Blizzard has almost figured out the new solo dungeons in World of Warcraft after several emergency patches

After a whirlwind of patch updates, World of Warcraft's Delves have at least become more stable than they were just a week earlier. The enemies are no longer easier for groups to defeat than they are solo, and the attacks that end a run have been reduced. Blizzard promised that Delves would be a challenging solo alternative to dungeons, but there are still a few problems.

Blizzard has stepped in to fix some of the issues that caused confusion last week. They have made Delves harder for groups than solo players. It may have made it too difficult for groups. They now have to fight enemies with millions of more health and dodge many more fatal attacks.

Brann Bronzebeard is your NPC ally for solo Delves. He's still mouthy and ineffective. He's a terrible healer, damage dealer, and shot caller. He yells at you to avoid poison pools while standing right in them. Someone made an addon to silence him.

Many people were relieved to hear him stop talking, but others, like Reddit's Ragnarolls, preferred him louder: "I enjoy ol’ uncle Brann being irritating." "I find that getting into imaginary arguments, and rolling my eyeballs every few seconds, really enhances the experience."

The real, fundamental issue with Delves is they still don't fit the identity Blizzard pitched them for. They're not the class-agnostic solution to WoW's raids and dungeons, where tank, damage dealer, and healer roles shape the experience, and queue times. Delves are a tough place for healers and squishy classes, but tank players can pound their way through using powerful defensive abilities.

How did everyone's T8 Delves first week go? From r/wow

These activities are also legitimately harder to complete compared to WoW’s long history of easy soloable tasks. It's refreshing that Blizzard is willing to subvert expectations which have been around for over 20 years. However, players seem to be a bit hesitant to accept that something might be too difficult to finish for their class or gear level. Reddit threads are devoted to discussing the best classes for Delves. Those who have to play the weakest classes will even change their specialization in mid-run to survive. Reddit user, designerlemons, wrote: "It's not fun but it can be achieved." It sounds like a glowing recommendation to me!

As someone who has followed Diablo 4's resurgence over the past year, I find all of this fascinating. Blizzard has added new endgame dungeons that require different skills from normal dungeons. The concept of a "best build" has been fractured and players now have to commit to one type of activity. Lightning Spear sorceresses can annihilate waves of enemies instantly in the new Infernal Hordes Mode, but struggle with bosses in other game modes, such as the Pit. Diablo 4 makes leveling up secondary characters a breeze. The leveling process in WoW is more difficult.
Blizzard may decide to leave Delves as a challenge that not everyone will be able to complete. We may eventually see tiers dedicated to classes who are more effective in Delves. This would be cool, especially for an MMO where it's all about how you fit into your group. Blizzard may also find a way to scale the game perfectly to make everyone happy. But I suspect it will take some time to work out all the kinks.