Delves are back in WoW Midnight with 10 brand-new instances, a fresh companion in Valyira Sanguinar, and a full season of rewards to chase. If you're looking to farm gear, level Valyira, earn gold, or just burn through your weekly bountiful runs as fast as possible, not all delves are created equal. Some can be cleared in just over a minute on the right variant, while others drag on with awkward pathing, slow objectives, or punishing mechanics. This tier list ranks every Midnight delve from best to worst based on clear speed, ease of solo play, and overall farming efficiency.
WoW Midnight Delve Tier List (Fastest & Easiest Delves To Solo)
Midnight introduces 10 new delves spread across Quel'Thalas, Zul'Aman, Harandar, and Voidstorm. Each delve has three rotating story variants that cycle daily, and some variants are dramatically faster or easier than others. Your new delve companion, Valyira Sanguinar, replaces Brann and can serve as a tank, healer, or DPS. She gains power as she levels, and higher-level Valyira makes every run smoother.
Coffer keys have been reworked into a shard currency (600 weekly max, 100 shards per key), and the Delver's Journey seasonal track provides progressive rewards including mounts, cosmetics, boons, blessings, and eventually hero-track gear from tier 11 bountiful coffers.
Some delves allow mounting, some have NPC allies that demolish bosses for you, and some hand you overpowered bombs or usable items. The differences between delves are massive — picking the right one can cut your clear time in half or more.
Not all delves are created equal. Some can be blasted through in under seven minutes while others are sprawling, buggy, or just painfully slow. Below is a full tier list ranking every delve and story variant from best to worst for solo speed and efficiency, based on average clear time, map size, bonus mechanics (bombs, NPC helpers, mount access), and consistency across gear levels.
1. The Darkway - Ogre Powered (S Tier)
Zone: Quel'Thalas (Silvermoon City entrance)
Best Variant: Ogre Powered (S Rank)
Mountable: No
Release Date: March 24th (delayed launch)
The Darkway on its Ogre Powered variant sits alone at the top of this list. It is the single fastest delve route available in Midnight Season 1. The layout is compact, the objective is straightforward, and the variant-specific mechanics allow you to rip through enemies at a pace no other delve can match. If this variant is up on a given day, run it. The other variant (Leyline Technician) is an F-rank, so check which story is active before entering.
2. Collegiate Calamity - Invasive Glow (A Tier)
Zone: Quel'Thalas (Silvermoon City)
Best Variant: Invasive Glow (A Rank, ~1:13 clear)
Mountable: Yes
Other Variants: Academy Under Siege (D), Faculty of Fear (D)
Collegiate Calamity is the most talked-about farming delve in Midnight, and for good reason. The entire instance takes place in a tiny, condensed area, you're practically at the boss within 15 seconds of starting. Every variant spawns a group of friendly NPCs for the boss fight who stack a damage-taken debuff on the boss up to 80%+, melting it in under 30 seconds even on tier 11.
The Invasive Glow variant is where things get absurd. You pick up a bomb at the start that has a short cooldown and scales with delve tier. On tier 11, this bomb does roughly 90% of your total damage. You weave it between every ability on the GCD, and it shreds through everything. The bomb's damage also works with Valyira's 10% leech buff when she's set to healer, meaning you can full-heal yourself by bombing a pack of small plants.
Even on the other two variants (Academy Under Siege and Faculty of Fear), the delve is still fast thanks to the small map and NPC boss helpers. Academy Under Siege scatters powerful usable items around the map, one book does 860K+ damage in a single cast. This delve is the go-to farm for Valyira experience, gold (petrified roots sell for ~1,400g each), warbound gear, and undercoin.
3. The Gulf of Memory - Sporasaur Special (A Tier)
Zone: Harandar
Best Variant: Sporasaur Special (A Rank, ~1:11 clear, BUG)
Mountable: No
Other Variants: Descent of the Haranir (C), Alnmoth Munchies (B)
The Gulf of Memory's Sporasaur Special variant clocks the fastest raw time on this list at around 1 minute 11 seconds. The objective revolves around kicking spore bombs back at dinosaurs, and the damage from these spores is gear-independent — an item level 234 character can clear it nearly as fast as a fully geared one. Bind your interact key and spam it while kiting dinosaurs together to double up on spore spawns.
