Every Mage Tower Challenge ranked by difficulty in World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft doesn’t have much in the way of difficult solo gameplay, but what is does have is mighty. During Legion, the Mage Tower challenged players to conquer unique solo class-specific encounters for weapon appearances and bragging rights. While the tower was disabled at the end of Legion and again in Shadowlands, it has now returned permanently in Dragonflight after rebalancing it for the major class reworks that came with the expansion.

There are a total of seven different challenges, and your class specialization determines which one you will face. Each of the 36 specializations have varying levels of difficulty amongst the different encounters. Let’s break down the challenges from the most difficult to the least troubling, and further critique them for each specialization.

1. End of the Risen Threat Mage Tower Challenge in World of Warcraft

End of the Risen Threat is a healing challenge against Lord Erdris Thorn in Black Rook Hold. While it and the tank challenge are both extremely hard, I would put this one in the top spot for one reason – it is by far the longest. Every other challenge is less than 10 minutes, but this one can last up to 20 minutes, and any mistake during it will set you back to square one.

The difficulty in the encounter is micromanaging all the different ally NPCs that seem to have a death wish. You must keep all of them alive while balancing your crowd control cooldowns correctly. There are portions of the encounter where you also need to monitor when enemies die as killing too many at once causes damage that could be lethal. Here’s a tip – if you die in your fight against Eldris at the final stage, but your allies are still alive, DON’T RELEASE. They could possibly kill him in that period and secure you a victory.

Most difficult to least difficult based on specialization:

1. Holy Priest – While Priests have the healing tools to easily keep the party alive, they lack a lot of the utility needed to lock down many of the enemies.
2. Mistweaver Monk – Monks can crowd control enemies for days, but are a bit lacking when it comes to having enough spread burst healing to micromanage allies that are far apart.
3. Restoration Shaman – Shamans have a good mix of healing and utility for the encounter, but suffer a bit from fewer defensive cooldowns and sustained spread healing.
4. Restoration Druid – Druids have almost all of the tools needed to take on this challenge comfortably. They can lock down enemies easily while also excelling at sustained spread healing. Their only challenge is recovering from mistakes as most of their heals are over time.
5. Holy Paladin – Paladins have good burst healing and a readily available cooldown with Avenging Wrath. The encounter is split into phases that provide downtime to wait for cooldowns to finish, giving patient Paladins the chance to go into each part of the challenge with everything ready.

2. The Highlord’s Return Mage Tower Challenge in World of Warcraft

The Highlord’s Return is a tank challenge that has you face off against Highlord Kruul in the Twisting Nether. It is one of the hardest encounters to micromanage because there are so many things that could go wrong. One mistake could send you flying off the edge of the arena, or killed instantly by a hard-hitting ability. Your allies during this fight are also pretty squishy if you don’t focus on keeping new enemies off of them.

Most difficult to least difficult based on specialization:

1. Brewmaster Monk – Monks can zip around the field for days, but they lack some of the survivability that the other tanks have, making monitoring your health during the encounter a test of balance.
2. Protection Warrior – Warriors have amazing survivability, but their ability to damage distant targets is lacking. This means that you will spend a lot of the fight running away from the main boss to kill priority targets based on where they spawn.
3. Blood Death Knights – Death Knights only suffer for one reason during this fight, and it’s their lack of mobility. Micromanaging additional enemies is hard when you are one of the slowest classes in the game.
4. Guardian Druid – Druids can easily take out distant enemies with Moonfire while also having good range on Thrash to hit multiple enemies at once.
5. Protection Paladin – The fight becomes a lot easier when you have a ranged interrupt as part of your rotation. Avenger’s Shield mixed with several cooldowns that basically make you unkillable give Paladins a lot of time to breath during the encounter.
6. Vengeance Demon Hunter – Because of the ability Glide, Demon Hunters don’t have to worry about being flung off the platform with no way to get back. This negates a big challenge of the encounter.

3. Thwarting the Twins Mage Tower Challenge in World of Warcraft

Thwarting the Twins is a DPS challenge that has you defeat the twins Raest and Karam Magespear in the Twisting Nether. The main challenge here is pumping enough damage into Raest while he is vulnerable while still managing to keep Karam slowed and having control of all the other enemies that pop up. Being hit by almost anything can spiral the fight out of control.

Most difficult to least difficult based on specialization:

1. Shadow Priest – Priests lack some of the short cooldowns on utility needed to keep every enemy in check, meaning there is a lot of juggling to be had during the fight.
2. Affliction Warlock – Warlocks have the same weaknesses as Priests in this fight. Keeping a ton of enemies slowed and reliably interrupted is a chore when cooldowns are so long.
3. Marksmanship Hunter – Hunters can move around pretty well and have a lot of utility to lock down the enemies, however, they also suffer from long cooldowns needed to control important targets.
4. Balance Druid – Druids can run around for days and have great spread damage to whittle down enemies. They also have a lot of utility to keep targets crowd controlled.
5. Frost Mage – Frost Mages are the masters of slowing down enemies, and have the same strengths as Druid during the encounter. So many of their attacks create area-of-effect slows that keeping the adds in check is a breeze.

