Mob Skips & Route % in Mythic+
Every Mythic+ dungeon asks you to kill a set share of its trash, and every mob you pull past that share is time lost. This guide explains how enemy forces count works in Midnight, lists the exact count each Season 2 dungeon needs, and covers the tools for skipping packs: the Void-Shrouded Tincture, Shroud of Concealment, Mass Invisibility and the smaller class tricks. Full pull-by-pull routes stay in the route guide for each dungeon.
How Enemy Forces and Route % Work
The Enemy Forces Counter
Every non-boss enemy in a Keystone dungeon gives a fixed number of points, called enemy forces or simply count. The run ends only when all bosses are dead and the counter reaches 100%. The percentage of a single mob is its points divided by the dungeon total: a Bribed Captain in Murder Row gives 35 of 655 points, about 5.3%, while a typical small mob in Altar of Fangs is worth well under 1%.
Bosses give no count in seven of the eight dungeons. Ruby Life Pools is the exception: Defier Draghar, Thunderhead, Flamegullet and High Channeler Ryvati together give 148 of the 551 points.
Going over 100% gives no bonus and no penalty. The extra mobs only cost time, which is why a route aims to hit 100% around the last boss.
Where to See a Mob's Count
Since patch 12.1 the default tooltip of every enemy in a Keystone dungeon shows how much it adds to enemy forces, and the scenario tracker shows the running total. Nameplate percentages still need an addon; the options are in our Mythic+ addons guide.
Lindormi's Glow, added in patch 12.0.5, is a built-in route. If the tank turns it on by talking to Lindormi near the Timeways portal in Silvermoon City or at the end of a key, the game highlights a set of enemies that adds up to exactly 100%. It is a reasonable default for most groups up to the mid-teens. At +2 to +5, Lindormi's Guidance does the same and also weakens the highlighted enemies.
How a Good Route Saves Minutes
The fastest route is the one that reaches 100% with the fewest and safest pulls. It skips low-value or dangerous packs, saves big-count mobs for moments when cooldowns are ready, and avoids backtracking after the last boss because the counter fell a few percent short.
How to Skip Trash in Mythic+
The Void-Shrouded Tincture
The Midnight invisibility potion is the Void-Shrouded Tincture: 12 to 18 seconds of invisibility depending on its crafting quality, on a 5-minute cooldown. Alchemists who chose the void path craft it, and everyone else buys it on the Auction House. It shares its cooldown with combat potions such as Potion of Recklessness, so a skip potion means no damage potion for that pull.
The standard use is a pre-invis: the whole group drinks just before inserting the keystone and walks past the first packs. Mobs with stealth detection, such as the Watchful Harrower in Voidscar Arena, see through it.
Shroud of Concealment and Mass Invisibility
Shroud of Concealment, the Rogue skip, stealths the whole group within 30 yards for 15 seconds on a 6-minute cooldown. Mass Invisibility, a Mage talent, makes the Mage and allies within 40 yards invisible for 12 seconds, but it does not work on allies already in combat, and any action cancels it. Both let one group skip one or two packs per key without potions.
Class Tools for Skips and Combat Drops
Other classes help in smaller ways:
- Shadowmeld, Vanish, Feign Death and Invisibility: drop combat at the end of a dangerous cast or after tagging a mob.
- Demonic Gateway: carries the group past a pack or over a gap; each player can use it once every 90 seconds.
- Stampeding Roar, Wind Rush Totem and Wraith Walk: speed to run past mobs before they react.
- Blessing of Protection, Ice Cold and Alter Time: let the player who breaks stealth survive the one melee hit that comes with many skips.
- Leap of Faith and Rescue: pull a player who got caught back to the group.
Death Skips and Their Cost
Dying on purpose to reset is not a real skip tool in Season 2. Under Lindormi's Guidance (+2 to +5) deaths cost no time, from +6 each death costs 5 seconds, and from +12 Xal'atath's Guile raises it to 15 seconds, so a full wipe costs 75 seconds plus the run back. The rules are in our Mythic+ death penalty guide.
Mythic Dungeon Tools and Route Planning
Mythic Dungeon Tools (MDT) still works in Midnight and is updated for all eight Season 2 dungeons. It shows every pack with its count, lets you draw a route, and shares it with your party. To use a route someone else made, open MDT with /mdt, choose Import and paste the route string; keystone.guru imports and exports the same strings in the browser.
