Welcome, Traveler! Ok, without extra words, let’s start our comprehensive Dragonflight Season 3 gearing guide. Right here, we’ll explain to you the following things:
- What has changed in the gearing system compared to 10.1 (including Drake’s Crests discounts for upgrading).
- The fundamental mechanics of upgrading gear with new Crests.
- How high you can increase your wow champion ilvl by engaging in different types of content.
- Where you can upgrade your high-end gear.
- How to understand the tiers in the gearing system for Dragonflight 10.2.
And of course, as a bonus, we’ll provide very important information on how to prepare for the starting season (if you’re not already prepared), or how to close the gap between you and the highest-geared people on your realm in the shortest possible time. So le’t dive into dragonflight gearing guide for season 3.
Also we’re recommend you to read our guide about DRAGONFLIGHT SEASON 3 PVP
Changes in Upgrade system compared to the 10.1
First and primal, if you’ve already mastered the gear upgrade system with crests from 10.1, you know that upgrading your crafted gear requires tons of crests and Flightstones for gearing in dragonflight.
It’s great when you’re upgrading your first set of champion gear. But what about when you need to gear up an alt or if you’re farming a specific item, like a particular trinket that better suits your current stats and gives you an advantage over other players?
Here you can benefit from the innovation: Discounts on gear upgrades for lower-level crests, which Blizzard introduced.
How does it work?
It’s a pretty simple mechanics. When you have already upgraded the gear of this slot to the incoming item level, you can upgrade all other items for almost free. The more items you upgrade to the current item level (you want to reach), the cheaper the next upgrade will be.
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For example, let’s say you need X amount of drake crests to upgrade them by 4 ilvls at Dragonflight ilvl chart. If you’ve already upgraded a similar item to that ilvl at any time on your account, you’ll receive a percentage discount for the next upgrade. If you’ve upgraded your champion gear to that ilvl multiple times, you’ll have multiple percentage discounts.
Discounts are applied as follows:
- Flightstone Discounts: 60% reduction in Flightstone cost for upgrades in a slot where gear of a certain item level has already been obtained for max champion ilvl.
- Crest Discounts: No Crests are required for upgrades in a slot where gear of a certain item level has already been obtained.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The discount counter is separated for PvP and PvE content to prevent cheating situations where PvP players obtain the highest possible PvE content.
Interface innovations
One other important thing about the new Gear upgrade system is that now you shouldn’t need to consult any tables to determine which gear reaches which ilvl. This is because, now, you can obtain that information directly from the upgrading interface. You can now see not only the ilvl you currently have or the ilvl you will achieve, but also the entire range of possible ilvls for this type of gearing.
Updates For Gear upgrade system
Except for the two previous notices about the interface and discounts for gear upgrading, you shouldn’t expect any real innovations in the perfectly balanced gear upgrade system for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Season 3, Patch 10.2.
For today, you may expect:
- Increasing the maximum ilvl for keys from 447 to 483, which is an increase of up to 36 ilvls, a usual number for the season patches.
- New Crests and Flightstones, which are required for upgrading your gear.
- Disabling old tier-sets to increase the power of the new tier sets obtained from the new Raids.
- New recipes for acquiring high-end gear.
- New places where you can upgrade your gear for your routines.
If you want to get all this information about Crests, Stones, Ilvls, and most importantly, how to obtain the highest gear in the short term, you’re welcome to explore further!
New Crests and FlightStones
There aren’t any significant changes in the Crests system. To be honest, there’s only one thing that has changed in the Crests system for upgrading gear in the World of Warcraft: Guardians of the Dream, and that’s the names of Crests and the ilvl you can obtain with all those crests. So here they are:
| Item Upgrade Track | Item Level Chart | Required Dreaming Crests |
| Explorer gear | 415 to 437 | Whelpling’s Dreaming Crest |
| Adventurer gear | 428 to 450 | Drake’s Dreaming Crest |
| Veteran gear | 441 to 463 | Wyrm’s Dreaming Crest |
| Champion gear | 454 to 476 | Aspect’s Dreaming Crest |
| Hero gear | 467 to 483 | Aspect’s Dreaming Crest |
| Myth gear | 480 to 489 | Aspect’s Dreaming Crest |
Here’s one of the most reasonable questions: Where is the old-fashioned Valor PvE gear upgrading system headed? Well, the answer is quite simple. Blizzard has introduced a new universal upgrade system to prevent situations where low-end gamers farm low-end keys to obtain items and then abuse the mechanics to fully upgraded myth gear just by collecting Valor for mythic+ gear chart.
