in myself and other players, which make pushing this key level tougher than it has to be:

First, being “unprepared” for the dungeon. WoW is a RPG, and so gear matters a lot. So do your talents. And so does your rotation. Gear comes naturally from filling your vault, so your main goal is to learn how to play your spec: Talents & rotation.

Luckily for you, most classes have discords or websites which will teach you the talents and the rotation. You can go to Icy Veins for example, or even just search your spec on youtube.

When you have a good item level, good talents and a basic handle on your rotation, you will find dungeons much, much easier to time.

Second, prioritizing DPS or healing over kicks, interrupts & mechanics. Yes, mythic plus is all about timing keys. But this season, the hardest thing to do is survive.

Therefore, interrupting spells, using your aoe stuns to immobilize packs, and doing dungeon mechanics are 10x more important than your actual DPS or HPS. (No matter what role you’re playing.)

As a tank, I can get a group of low dps players through a dungeon at this key level on time, as long as they interrupt spells. But there are MANY dungeons, this tier, which can’t be timed unless you interrupt spells (even if your team does huge DPS.)

(For example: City of Threads is one of the least timed keys because of the number of important kicks, and pass-or-fail boss mechanics.)

If you install Quazii’s plater profile then all you have to do is interrupt the orange spells, or the yellow ones if you can.

Simply doing this will increase the percentage of dungeons you time by a LOT. I can not stress this enough.

How to time 10s and 11s

There are two things that helped me survive the damage increase from 10s and start timing them quite easily: A better rotation and using my defensives more effectively.

To get a better rotation I started using warcraftlogs. I would upload my own dungeons, then paste my log URL into WoW Analyzer.

Additionally, I would compare my cast amounts to logs from top people. And, every time I saw a mismatch (they cast twice as many tiger palms, for example), I would watch their run in the player and see what they did differently than me.

I think this method works for all classes and specs: Look at what you’re doing and compare yourself to the better players at your spec. Then learn a lesson, implement it, and repeat.

The other thing that helped me time 10s was using my defensives better. 10s are where the damage starts to ramp up. If you want to time these keys, you need to survive.

So even DPS need to start pressing their defensives on cooldown, and planning how to survive bosses.

The biggest thing you can do to time 10s and 11s if you have enough DPS for 8s and 9s is to interrupt more spells, and press your defensives MORE OFTEN and at better times. This alone will put you over the Keystone Hero hump and get you portals.

How to time 12s and 13s.

The increase in damage taken and performance required from players from 11s to 12s is frankly ridiculous this season.

But 12s and 13s were the kinds of keys that forced me to go from playing my spec well to pulling all the juice out of my spec.

There were a few main things I focused on:

First, doubling down on interrupts and defensives. The damage in 12+ will straight up kill you if you do not do something about it.

The absolute #1 reason I didn’t time 12 + 13 keys was a lack of interrupts. There is not even a close second reason.

I think I missed a single key timer due to low DPS and maybe one or two on boss healer checks. By far the number one thing to brick keys was simply a lack of interrupts, either caused by not kicking or DPS being dead due to not using defensive abilities.

Second, squeezing all of the juice out of your spec. Remember how we used warcraft logs? Well, now its time to join your class discord.

Get in there and ask your theory crafters about specific, niche situations which help you get the most out of your spec. To time 12s and 13s, you should be extremely clear on the nuances of your class. Especially if you’re an off-meta spec.

For example: The biggest thing that helped me survive 12s comfortably was pre-casting my purified brew before I overcapped. PB is capped at 2 charges, so, doing 10s and 11s, I would wait until I had 2 charges to cast it.

Instead, I started casting it a second before I had two charges. So that I didn’t miss the 1-2 seconds of cool down timer.

This sounds like a small thing. But this is the key level where small things add up. That change alone made me 20% tankier by itself.

Specific tips for tanks

How to make your own routes. There are great places to find routes; but I like making my own routes. This doesn’t have to be complicated.

All you have to do is pick a route and then try it. Every time a group wipes to a pack, try to avoid that pack.

All of my routes are just routes where I saw PUGs die and said, “Well, I guess we don’t fight that pack anymore.” And they have led to some really interesting pulls that I don’t think other tanks do.

You don’t have to pull big to time keys. You can go pack by pack and time 8s. And you can CHAIN packs – instead of pulling them together – and still be almost as quick.

Basically, if you’re going into a key either undergeared or unsure whether or not you will live a pull… just split it up. Your DPS might rage, but it won’t have any effect on the actual timer.

The only exception are dungeons where you lust the first pull. (Necrotic Wake, Stonevault come to mind.) You need to put lust on cooldown early for those dungeons, so you will have to learn how to survive those pulls.

Don’t listen to PUG players. The truth is that most PUG players have been nice, friendly and cool to play with.

… But there are occasionally players who have feedback for the tank. Sometimes it’s well intentioned. Sometimes it is not.

In both cases, just ignore it. I think I got maybe 10 critical comments in my push. Not one of them improved my route, play or ability to time keys. So don’t take it to heart.

Hope this helps somebody have more fun with Mythic plus. It’s a great game mode and we need MORE PLAYERS to do keys with.

So I hope you’ll be gentle with players in your keys who are struggling as they learn.