If you are running Den of Nalorakk without using Warding Incense, you may be leaving a surprisingly large amount of free power behind.
Blizzard has just increased the dungeon-specific buff from 3% to 5% Versatility.
And with two Warding Incense altars available during the opening section of the dungeon, a prepared group can potentially keep that 5% bonus running for roughly 20 minutes.
There is just one requirement.
Bring a Druid.
Or bring somebody who has spent at least 25 points learning how to make suspicious substances in Midnight Alchemy.
Warding Incense Now Gives 5% Versatility
The latest World of Warcraft hotfixes increased Warding Incense to 5% Versatility, up from its previous 3% bonus.
That is a significant increase for a dungeon mechanic that requires very little extra effort to activate.
Once triggered, Warding Incense grants the group 5% increased Versatility for 10 minutes.
Versatility is particularly useful because it does two useful things at once:
- Increases damage and healing.
- Reduces damage taken.
In Mythic+, where both killing enemies faster and surviving increasingly unpleasant abilities matter, that is a very convenient package.
It is essentially a dungeon buff that asks whether anybody remembered to bring the correct profession.
You Need a Druid or 25 Midnight Alchemy
Not everybody can activate the Warding Incense.
Your group needs either:
- Any Druid specialization, or
- A player with at least 25 skill in Midnight Alchemy.
There is one additional detail for Druids.
They must enter Bear Form before interacting with the altar.
Apparently ancient magical incense respects bears but has very strict rules about Balance Druids.
The profession requirement is character-specific, but once the altar is activated, the resulting buff benefits the group rather than only the player who triggered it.
There Are Two Warding Incense Altars
This is where the trick becomes considerably stronger.
Den of Nalorakk contains two Warding Incense altars in the opening portion of the dungeon.
Each activation provides another 10-minute duration.
The optimal approach is therefore not to burn both immediately.
The recommended Mythic+ strategy is to activate the first Warding Incense as the run begins, then save the second until around the first boss, The Hoardmonger.
Depending on how quickly your group clears the opening area, you can activate the second altar shortly before or after defeating the boss.
That effectively refreshes the buff and can stretch your total coverage toward 20 minutes of 5% Versatility.
For a dungeon timer, that is not a small amount of time.
This Can Cover a Huge Part of Your Key
Den of Nalorakk has a Mythic+ timer of roughly half an hour.
If your group keeps Warding Incense active for close to 20 minutes, the buff can therefore cover a very substantial portion of the run.
Icy Veins estimates that the combined offensive and defensive benefit can save a group around two minutes or more over the course of a key when used effectively.
That number will obviously vary dramatically depending on the group, key level, pulls and route.
Do not expect pressing an incense altar to magically turn a depleted +14 into a three-chest.
But Mythic+ timers are frequently decided by much smaller margins than two minutes.
And 5% Versatility costs you almost nothing once the correct character is already in the group.
Dungeon Utility Is Becoming More Important in Season 2
This is another example of why understanding dungeon-specific interactions matters so much in Midnight Season 2.
Raw item level is only part of the equation.
Players are increasingly discovering mechanics that can materially change routes, damage or survival if the group knows they exist.
We recently covered how Murder Row's Concealed Pistol can provide a temporary 20% damage increase.
Blizzard has also continued adjusting dungeon routing through changes like the Potatoad Matriarch suddenly becoming worth 60 Enemy Forces in The Blinding Vale.
That means players pushing keys are increasingly rewarded for knowing more than just which enemy abilities need interrupts.
Sometimes the difference between a clean run and a depleted key is sitting quietly beside the path waiting for somebody to click it.
Do Not Use Both Altars at the Start
The most important practical lesson is simple:
Do not immediately activate both Warding Incense altars.
The buff does not become twice as useful because everybody clicks everything they see.
Use the first altar near the beginning of the dungeon.
Continue through the opening trash and The Hoardmonger section.
Then use the second altar when the original 10-minute buff is approaching its end.
That gives your group much better overall coverage and allows the 5% Versatility bonus to remain relevant deep into the dungeon.
Bring the Bear
Blizzard originally introduced Warding Incense as a relatively modest dungeon utility bonus.
At 5% Versatility, it is becoming something considerably harder to ignore.
If somebody in your Den of Nalorakk group has 25 Midnight Alchemy, use the altars.
If you have a Druid, use the altars.
If your Druid insists they cannot activate one, remind them to turn into a bear first.
Five percent damage and healing.
Reduced damage taken.
Potentially close to 20 minutes of coverage.
And the cost is essentially remembering that the dungeon contains two clickable objects.
Season 2 Mythic+ is difficult enough already.
Take the free stats.
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