World of Warcraft · Midnight

Season 1 Delves Guide

Coffer Keys · Beacon of Hope · Weekly Loot Maximization

There's been a lot of confusion in the community about how Delves actually work in Midnight Season 1, specifically when to spend coffer keys, how the Beacon of Hope works, and how to get the most loot out of every week. This guide covers all of it. Follow this and you'll walk away each week with up to 8 pieces of champion gear and 1 guaranteed hero piece without spending a ton of time doing it.
The BasicsHow Delves Work in Midnight
Delve Tiers and Loot Scaling

Delves run from Tier 1 to Tier 11. Gear rewards scale with tier, but loot stops scaling after Tier 8. Tiers 9 through 11 give the same item level gear as Tier 8. You push those tiers for Myth Dawncrests, Delver's Journey progress, and seasonal achievements, not better drops.

Tier 8 is your weekly target. It's where Bountiful Delves start dropping Champion 2/6 gear, the Trove Hunter's Bounty rewards Hero gear, and your Great Vault world slot reaches its maximum item level.

Recommended item level for Tier 8: Around 245-250. If you're below that, work your way up from Tier 6 first.
Bountiful vs Regular Delves

Regular Delves cap out at Tier 3 for end-of-run loot regardless of what tier you run them on. They don't scale. For Tier 4 and above, only run them when they're Bountiful and you have a Coffer Key to spend on the chest at the end.

Bountiful Delves rotate on daily reset. Four Delves are Bountiful at a time, shown with a glowing icon on the map. Check your Delver's Guide at the Delver's Headquarters in Silvermoon every day to see which ones are up.

Don't waste time on non-Bountiful Tier 4+ Delves. If you don't have a Coffer Key or the Delve isn't Bountiful, the run gives you almost nothing worth having at that difficulty.
Tier Bountiful Coffer Loot Great Vault Notes
T1–T3 Adventurer track Adventurer Good for unlocking tiers, not for weekly loot
T4–T7 Veteran track Veteran / Champion Step up if you can't clear T8 yet
T8 Champion 2/6 Hero 1/6 This is the weekly target
T9–T11 Same as T8 Same as T8 For Myth Dawncrests and Delver's Journey only
Coffer KeysWhen and How to Spend Them
How Coffer Keys Work in Midnight

Coffer Keys are now a currency system rather than physical items in your bag. You collect Coffer Key Shards from world activities, quests, and flying around the open zones. Shards automatically convert into Restored Coffer Keys when you enter a Bountiful Delve.

The weekly cap is 600 shards, which equals 6 Restored Coffer Keys per week per character. You spend one key at the end of a Bountiful Delve to open the Bountiful Coffer, the big chest that contains Champion gear and your Dawncrest currencies.

Only spend Coffer Keys on Tier 8 or higher Bountiful Delves. Spending a key on a Tier 3 or Tier 5 run is technically valid but wastes a key on lower-track loot. Save every key for Tier 8+.
Where to Get Key Shards

Shards drop from world quests, treasures, outdoor events, and flying through open zone content. Check world quests every day since some offer 20-30 shards directly. The weekly quest from Archmage Aethas Sunreaver in Silvermoon (complete 5 Delves for a Champion gear piece) also contributes to overall shard income. With consistent play you'll hit your 600-shard cap naturally across the week without any dedicated farming.

Bountiful DelvesYour Weekly Loot Engine
The Weekly Loot Structure

With 6 Coffer Keys from the weekly cap plus 2 free starter keys (more on those below), you can run 8 Bountiful Delves in a week. Each one opened with a Coffer Key guarantees a piece of Champion track gear from the Bountiful Coffer. That's up to 8 Champion pieces in a week from Delves alone, all without touching Mythic+ or raid.

On top of that, completing 8 Delves total fills your Great Vault world activity slots to maximum, giving you a Hero track item to choose from on reset day.