Hotfixes changed the count totals of several dungeons after launch, so route strings made before late August can fall short of 100% or include packs that no longer exist. Check the date of any route you import.
Season 2 Enemy Forces and Skips by Dungeon
The table lists the count each dungeon needs, the mobs worth the most, and the skips most groups use.
| Dungeon | Count for 100% | Biggest single mobs | Notable skips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altar of Fangs | 817 | Ascendant Serpent 30, Twinfang Harrower and Ritual Chieftain 25 | Venom Leech packs at the entrance and stairs; on high keys only two of the totems in the first area |
| Murder Row | 655 | Bribed Captain and Defiled Golem 35, Felmaster Lucsei 30 | The first Defiled Golem along the railing; the Felmaster Lucsei area along the right wall |
| Den of Nalorakk | 729 | The Winter Squall 50, Loa Speaker Nanea 35 | One skip is needed or the route overcounts badly; easiest with a Rogue at the start |
| The Blinding Vale | 686 | Potatoad Matriarch 60, Sporeblight Belcher and Overgrown Hydra 25 | The first three mobs with a pre-invis, Shroud or Mass Invisibility |
| Voidscar Arena | 738 | Watchful Harrower 65, Aegyra the Unyielding and Raj'kess the Spellstorm 40 | The first three mobs with a pre-invis; Harrowers see stealth |
| Kings' Rest | 608 | Shadow of Zul 30, Shadow-Borne Champion 25 | Almost every mob counts; one skip at the Purification casters |
| Temple of Sethraliss | 687 | Sandfury Stonefist, Sand-Sworn Rider and Agitated Nimbus 25 | No invisibility skip; the route picks which packs to leave |
| Ruby Life Pools | 551 | Thunderhead 48 and Flamegullet 40 (bosses), Primal Juggernaut 25 | The lieutenants in the first zone; nothing in the last zone |
The Murder Row total dropped from 690 to 655 at launch, when a pack before Xathuux the Annihilator was removed, and The Blinding Vale went from 655 to 686 on August 25 while the Potatoad Matriarch rose from 30 to 60. Kings' Rest and Temple of Sethraliss need almost all of their trash, so they leave the least room to skip; Den of Nalorakk, The Blinding Vale and Voidscar Arena leave the most.
Full routes with every pull are in the route guide for each dungeon: Altar of Fangs, Murder Row, Den of Nalorakk, The Blinding Vale, Voidscar Arena, Kings' Rest, Temple of Sethraliss and Ruby Life Pools.
Common Routing Mistakes in Mythic+
Most lost minutes come from a handful of habits:
- Importing an old route. Strings made before the August hotfixes miscount in four dungeons.
- Skipping without a backup. If the skipped pack blocks later pulls or the potion runs out halfway, the group pulls it anyway at the worst moment. Every skip needs a plan for who survives the hit.
- Overcounting. Pulling packs just in case ends the run at 110% and costs a minute or more.
- Finishing short. Reaching the last boss at 97% means a walk back for one more pack.
- Hard skips in PUGs. Skips that need a Rogue and perfect timing are best left to premade groups; in a PUG, take the safe route.
More Guides for Mythic+ Routes
For a dungeon-by-dungeon plan, start from the Mythic+ routes guide, and for the addons that show count on nameplates see the Mythic+ addons guide. The packs most worth skipping or planning around are ranked in our hardest trash packs guide.
Mob Skips and Route % FAQ
These are the questions players ask most about count and skips.
It is the share of trash you must kill to finish a key. Every enemy gives a fixed number of points, and the run ends when all bosses are dead and the counter reaches 100%.
Not in seven of the eight Season 2 dungeons. In Ruby Life Pools, four bosses give 148 of the 551 points.
Nothing changes except the time you spent on extra mobs.
The default tooltip shows it since patch 12.1. Nameplate percentages need an addon, and Lindormi's Glow highlights a ready-made 100% route.
The Void-Shrouded Tincture: 12 to 18 seconds of invisibility, a 5-minute cooldown, shared with combat potions.
Rogues with Shroud of Concealment and Mages with Mass Invisibility skip for the whole group. Demonic Gateway, Shadowmeld and movement-speed tools help with smaller skips.
Yes. MDT is updated for all eight Season 2 dungeons, and keystone.guru imports and exports its route strings.
Hotfixes changed the count in Murder Row, The Blinding Vale, Temple of Sethraliss and Ruby Life Pools after launch. Use a route made after August 25.
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