Midnight Keystone Myth Season 2 Guide
Keystone Myth is back for Midnight Season 2, and the bar is higher. Midnight Keystone Myth: Season 2 went live with Patch 12.1.5 in the week of October 13, 2026, and asks for a 3,600 Mythic+ rating instead of last season's 3,400. That is roughly six dungeons at +18 and two at +17, and only about 3 to 5% of the characters raider.io tracks have reached it so far. The reward is the title The Venomous Contender and a Timelost Saddle that buys one mount from past Keystone Master and Keystone Legend seasons. Below you'll find exactly how the rating adds up, which Season 2 dungeons to push first, what gear and group you need, and what happens to the saddle when the season ends.
What Is the Keystone Myth Achievement?
Keystone Myth is the highest fixed rating milestone in Midnight Mythic+. Blizzard added it in Patch 12.0.5 to give players a goal for the second half of each season, and it returns every season with a new rating requirement. You earn it once your Mythic+ rating reaches the threshold, not at the end of the season.
The Season 2 achievement is account-wide and sits in Feats of Strength. Earning it grants two rewards:
- The title The Venomous Contender.
- A Timelost Saddle. Speak with Lindormi to complete Accolades for the Venomous Contender and receive it.
The Timelost Saddle is Warband-bound, you can earn one per season per Warband, and Lindormi trades it for one mount of your choice.
The full list of mounts it can buy is in our Timelost Saddle mounts guide.
How Keystone Myth Compares to the Other Season 2 Milestones
Every Season 2 milestone is a fixed rating you can reach at any point of the season, except the top 1% title, which is calculated when the season ends. Keystone Myth sits between Keystone Legend and the top 1%.
| Milestone | Rating | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Midnight Keystone Conqueror: Season 2 | 1,500 | Title the Venomous |
| Midnight Keystone Master: Season 2 | 2,000 | Breath of Blight mount |
| Midnight Keystone Hero: Season 2 | 2,500 | Insidious Venomstone |
| Midnight Keystone Legend: Season 2 | 3,000 | Breath of Ruin mount |
| Midnight Keystone Myth: Season 2 | 3,600 | Title The Venomous Contender, Timelost Saddle |
| Venomous Champion: Midnight Season 2 | Top 1% at season end | Title |
Season 1 vs Season 2 Requirements
Midnight Keystone Myth: Season 1 needed 3,400 rating, which meant timing every dungeon of that pool at +16. Blizzard raised Season 2 to 3,600 and said the number reflects current rating data, dungeon difficulty and the gear still to come. In practice you now need an average key level between +17 and +18. Roughly one in ten characters reached 3,400 last season, while about 3% had 3,600 by the time it ended.
How Much Rating Do You Need for Keystone Myth?
You need 3,600 Mythic+ rating, an average of 450 points across the eight Season 2 dungeons. Your rating is the sum of your best timed run in each dungeon, so one great run per dungeon is all that counts, and extra runs at the same level add nothing.
How Each Key Level Is Scored
A timed key is worth a base score that grows with the key level, plus a small bonus for finishing early. From +12 upward, every key level adds exactly 15 points, so the math for Keystone Myth is simple.
| Key level | Score per timed dungeon | All 8 dungeons at this level |
|---|---|---|
| +16 | 425 | 3,400 |
| +17 | 440 | 3,520 |
| +18 | 455 | 3,640 |
| +19 | 470 | 3,760 |
| +20 | 485 | 3,880 |
The time bonus scales from 0 to 15 points, depending on how much of the timer is left, up to 40%. A +17 finished with 40% of the timer left is worth about as much as a +18 timed with a second to spare. A depleted key is worth far less than a timed one, so it rarely helps your rating.