This delve is ideal for leveling Valyira on undergeared alts. Set her to healer for survival, swap to DPS before the final boss for faster kill time. Use the mushroom launchers and vines to skip packs and instant-kill mobs pulled into environmental hazards. There is currently an active bug on this variant, so keep that in mind.
The Alnmoth Munchies variant is a solid B-rank backup, and Descent of the Haranir is middling at C.
4. Sunkiller Sanctum (B Tier)
Zone: Voidstorm
Best Variants: Core of the Problem (B), Focusers Under Pressure (B)
Mountable: No
Other Variants: The Gravitational Effect (C, BUG), Not What I Expected (D)
Sunkiller Sanctum has two B-rank variants, giving it the most consistent day-to-day performance of any delve in this tier. Neither variant is a standout speedrun, but neither is a slog either. The layout is manageable and the objectives are fairly standard kill-and-progress affairs. The Gravitational Effect variant currently has a bug. Not the fastest delve on the list, but a safe pick when your top choices aren't on favorable rotations.
5. Parhelion Plaza - Holding the Line (B Tier)
Zone: Quel'Thalas (Isle of Quel'Danas)
Best Variant: Holding the Line (B)
Mountable: Yes
Release Date: March 31st (delayed launch)
Other Variants: Bombing Run (F), March of the Arcane Brigade (F)
Parhelion Plaza is mountable and its Holding the Line variant runs at a clean B pace. The catch: both other variants (Bombing Run and March of the Arcane Brigade) are F-rank. This makes it a one-day-in-three delve — great when Holding the Line is up, skip it otherwise. It launched later in the season cycle (March 31st), so it may still be getting tuned.
6. Twilight Crypts - Party Crasher (B Tier)
Zone: Zul'Aman
Best Variant: Party Crasher (B, BUG)
Mountable: No
Other Variants: Trapped! (D, BUG), Loosed Loa (F, BUG)
All three variants of Twilight Crypts currently have active bugs, which is a serious concern. Party Crasher is the only variant worth running at B rank, but the bugs may cause combat lockouts, pathing issues, or other disruptions. The other two variants (Trapped! and Loosed Loa) are D and F respectively. Approach with caution until hotfixes go through.
7. Atal'Aman (C Tier)
Zone: Zul'Aman
Best Variants: Totem Annihilation (C), Toadly Unbecoming (C, BUG)
Mountable: Yes
Other Variant: Ritual Interrupted (F)
Atal'Aman is mountable across all variants, which helps compensate for its otherwise average speed. Two of its three variants sit at C rank, making it fairly consistent but never fast. Toadly Unbecoming has been clocked at around 1:32 but carries a bug. Ritual Interrupted is a hard avoid at F rank. A passable choice for bountiful days, but you won't be speed-farming here.
8. Shadowguard Point (C Tier)
Zone: Voidstorm
Best Variant: Calamitous (C)
Mountable: Yes
Other Variants: Capture Wildlife (F), Stolen Mana (D)
Shadowguard Point gained popularity as a gold farm early in the season thanks to its humanoid enemy density (pair with tailoring and enchanting for extra mats and dawn crystals). You can mount up and pull everything, then AoE it all down near the bind stone. The Voidstorm zone trinket also works inside this delve, adding free damage.
However, it suffers from a persistent combat bug that prevents you from mounting or looting mislaid curiosities mid-run. The fix — jumping off the map edge — costs time. The map is also sprawling compared to top-tier delves, making curiosity collection slower. Good for gold, middling for speed.
9. The Grudge Pit (C Tier)
Zone: Harandar
Best Variant: Arena Champion (C)
Mountable: Yes
Other Variants: Dastardly Rotstalk (D), Lightbloom Invasion (F)
The Grudge Pit is a fan-favorite for Valyira leveling because it's an outdoor delve where all classes can mount, and the map is tiny. All mislaid curiosities are packed into a small arena, making grab-and-reset runs extremely efficient — stealth classes can loot up to 8 curiosities per run with zero combat, yielding roughly 5 Valyira levels per hour.