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Comparison With Titles of Gear And Upgrade Gear Limits
As you may recall, in Dragonflight, there’s differentiation not only by dragonflight gear levels but also by titled gear. Right here, you can find information about the type of content where you can obtain one or another titled gear, along with the dragonflight ilvl gear range. We hope that with this table, you’ll be able to optimize your approach to obtaining gear and upgrading it using shadowflame crests or relevante to them crestsfrom heroic and mythic raids.
| Item Upgrade Track | Item Level Range | Source of Gear |
| Explorer Gear | 415 to 437 | Normal Dungeons, Early Mythic+ Dungeons, World Quests |
| Adventurer Gear | 428 to 450 | Higher Mythic+ Dungeons, LFR Raids, World Events |
| Veteran Gear | 441 to 463 | High-level Mythic+ Dungeons, Normal Raids, Competitive PvP |
| Champion Gear | 454 to 476 | Highest Mythic+ Dungeons (not weekly), Normal Raids |
| Hero Gear | 467 to 483 | Keystone +17 to +20 Dungeons, Heroic Raids |
| Myth Gear | 480 to 489 | Weekly Mythic+ Rewards, Mythic Raids |
How to Get Gear in the new World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Season 3
To access high-end content, you can:
- Explore the world.
- Play dungeons.
- Win in Battlegrounds.
- Participate in raids.
- Engage in Arena battles.
Alternatively, you can exchange your old crests from previous seasons for the new crests upwards at a rate of 1:6. While it may not seem like much, this will significantly reduce the time you spend grinding high-end content and allow you to increase your ilvl gear faster through the same upgrade tracks.
Where to buy crests and upgrade gear?
To buy crests and upgrade your PvP gear in Dragonflight:
- Crests are earned through rated PvP activities, not bought.
- To upgrade gear, visit any Item Upgrade NPC. In Dragonflight, key locations include:
- Cuzolth in Emerald Dream (/way 14529 49.8 62.8) and Zaralek Cavern (/way 14022 56.6 56).
- Corxian and Erza both in Valdrakken (/way 13862 44.3 36.5 and /way 13862 38.6 37.1, respectively).
- Researcher Baneflare in The Forbidden Reach (/way 13862 37.5 59.4).
Just bring your gear and the required flightstones and crests to one of these NPCs to upgrad
Mythic+ Gear: Myth Track Gear
To be honest, all these routines of exchanging lower-level crests immediately for higher PvE gear advancement and the differentiation between equivalent Mythic Keystone levels and titles for gear are designed solely to prevent gaming the system. They aim to deter gamers from bypassing the sixth upgrade level threshold and obtaining high-level gear without participating in high-level keystones.
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That’s why World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Season 3 still maintains a separation between item level and the key level required to obtain it. Here is a table where you can find the key level required to obtain the highest nascent crests from them.
| Difficulty | End of Dungeon | End Dungeon Gear Track | Great Vault | Great Vault Gear Track |
| 2 | 441 | Veteran 1/8 | 454 | Champion 1/8 |
| 3 | 444 | Veteran 2/8 | 457 | Champion 2/8 |
| 4 | 444 | Veteran 2/8 | 460 | Champion 3/8 |
| 5 | 447 | Veteran 3/8 | 460 | Champion 3/8 |
| 6 | 447 | Veteran 3/8 | 463 | Champion 4/8 |
| 7 | 450 | Veteran 4/8 | 463 | Champion 4/8 |
| 8 | 450 | Veteran 4/8 | 467 | Hero 1/6 |
| 9 | 454 | Champion 1/8 | 467 | Hero 1/6 |
| 10 | 454 | Champion 1/8 | 470 | Hero 2/6 |
| 11 | 457 | Champion 2/8 | 470 | Hero 2/6 |
| 12 | 457 | Champion 2/8 | 473 | Hero 3/6 |
| 13 | 460 | Champion 3/8 | 473 | Hero 3/6 |
| 14 | 460 | Champion 3/8 | 473 | Hero 3/6 |
| 15 | 463 | Champion 4/8 | 476 | Hero 4/6 |
| 16 | 463 | Champion 4/8 | 476 | Hero 4/6 |
| 17 | 467 | Hero 1/6 | 476 | Hero 4/6 |
| 18 | 467 | Hero 1/6 | 480 | Myth 1/4 |
| 19 | 470 | Hero 2/6 | 480 | Myth 1/4 |
| 20 | 470 | Hero 2/6 | 483 | Myth 2/4 |
Tier Gear with Explanation
Sure, let’s briefly discuss the new tier sets in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Season, specifically in the “Dream’s Hope” raid dungeon.
