Season 2 of World of Warcraft: The War Within is finally here, and it really shakes up the overall gearing progression. With so many options available, it can be hard to see what is worth taking part in and where your next upgrades could come from. Whether you're looking to grind through the content yourself or want a faster way to power up, a WoW boost can help you stay ahead. We are going to tell you how to get the best gear upgrades in WoW. This is the Ultimate World of Warcraft upgrade guide!
How the Upgrade System Works
Firstly, it is important to understand how the upgrade progression system works. No matter where you get your gear from, you will be able to upgrade it to higher item levels.
There are three major parts to this system:
- The gear itself
- The Valorstones Currency
- 4 Different Types of Crests
Every piece of gear will have an upgrade track tied to it. So, for example, a piece of gear is champion gear, and it is 2/8 on its upgrade path, which means that it can be upgraded 6 more times, increasing its item level and power with each upgrade. There are six upgrade tracks in total, and they overlap each other about halfway through. This means that you shouldn't ever really see a piece of gear drop at 5/8; instead, there would be a 1/8 on the next upgrade track up, giving you way more upgrade potential. This is also why getting to those new upgrade track breakpoints is so powerful.
To Upgrade Gear, You Need Valorstones and Crests
Valorstones can be obtained through multiple sources, such as delves, dungeons, raids, weekly quests, and activities. As long as you are playing the game, you will be able to gather Valorstones.
There are 4 types of Crests: Weathered, Carved, Runed, and Gilded. The higher the item level of the gear that you are trying to upgrade, the higher the tier of Crest you will need.
- Weathered Crests upgrade gear to levels 623–632 and can be obtained from Delves (Tiers 1–5), Outdoor events, Raid Finder Liberation of Undermine, and Heroic Season Dungeons.
- Carved Crests upgrade gear to levels 636–645. You can acquire them from Outdoor Events, Normal Liberation of Undermine, Mythic Season Dungeons, Delves (Tiers 6–7), and Delver's Bounty (Tiers 4 & 5).
- Runed Crests upgrade gear to item level 649–658. They are attainable from Heroic Liberation of Undermine, Mythic Keystone Dungeons from +2 to +6, Delves (Tiers 8–11), and Delver's Bounty (Tiers 6 & 7).
- Gilded Crests are used to upgrade gear to item level 662 and above. You can get them from Mythic Liberation of Undermine, Mythic Keystone Dungeons from +7 and up, Delve's Gilded Stash (Tier 11), and Delver's Bounty (Tier 8 and Up).
Upgrading Gear through Open World Activities
Early Gear upgrades are mostly going to come from weekly activities and quests. These will reward you with a cache, and the first 2 caches that you open for the week will give you level 623 veteran gear, and the first 4 caches you will open for the week will give you a Restored Coffer key, and the rest will be Valorstones and Carved Crests.
Season 2 introduced a new world boss in the Undermine Zone. You will be guaranteed to get any level 642 item from the loot table on your first weekly kill of the boss.
Upgrading Gear through Crafting
In WoW Season 2, gearing can also be upgraded using crafting.
There are 2 tiers of crafted gear; the lower tier caps out at level 629, and the higher tier will be able to go all the way up to level 675. Lower Tier gear can be crafted using the Enchanted Weathered Undermine Crest, which can be purchased for 30 Weathered Crests from the Crest Vendor in Dornogal.
The higher tier gear is heavily time gated as they require a Spark of Fortune, which can only be attained by combining two Fractured Spark of Fortunes, and those can be earned once per week from a weekly quest in Dornogal. Any gear crafted using these Sparks can go to the level 645 baseline, and from there, you can use Enchanted Runed Crests and Enchanted Gilded Crests to upgrade them. Enchanted Runed Crests can be bought from the Crest Vendor in Dornogal for 45 Runed Crests, and Enchanted Gilded Crests are bought for 60 Gilded Crests. Enchanted Runed Crests can take an item up to level 658, and Enchanted Gilded Crests can take your item up to level 675.
Upgrading Gear through Delves
Delves are mini dungeons or scenarios with various objectives that, when completed, award you with treasures. There are multiple difficulties of Delves, and the higher the difficulty, the better the gear. To unlock a higher tier, you need to complete the previous tier and have lives remaining.
Normal Delves reward you only with Valorstones and Crests for stronger gear upgrades; you will need to do Bountiful Delves. Every day, 4 Delves will be Bountiful, and after completing a Bountiful Delve, you will get a Locked Bountiful Chest, which will require a Restored Coffer Key to open.
Upgrading Gear through the Liberation of Undermine Raid
Season 2 brings The Liberation of Undermine Raid, which can grant you some of the best gear in the game. The higher the difficulty you complete, the better the gear you are going to get. From the first boss to the last boss, the item level of gear drops will increase. The gear will start dropping at level 623, with the last boss dropping an item at level 632. On normal mode, the minimum level gear drop is at item level 636, and the last boss will drop an item level 645. In Heroic mode, the gear drops start at item level 649 and scale all the way up to 658 on the last boss. Lastly, on Mythic, you will get item level 662 from the first bosses, which will increase up to item level 672 for the last boss.
Upgrading Gear through Dungeons
Dungeons can also help you to gain better gear. Normal dungeons provide you with item level 593 gear, and Heroic Dungeons can drop item level 619 gear. You can either queue for a Normal and Heroic using the random Dungeon Finder, or you can even do a Normal dungeon alone with NPCs.
Mythic Dungeons will provide you with much better gear than Normal and Heroic Dungeons. However, they can be done once per week. Item level 636 gear is dropped from Mythic Zero Dungeons, and the rewards scale quickly once you get into the Mythic+ Keystone Dungeons. At Key Level 2, you will get item level 639 loot, and at Key Level 10 and above, you will get item level 655 loot. Mythic+ Dungeons are also one of the best sources of Runed and Gilded Crests, making them an essential part of the endgame gear farming strategy.
Conclusion
This article covers every gearing method available in Season 2 of World of Warcraft: The War Within. Hopefully, the insights shared here will help you secure better gear and enhance your gameplay experience!