For actual completion runs, though, it's only C-tier at best. The arena format means you have no room to kite or retreat, the RP transitions between phases feel slow, and the Lightbloom Invasion variant is a full F-rank. Arena Champion is the only decent variant for timed clears. Run this for Valyira XP farming, not for speed-clearing bountifuls.
10. The Shadow Enclave (C Tier)
Zone: Quel'Thalas (Eversong Woods)
Best Variant: Traitor's Due (C)
Mountable: No
Other Variants: Shadowy Supplies (F, BUG), Mirror Shine (F, timed at 2:02)
The Shadow Enclave is one of the weaker delves in Midnight. Its best variant only hits C rank, and both alternatives are F-tier — one with an active bug and the other clocking over 2 minutes even on optimized runs. Mirror Shine at 2:02 is one of the slowest recorded clear times on the tier list. Unless Traitor's Due is the active bountiful, there's little reason to run this over other options.
Delves Scenarios Avoid Unless Required
Several delve variants fall into D or F rankings. These are slow, mechanically annoying, bugged, or some combination of all three. Here's a quick rundown of the worst offenders:
Slow but Completable:
Collegiate Calamity – Faculty of Fear / Academy Under Siege
Shadowguard Point – Stolen Mana
Sunkiller Sanctum – Not What I Expected
The Grudge Pit – Dastardly Rotstalk
Twilight Crypts – Trapped! (also bugged)
Skip If Possible:
Atal'Aman – Ritual Interrupted
Parhelion Plaza – Bombing Run / March of the Arcane Brigade
Shadowguard Point – Capture Wildlife
The Darkway – Leyline Technician
The Grudge Pit – Lightbloom Invasion
The Shadow Enclave – Shadowy Supplies (bugged) / Mirror Shine
Twilight Crypts – Loosed Loa (bugged)
If any of these are the active bountiful for the day, consider whether the reward is worth the extra 3–5 minutes per run compared to waiting for a better rotation.
Tips for Maximizing Your Delve Farming
To help you farm Delves more efficiently in WoW Midnight, here we've sort out some useful tips for your following:
Run Valyra as Healer for Speed Farming
Her healing spec grants you a weapon enchant buff with 10% leech, avoidance, and movement speed. On delves like Collegiate Calamity (Invasive Glow), the bomb damage procs leech and can full-heal you instantly when hitting groups of small enemies.
Use the Voidstorm Zone Trinket in Voidstorm Delves
Complete the weekly Voidstorm quest and upgrade your research console. The champion trinket's damage proc works inside Voidstorm delves like Shadowguard Point and Sunkiller Sanctum, giving you a noticeable clear-time boost.
Pair Tailoring + Enchanting for Gold
Delves with heavy humanoid density (Shadowguard Point especially) drop loads of cloth and disenchantable gear. Spec into cloth drop rate for Tailoring and better disenchants for Enchanting. Dawn Crystals sell for 6,000–7,000 gold each early in the season.
Valyra XP Farming Without Combat
The Grudge Pit on any variant lets you grab up to 5 mislaid curiosities near the entrance without fighting. Loot them, leave the delve via macro (/script C_PartyInfo.LeaveParty()), re-enter, repeat. Stealth classes can grab up to 8 curiosities per run. This works on Tier 7 for maximum XP and requires zero gear. Expect roughly 5 Valyra levels per hour.
Story Variants Rotate Daily
If the best variant isn't up today, it will rotate in tomorrow. Install the Delve Guide addon to see which story variants are active and their community ratings before you zone in.
Nemesis Packs Are Worth Killing
Each nemesis pack you defeat upgrades the bonus chest at the end of the delve. On Tier 11, killing all four packs turns it into an epic chest that can drop Petrified Roots (worth ~1,400 gold each), gear, and cosmetics. They also count toward your enemy-kill percentage for completion.