Key-Level Combinations That Reach 3,600
Because every level above +12 adds 15 points, only the sum of your eight key levels matters. Without any time bonus, you need a total of at least 142 levels, for example six dungeons at +18 and two at +17.
| Your eight best keys | Base rating | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| 8 × +17 | 3,520 | About 10 points of time bonus per dungeon, which means roughly 27% of the timer left on every run |
| 4 × +18, 4 × +17 | 3,580 | 20 points of time bonus in total |
| 5 × +18, 3 × +17 | 3,595 | One slightly faster run |
| 6 × +18, 2 × +17 | 3,610 | Done with no time bonus |
| 4 × +19, 2 × +18, 2 × +16 | 3,640 | Lets you carry two weaker dungeons |
| 8 × +18 | 3,640 | 40 points to spare |
This is why one dungeon your group struggles in isn't fatal: every extra level you push elsewhere covers one missing level there.
Which Season 2 Dungeons to Push First
Push your easiest dungeons two or three levels past the rest, then use them to cover the hardest one. Altar of Fangs is the consensus hardest dungeon of the season, while Murder Row leaves groups the most time on the clock.
Two measures are worth looking at together. Mechanical difficulty at high keys says how punishing a dungeon is when something goes wrong. Time left on the timer, averaged over millions of runs on raider.io, says how much room for mistakes groups usually have. The table combines both.
| Dungeon | Timer | Median time left | At high keys | October 13 tuning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murder Row | 34:00 | 24.5% | Most forgiving; one scary Defiled Golem pull | Fire Bomb damage reduced |
| Voidscar Arena | 30:00 | 22.0% | Mid; the arena room raptor must be controlled | Several mobs and bosses nerfed |
| Kings' Rest | 33:00 | 21.9% | Mid; interrupt-heavy | No changes |
| Temple of Sethraliss | 33:00 | 21.8% | Mid; many poison dispels | Spark Step damage reduced |
| Ruby Life Pools | 28:00 | 19.6% | Easy mechanics, shortest timer | Several mobs and bosses nerfed |
| Altar of Fangs | 30:00 | 19.6% | Hardest; every boss is a healing check | The biggest nerfs of the patch |
| The Blinding Vale | 31:00 | 18.4% | Moderately hard; the first boss needs the whole group soaking | Several mobs and bosses nerfed |
| Den of Nalorakk | 32:00 | 18.0% | Easy mechanics, tight timer | No changes |
The time-left numbers cover all key levels from week 1 to week 13, so they lean toward lower keys. Blizzard's October 13 tuning targeted six of the eight dungeons and left Den of Nalorakk and Kings' Rest untouched, which is part of why Altar of Fangs feels much fairer now than at the start of the season.
The pulls and skips we recommend for high keys are in the Murder Row route, the Altar of Fangs route and the Den of Nalorakk route, and the Midnight Mythic+ Season 2 guide links every dungeon of the pool.
Gear and Group Setup for +17 and +18 Keys
Nothing above +12 drops better loot, so gear is the entry ticket for Keystone Myth, not a reward from it. End-of-dungeon loot stops at item level 311 and Great Vault rewards at 318, both reached at +10 to +12.
What Item Level to Aim For
Blizzard doesn't set a minimum item level, and no reliable source gives one for +18. What raises your character past the Mythic+ cap is the rest of the Season 2 gearing game:
- Upgrade Myth track gear up to item level 334 with Myth Mistcrest, which drops from +9 keys and higher.
- Craft your non-tier slots at 331 with Myth Mistcrest.
- The last two bosses of The Venomous Abyss on Mythic drop gear at 344, the highest in the season.
How many crests each key pays is covered in our Mythic+ crests guide.
If your group already times +16 comfortably, the gear is there to start on +17s. Push the dungeons from the top of the table above first and move on to the harder ones once a few upgrades land.
Group Needs in the Season 2 Pool
At +17 and +18 every death costs 15 seconds through Xal'atath's Guile, so the group needs tools for the dangerous parts of each dungeon, not just raw damage:
- Bloodlust or Heroism and a battle resurrection in every group.
