Keystone Hero: Darkheart Thicket is the achievement you get for completing Darkheart Thicket at Mythic+ level 10 or higher within the 30-minute timer — it was a +20 before the Dragonflight Season 4 key squish — and it rewards a permanent teleport to the dungeon entrance in Val'sharah. It can only be earned while the dungeon sits in the active Mythic+ rotation; Legion Timewalking keystones award their own achievements, not this one.
Quick facts
| Requirement | Timed completion at +10 or higher (current key scale); +20 when the achievement debuted in Dragonflight Season 3 |
| Timer | 30:00 for a one-chest clear |
| Reward | Teleport spell to the Darkheart Thicket entrance, learned account-wide and kept forever |
| Location | Val'sharah, Broken Isles — the entrance is at the roots of Shaladrassil in the northern part of the zone |
| Bosses | Archdruid Glaidalis, Oakheart, Dresaron, Shade of Xavius (4 total) |
| Counts toward | Nothing else directly — seasonal Keystone Master and Keystone Hero are separate, rating-based achievements |
How to earn it, step by step
- Confirm Darkheart Thicket is in the current Mythic+ pool. If it is not, no keystone for it can drop and the achievement is on hold until it rotates back.
- Get a Darkheart Thicket key at +10 or higher, or have a group member bring one. Depleted keys still count as long as you beat the timer.
- Clear the dungeon in under 30 minutes with the full enemy-forces bar filled and all four bosses dead. Deaths cost time; wipes are the usual reason a +10 fails, not raw damage output.
- The achievement pops on the final boss kill. The teleport appears in your spellbook under the Mythic+ teleport section.
Where is Darkheart Thicket and how do I get there?
The dungeon is in Val'sharah on the Broken Isles, carved into the corrupted roots of Shaladrassil, the world tree in the zone's north. The fastest route without the teleport is Dalaran (Broken Isles) to the Val'sharah flight point, then a short flight north; the dungeon finder or a group leader's summon also works. Once you own the Keystone Hero teleport, you skip all of that.
What makes Darkheart Thicket hard on a +10?
The trash before Glaidalis is the first filter: Dreadsoul Poisoners drop poison pools that must be dispelled or moved out of, and Bloodtainted Furies need interrupts to stop the lingering bleed. Oakheart's frontal breath and ground shatter punish anyone standing in the wrong spot, and Dresaron's Down Draft pushes the group toward eggs — hatching them mid-fight is the classic wipe. Shade of Xavius is a burn check: Growing Paranoia forces players to spread while the healer manages the mounting bleed, so a slow kill snowballs fast.
Does the teleport keep working after the dungeon rotates out?
Yes. Keystone Hero teleports are permanent unlocks tied to the achievement, so once you have it, it stays usable in every later expansion regardless of what the current Mythic+ pool looks like. It has a short cooldown, and the spell works from anywhere you can cast — handy for Legion Timewalking weeks and mount farming in the area.
Is Keystone Hero the same as the seasonal Keystone Hero title?
No, and the shared name causes confusion. Per-dungeon Keystone Hero (this one) is a single timed key. The seasonal Keystone Hero is a rating achievement earned across every dungeon in the season, sitting above Keystone Master (2,000 rating) and below the 3,000-rating Keystone Legend. Timing one Darkheart Thicket +10 contributes rating toward those, but the dungeon-specific achievement itself only needs the one clear.
If pugging a +10 keeps ending in a depleted key, PewPewShop can put a vetted human team around you for a Mythic+ Specific Dungeon run from EUR 20 whenever Darkheart Thicket is in the active pool — play alongside pros, get the timer beaten, and walk out with the teleport and the rating instead of another wipe on Dresaron.