And unlike most useful things in World of Warcraft, it does not disappear the moment somebody dies.
If your group has a player with at least 25 Midnight Alchemy or 25 Midnight Cooking, you can interact with an Unfinished Mixture after the dungeon's second boss.
Doing so gives the entire party Mutating Elixir.
The reward?
3% Versatility for the rest of the dungeon.
It even persists through death.
So yes.
Altar of Fangs contains free stats.
You just need somebody who knows how to cook.
You Need 25 Midnight Cooking or Alchemy
The requirement is refreshingly simple.
At least one player in your group needs:
- 25 skill in Midnight Alchemy, or
- 25 skill in Midnight Cooking.
You do not need both.
One appropriately trained player is enough to activate the dungeon interaction for the entire group.
That makes this much easier to build around than some profession bonuses that require a very specific class or profession combination.
Cooking in particular is worth remembering because players may automatically assume a mysterious bubbling potion requires an Alchemist.
Apparently knowing what temperature to roast a boar at also qualifies you to finish experimental serpent chemistry.
Look for the Unfinished Mixture After the Second Boss
The buff becomes available after defeating The Writhing Coil, the second boss in Altar of Fangs.
Continue into the following room, where you encounter the Ascendant Serpent.
The Unfinished Mixture can be found in the far-left corner of that room.
It is easy enough to miss if your group is simply charging toward the next pack.
And because Mythic+ has trained us all to treat standing still for three seconds as a personal failure, plenty of groups probably will.
Do not.
Find the mixture.
Let your Cook or Alchemist interact with it.
Take the free stats.
Mutating Elixir Gives the Entire Group 3% Versatility
Activating the Unfinished Mixture grants Mutating Elixir to the entire party.
The buff provides:
- 3% Versatility
- Increased damage
- Increased healing
- Reduced damage taken
Three percent may not look enormous when written beside some of Season 2's more ridiculous trinket numbers.
But Mythic+ is a game of accumulated advantages.
More damage means packs die sooner.
More healing gives the healer additional breathing room.
Reduced damage taken makes dangerous overlaps slightly less dangerous.
And all of it comes from clicking an object you were walking past anyway.
The Buff Lasts for the Rest of the Dungeon
This is what makes Mutating Elixir particularly good.
It does not last five minutes.
It does not require another altar later.
It does not need refreshing before the final boss.
Once activated, the buff lasts for the remainder of the dungeon.
That means you receive the benefit through the entire final section leading toward Zul'jan.
The current Altar of Fangs Mythic+ guide also highlights the Unfinished Mixture as one of the dungeon's important route interactions.
There is essentially no strategic reason to leave it behind if your group meets the profession requirement.
It Even Persists Through Death
And Blizzard has been unusually generous here.
Mutating Elixir survives player death.
That distinction matters enormously in Mythic+.
A buff that disappears when you die is useful right up until the exact moment your group begins needing additional help.
Mutating Elixir does not have that problem.
Miss an interrupt?
Still buffed.
Stand in something green because the entire dungeon is green?
Still buffed.
Zul'jan turns your health bar into historical documentation?
Release, run back and you are still buffed.
The potion believes in second chances.
This Is Different From Den of Nalorakk’s 5% Buff
Season 2 now has several dungeon-specific stat bonuses worth knowing about.
We recently covered how Den of Nalorakk can give your group 5% Versatility through Warding Incense.
That buff is numerically stronger.
But there is an important difference.
Den of Nalorakk's Warding Incense lasts 10 minutes, with two altars allowing a knowledgeable group to stretch the benefit across a large part of the dungeon.
Altar of Fangs gives only 3%.
But Mutating Elixir lasts until the dungeon ends.
No timing.
No refresh.
No trying to remember whether the first buff has 47 seconds remaining while six snakes are screaming at you.
Activate it once and forget about it.
Cooking Suddenly Has Mythic+ Utility
The profession requirement also creates a useful little piece of group utility.
Alchemy appearing in a potion interaction makes obvious thematic sense.
Cooking is the more interesting option.
Because Cooking is widely available and relatively easy to level, groups do not necessarily need to bring a dedicated profession character specifically for Altar of Fangs.
If somebody already has 25 Midnight Cooking, you are covered.
That makes it worth checking before the key starts.
A simple:
"Anyone have 25 Cooking or Alchemy?"
can translate into 3% Versatility for the entire final portion of the dungeon.
Not a bad return on a question.
The Buff Comes at Exactly the Right Time
The placement is useful too.
You obtain Mutating Elixir after The Writhing Coil, meaning it is available for the dungeon's final stretch and Zul'jan.
That section contains several dangerous trash mobs and mechanics where both extra damage and survivability are valuable.
It also means the buff is active when the key is increasingly likely to be decided.
If the opening half went perfectly, the bonus helps you preserve that advantage.
If the opening half went badly, free Versatility is not going to complain about being asked to help with the recovery.
Season 2 Keeps Rewarding Dungeon Knowledge
This is becoming one of the defining little details of Midnight Season 2 Mythic+.
Knowing the bosses is not enough.
Knowing which trash to interrupt is not enough.
The dungeons contain environmental and profession interactions that can materially improve a run.
We have already seen the 20% damage opportunity from Murder Row's Concealed Pistol and the 5% Versatility available in Den of Nalorakk.
Blizzard has also repeatedly changed routes and enemy values through Season 2 tuning, including the Potatoad Matriarch becoming worth 60 Enemy Forces.
Altar of Fangs adds another item to the Mythic+ checklist.
Kill boss.
Interrupt dangerous cast.
Avoid poison.
Ask whether anybody can cook.
Do Not Walk Past the Free 3%
The practical advice is extremely simple.
Before starting Altar of Fangs, check whether somebody has 25 Midnight Cooking or Alchemy.
After defeating The Writhing Coil, enter the next room.
Look in the far-left corner for the Unfinished Mixture.
Activate it.
Your entire group gets 3% Versatility for the rest of the dungeon.
And even if somebody dies, the buff stays.
There are plenty of complicated ways to improve a Mythic+ run.
This is not one of them.
Click potion.
Get stats.
Kill snakes.
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