How to change dungeon difficulty in WoW

Just in case you accidentally left it on Heroic mode.

Dragon in Cataclysm dungeon Vortex Pinnacle.
Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Dungeons in World of Warcraft have four difficulties: Normal, Heroic, Mythic, and Mythic+. All four of the difficulties are easily accessible, but a handful of them have some stipulations. For example, Normal and Heroic dungeons can be queued for in the dungeon finder tool, while Mythic and Mythic+ dungeons require a bit more legwork.

Recommended Videos

Even with that being said, though, you can still change your difficulty and form dungeon groups pretty easily. 

Thankfully, all it takes to alter the dungeon difficulty in WoW is clicking a button in your user interface (or queuing up for a specific difficulty level in the dungeon finder). 

How to change the dungeon difficulty in WoW

Entrance to Freehold in WoW Dragonflight
Meeting Stones are a valuable tool to bring players to dungeon entrances quickly. Screenshot by Dot Esports

To change the difficulty of your WoW dungeon, right-click on your character’s portrait and scroll to the subsection of the menu that reads “Instance Options.” From there, hover over the “dungeon difficulty” section and select the difficulty you want to play your dungeons on.

Keep in mind that you need to be outside of an instance portal when changing your dungeon’s difficulty. You cannot change the difficulty of a dungeon on the fly while inside the instance. Everyone in your party must zone out, then you must change the difficulty to your new desired setting before going back in. 

How to start a Mythic+ dungeon in WoW

You cannot queue for Mythic or Mythic+ dungeons in the dungeon finder. Instead, you’ll need to use the group finder tool to create a group. Once your group is formed, all five players will need to enter the dungeon manually by either flying to the instance’s portal or by having other players summon them via a Meeting Stone. 

If you’re looking to start a Mythic+ run, you’ll need to have your dungeon difficulty set to Mythic. Make sure your group leader’s dungeon difficulty is set to Mythic before starting your Mythic+ run as the fountain where you place your Mythic Keystone will only appear in the Mythic version of whatever dungeon you’re looking to run. 

Author
Image of Michael Kelly
Michael Kelly
Staff Writer covering World of Warcraft and League of Legends, among others. Mike's been with Dot since 2020, and has been covering esports since 2018.