4. Closing the Eye Mage Tower Challenge in World of Warcraft

Closing the Eye is a DPS challenge that has you defeat Archmage Xylem at the Eye of Eternity. This fight requires constant concentration and you might find yourself at low health more often than you would like. The final phase also has a strict enrage, meaning you have to do enough damage in a short amount of time.

Most difficult to least difficult based on specialization:

• Subtlety Rogue – Rogues can zip around the battlefield with ease, but they have to micromanage their health more and suffer from having to Sprint instead of gap close during certain parts.
• Frost Death Knight – Death Knights have good sustain and reliable interrupts, but are a bit slow when it comes to being in the right place at the right time.
• Havoc Demon Hunter – Demon Hunters do not have to worry about mobility, but watch your health or you will find yourself as a corpse.
• Arms Warrior – Warriors can gap close with ease while also having enough damage, utility, and self-sustain to make the encounter a breeze.
• Survival Hunter – Hunters have the same strengths as Warrior, with the added benefit of a pet to tank the boss and Flare to easily end transition phases from range.

5. The God Queen’s Fury Mage Tower Challenge in World of Warcraft

The God-Queen’s Fury is a DPS challenge that pits you against Sygrin and two other enemies in the Halls of Valor. This fight is all about micromanaging each NPC while keeping constant watch on your positioning. One bad spot could spell disaster for the encounter.

Most difficult to least difficult based on specialization:

1. Assassination Rogue – Rogues pump the damage, but have trouble keeping themselves sustained during the fight. They have to rely much more on the provided healing orbs, which can sometimes be placed in a bad spot.
2. Demonology Warlock – Warlocks lack the reliable mobility to have perfect positioning and also suffer from long utility cooldowns. They do have a pet, however, which can sometimes keep enemies off of you.
3. Arcane Mage – Mages suffer the same setbacks as Rogues. They do, however, have the burst to potentially make the encounter much shorter.
4. Retribution Paladin – Paladins have great utility and the ability to become immune to damage if they find themselves in trouble. Their mobility is a little lacking, but other than that they have everything they need for this fight.
5. Enhancement Shaman – Shamans have all the perfect utility to successfully navigate this encounter. They have good burst, healing, and utility to always maintain control of the fight.

Related: New World of Warcraft patch sees the return of racial Heritage Armor, expands available Monk races, and more

6. Feltotem’s Fall Mage Tower Challenge in World of Warcraft

Feltotem’s Fall is a DPS challenge that has you defeat Tugar Bloodtotem in Highmountain. This fight is very repetitive and has no official enrage, meaning as long as you maintain concentration for the entire fight you will eventually come out on top.

Most difficult to least difficult based on specialization:

1. Destruction Warlock – Warlocks shouldn’t find this fight incredibly difficult, but they do have to balance their cooldowns a lot more than the others and monitor their health.
2. Windwalker Monk – Monks are able to get to where they need to be with ease while also having enough burst and short interrupts to easily deal with anything in this fight.
3. Beast Mastery Hunter – Having a pet tank the boss means less damage done to you specifically. Add in the fact that you are a ranged class and with a lot of utility and you have the perfect tools to win.
4. Discipline Priest – The fight is designed for DPS specializations, and so being a healing spec makes the encounter quite trivial. Priests can’t reliable interrupt important abilities, but they have what they need and can heal through anything else.

7. An Impossible Foe Mage Tower Challenge in World of Warcraft

An Impossible Foe is a DPS challenge that pits you against Agatha, the Imp Mother in her lair. As long as you maintain focus during this fight and immediately switch to priority targets, it is one of the easiest challenges in the Mage Tower.

Most difficult to least difficult based on specialization:

1. Unholy Death Knight – Death Knights only have one weakness in this fight, and that is mobility. Luckily this is only really an issue when the boss teleports, which only happens a few times.
2. Outlaw Rogue – Rogues are perfectly capable of tackling this fight. Their only issue is self-sustain, especially if anything goes wrong.
3. Fire Mage – Mages pump out the damage and have the control to make this fight easy as long as they monitor their health.
4. Elemental Shaman – Shamans have the burst and spread damage to easily deal with adds while also keeping their health up.
5. Feral Druid – Druids have the interrupts, mobility, and damage to micromanage this fight with ease.
6. Fury Warrior – Warriors have the same strengths as Druids here, with the added bonus of ending the last phase a lot faster.