- Poison dispels for Altar of Fangs and Temple of Sethraliss, plus an enrage removal for Altar of Fangs.
- Plenty of interrupts and stops for Kings' Rest, Murder Row and Ruby Life Pools.
- A rogue or another way through the skip in Den of Nalorakk.
Finding a steady group for +18s is often the hardest part of the push. If you'd rather not grind it out, a Mythic+ boost gets the keys done for you.
How to Push Your Rating to 3,600
The fastest path is to lock in a key floor first, then push each dungeon with a safe route rather than the fastest one. These are the habits that top groups use on +17 to +20 keys this season.
Lock In a Resilient Keystone First
Time all eight dungeons at +12 or higher, and Midnight Season 2: Resilient Keystone 12 stops your key from ever dropping below +12. There's one achievement for every level above that, so timing everything at +16 gives you a +16 floor. A failed +18 attempt then doesn't send you back to rebuilding your key. You can still lower it on purpose by talking to Lindormi in Silvermoon City.
Our Resilient Keystone guide explains the full anti-deplete system.
Push Tips That Save Runs
Most failed high keys come from a few deaths or one bad pull, not from low damage. Plan for consistency first:
- Use safer routes. The routes behind top 1% runs this season dropped the riskiest pulls and skips because they weren't needed. For +18 you need the timer, not a record.
- Pull mobs onto bosses. Crowd-control one mob of each type and let them walk into the boss pull a minute later. Specs like Arms Warrior, rogues and mages turn those extra targets into a faster kill.
- Pre-invis skips. In The Blinding Vale and Voidscar Arena, a group invisibility potion before the key goes in skips the first three mobs.
- Plan Bloodlust per dungeon. Use it on the first big pull in Murder Row, Kings' Rest and Temple of Sethraliss, and save it for the 50% to 0% phase of the bosses where it shortens the most dangerous part.
- Bring poison control to Altar of Fangs. Destroy the second and third totems early, keep three interrupts ready for its most dangerous casts and use a defensive or freedom effect the moment the boss targets you with its damage over time.
- Chase the time bonus late. Once your keys are all at +17 or +18, finishing a few of them with more time left can close the last 10 to 40 points without raising the key level.
The Mythic+ timer guide shows how deaths and the clock work at these levels.
What Happens to Keystone Myth When the Season Ends
Spend your saddle before Season 2 ends: the Timelost Saddle expires at the end of the season. Blizzard hasn't announced the end date yet, so it's safer to trade it with Lindormi as soon as you have it.
The achievement can only be earned during Season 2. Once you have it, it stays in your Feats of Strength, just as the Season 1 version still does. Nothing says the title will be removed, and seasonal titles from Feats of Strength normally stay. Season 3 will bring its own Keystone Myth with a new rating requirement, and Blizzard has said that number may change from season to season.
More Guides for Your Keystone Myth Push
Pick your mount with the Timelost Saddle mounts list, see the whole dungeon pool in the Season 2 overview, and use the Resilient Keystone and timer guides to keep every high key on track.
Keystone Myth Season 2 FAQ
These are the questions players ask most about Keystone Myth since the 3,600 requirement was announced.
An average between +17 and +18 across the eight dungeons. Six dungeons at +18 and two at +17 reach 3,600 without any time bonus.
No. Eight timed +12s give about 2,920 rating, which is short of Keystone Legend at 3,000. Keystone Myth needs keys around +17 and +18.
Blizzard said the requirement reflects current rating data, dungeon difficulty and the gear still to come in Season 2.
Yes. You can earn one saddle per season per Warband, so Season 2 Keystone Myth gives you a new one even if you used the Season 1 saddle.
No. It gives a title and the Timelost Saddle. Mythic+ gear stops improving at +12.
Keystone Myth is a fixed 3,600 rating that anyone can reach at any time. The Venomous Champion title goes to the top 1% of players when the season ends, and its cutoff currently sits near 3,800 in the US.
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