Delves

Delves are a solo and small-group part of progression introduced in The War Within. They grew out of the scenarios of Mists of Pandaria: mini-dungeons for one to five players that do not need any particular role, take about 10–15 minutes and have objectives that change every day. A companion always comes with you.

Delves give experience and gear up to the level of Mythic+5 or Heroic raid items, plus cosmetics and collectibles such as a customizable mount each season. You cannot queue for them: form a group with the Premade Groups tool or by inviting friends, then walk through the entrance. Each delve is marked on the world map with a stone door icon.

There are 11 tiers. Tiers 1 and 2 are open while you level and the higher tiers at maximum level; when The War Within launched, tier 3 and up needed level 80, item level 530 and the campaign finished on one character. The suggested item level for each tier is only a guide; the game does not enforce it.

• From tier 4 a delve has a life counter. The lives you have left change the end rewards, and you need lives left to rank up.
• Tiers 4 and higher get a seasonal affix. Since The War Within Season 2 it is the Nemesis Strongbox, which replaces one to four enemy groups with allies of the season's nemesis; clearing them improves the rewards.
• Normal (not bountiful) delves give Explorer item level gear that is not on the upgrade track.
• Each delve rotates through a few story variants, one per day, so coming back on another day gives a different run.

Each day one delve per zone is bountiful, shown by a glowing door icon on the map. Your first run of the day in it ends with a Bountiful Coffer, which opens with a Restored Coffer Key made from Coffer Key Shards. You do not need the key to enter or finish the delve. Bountiful delves unlock at the expansion's maximum level.

A companion joins every run as a tank, damage dealer or healer: Brann Bronzebeard in The War Within and Valeera Sanguinar in Midnight. Companions earn experience from kills, from looting mislaid curiosities and from finishing delves; after level 15 they gain experience only in bountiful delves.

• Curios give extra abilities in combat. You find them in end-of-delve chests, and a better quality teaches a higher rank, from common (rank 1) to epic (rank 4). One combat and one utility curio can be equipped, and they change each season.
• In The War Within, delve powers were temporary buffs found during a run. Midnight delves have no powers; Boons and Blessings take their place once you unlock them.
• The Delver's Journey is a seasonal reward track for delves, in the Journeys tab of the Adventure Guide. Bountiful delves move it forward.

Each season has a nemesis: a hard boss that can ambush you in delves or be summoned with a device. It also has its own delve, fought only for cosmetic rewards; that delve is never bountiful and does not count for the Great Vault. Its tier ? opens after clearing any tier 7 delve with lives left and plays like tier 8, and tier ?? opens after a tier 10 clear and plays like tier 11.

Midnight's delves are spread over its zones, and their rewards are sold at the Delver's Headquarters in Silvermoon City. Patch 12.1.5 added labyrinths: very large delves in which every chamber works as a delve of its own.