8 Bountiful Delves fills your Great Vault world slots completely. Run all 8 across the week, they don't need to be done in one session.
Beacon of HopeSummon Nullaeus Without Going to Torment's Rise
What the Beacon of Hope Does

The Beacon of Hope is a consumable item that lets you summon Nullaeus (the Season 1 Delve Nemesis) directly inside any regular Delve, without having to enter Torment's Rise. You buy it from Naleidea Rivergleam at the Delver's Headquarters in Silvermoon City for 5,000 Undercoin.

The reason you want this: Nullaeus drops the weekly Trove Hunter's Bounty, which gives you a guaranteed Hero piece. The Beacon lets you get that Bounty during a normal Delve run and skip the harder Nemesis Delve entirely. It's the efficient path.

How to Use It
Activate the Bounty before the final boss dies. If you forget and kill the boss first, you lose the Hero cache for the week. Don't rush the last pull.
You can skip Torment's Rise entirely. The Beacon of Hope gives you the weekly Bounty in a regular Delve. Torment's Rise is for Nullaeus kill achievements and the Arcanovoid Construct mount chase. Not required for weekly loot.
Trove Hunter's BountyYour Weekly Guaranteed Hero Piece
What It Is

The Trove Hunter's Bounty is a one-time-per-week item you get by bringing Nullaeus to 50% health, either through the Beacon of Hope in a regular Delve or by fighting him directly in Torment's Rise. It adds a Hidden Trove cache to the end of your current Delve run.

On Tier 8 or higher, the Hidden Trove contains a guaranteed Hero 1/6 piece of gear. This is the best piece of gear you can get from Delves all week, so treat it like a priority.

The Trove Hunter's Bounty is also available for purchase directly from Zah'ran (the rotating vendor inside higher-tier Delves) for 5,000 Undercoin if you miss the weekly Nullaeus encounter. Useful as a backup but costs currency you might want elsewhere.
Free Starter KeysTwo Extra Keys Most People Missed
Delver's Starter Kit

At the start of Season 1, you can claim a free item called the Delver's Starter Kit from Naleidea Rivergleam at the Delver's Headquarters in Silvermoon City. It costs nothing and gives you 2 Restored Coffer Keys that don't count toward your weekly cap of 6.

That means in your first week you can run 8 Bountiful Delves instead of 6, getting 8 Champion pieces instead of 6 from the Bountiful Coffers alone. This is the biggest early-progression boost available and most people walked straight past it.

One per account, one character only. You can only claim the Starter Kit on one character per account. Use it on the character you want to gear the most. Once it's gone, it's gone.
If you've already claimed your Starter Kit, great. If you haven't yet and Season 1 just started, go to Naleidea Rivergleam at Delver's HQ in Silvermoon (/way 52.7, 77.9) right now before you do anything else.
Weekly RoutineMaximum Loot Every Reset

Weekly Delve Checklist

Claim Delver's Starter Kit (week 1 only) +2 Free Keys
Run 8 Tier 8+ Bountiful Delves with Coffer Keys 8x Champion Gear
Use Beacon of Hope at checkpoint in one Bountiful Delve Weekly Bounty
Activate Trove Hunter's Bounty before final boss 1x Hero Gear
Great Vault (world slots filled by 8 Delve completions) Choice Hero Gear
How to Pace It Across the Week

You don't need to run all 8 in one day. Four Bountiful Delves are up at any given time and they rotate on daily reset. Run 2-4 per day across the week and you'll hit 8 easily. Check the Delver's Guide at Delver's HQ at each reset to see the rotation and route the closest ones together to cut travel time.

The Beacon of Hope and Trove Hunter's Bounty reset weekly. Use the Beacon during whichever Bountiful run you pick early in the week so you don't forget before reset.

Valeera Sanguinar is your companion in Midnight Delves. You can set her to Tank, Healer, or DPS depending on your spec. If you're dying in Tier 8, swap her role to support your spec's weakness before pushing higher.