Maiev Shadowsong Dire Maul Dungeon Guide - 23 and under

Roles

Build Cycle

1

2

2

3

Shortest Cycle

8

3

3

6

Playable Anywhere

This build can be used to full clear to unlock full golden boost slots as well as to clear at level 23. Some subs work for talent options/preferences for Minis

1st Boss: defend initial push and send bandits for chest first. Once clear you can push both lanes to make it easier to defend or just focus on the left lane and right chest, whichever works out best for your control/cycle. Focus on dealing damage to “big” minions first so the enemy can turn on them like Ogres and Huntresses. Bandits are good for chests even without the bonus gold talent (I run poison for Dire Maul since there’s only chests on boss 1) as well as stalling/defending/supporting push damage, it’s a very versatile minion for 1. Pilot is good for defense as well as finishing towers/following Earth Elementals. Once you make it to the boss with a wave drop Earth Elemental/Quilboar if running and if available to tank and follow up with damage unbound minis for support and to finish off the boss/nearby minis.

2nd Boss: Ignore tower to the right, I never get that tower even incidentally. Just focus on defending your base and pushing left with tanks and building waves to control to gold nodes nearby and the summoning stone. Once a push survives long enough to the boss drop Earth Elemental/Quilboar if running to tank and follow with Pilot if not used for defense. You can secure the summoning stone early with an unbound mini, then just defend your base while you drop unbound minis on the boss while cycling support from the summoning stone.

3rd boss: My usual strategy for this boss includes controlling the left and right boss to make the final boss easier, but since this build focuses on unbound minis the best strategy for the last boss is to rush the middle tower and rush down the main boss’ healer so you can just rush the boss down with no drawback and it makes defending your base easier as the mini-bosses are never turned against you and remain in their initial locations. For this strategy defend the initial attack on your base, then focus down the tower in the middle. Just drop kobolds on cycle left or right whichever vein has more gold available immediately. Continue to cycle mini support from the middle tower once controlled and drop minis first on the healer while the boss is distracted by waves from the tower. You want to get as many minis down so you can tank and keep the boss off damage such as pilot for casts, Worgen for ambush and attacks, as well as Maiev to finish off and get additional damage on the boss from the buff.

For mini subs I would suggest only gaining an additional unbound unit/tank by dropping Bandits or Gryphon Rider, moving the Pilot to an alliance slot, and Quilboar where Pilot was.
Talent subs can be based on preference for Maiev, Earth Elemental, Quilboar if used, and Witch Doctor (shields are good as well but the extra AOE clear when running 3 NON-unbound minis is great and the build lacks it outside of Pilot)

I also have a variant on this build which uses all unbound minis, but I just really prefer the value from the cycle minis like Gryphon Rider, Witch Doctor, and Defias Bandits in the build for dungeons as they have very little drawback with the cost and very high upsides when buffed from the dungeon bonuses. That build will have a separate guide as well if you are interested in it.