First and foremost — we have a guide about WOW DRAGONFLIGHT TIER SETS 10.2 – ALL CLASSES OVERVIEW + TIER BONUSES!
Secondly, but still essential: previous season’s gear immediately doesn’t work.
All the other information you can obtain from other guide. Here you can catch the table with T-bonuses for different classes
| Class | Spec | 2-Piece Bonus Summary | 4-Piece Bonus Summary |
| Death Knight | Blood | Bone Shield makes Heart Strike stronger | Soul Reaper and Abomination Limb apply Ashen Decay, extending its duration with Heart Strike and Blood Boil |
| Death Knight | Frost | Chill Streak enhances damage | More Chill Streak bounces, improved Rune chances, and faster Empower Rune Weapon cooldown |
| Death Knight | Unholy | Apocalypse summons an extra Magus | Runes extend Magus duration, Magus casts Amplify Damage increasing damage |
| Demon Hunter | Havoc | Blade Dance may trigger Throw Glaive | Throw Glaive reduces The Hunt’s cooldown and increases its damage |
| Demon Hunter | Vengeance | Sigil of Flame generates a Soul Fragment and increases burn | Attacking with Sigil of Flame increases damage, healing, and vitality |
| Druid | Balance | After Eclipse or combat start, next Starfire or Wrath is more potent | Starsurge or Starfall boosts Eclipse bonus |
| Druid | Feral | Feral Frenzy grants increased damage | Feral Frenzy is faster and enemies take burn damage |
| Druid | Guardian | Rage of the Sleeper enhances Dream Thorns | Rage extends Sleeper’s uptime, Dream Thorns become Blazing |
| Druid | Restoration | Nourish and Grove Guardian affect more targets | Clearcasting causes Regrowth to cast another Nourish |
| Hunter | Beast Mastery | Bestial Wrath summons a Dire Beast | Dire Beasts follow Kill Command with Beast Cleave |
| Hunter | Marksmanship | Rapid Fire triggers Volley | Volley can send Wind Arrows to targets |
| Hunter | Survival | Fury of the Eagle enhances crit chance | Fury flings a Wildfire Bomb, charged against primary prey |
| Mage | Arcane | Clearcasting increases spell damage, stackable | Clearcasting boosts Arcane Missiles’ damage and it affects surrounding targets |
| Mage | Fire | Pyroblast and Flamestrike critical strikes increase crit damage | Combustion doubles the critical damage bonus of Searing Rage |
| Mage | Frost | Glacial Spike does more damage and explodes on Shatter | Glacial Spike has a chance to trigger Brain Freeze |
| Monk | Brewmaster | Breath of Fire has bonus damage and healing | Breath of Fire increases Shadowflame damage and Celestial Brew absorption |
| Monk | Mistweaver | Renewing Mist spreads Chi Harmony, enhancing healing | Healing on Chi Harmony targets gets stored and shared |
| Monk | Windwalker | Melee strikes may grant a free Spinning Crane Kick | Blackout Kick reduces cooldown of several abilities |
| Paladin | Holy | Exploding Keg leaves Holy Reverberation | Arc Bolt cooldown reduced |
| Paladin | Protection | Judgment increases armor, stacking for bigger Consecration | Stacks make Consecration more powerful |
| Paladin | Retribution | Expurgation lasts longer with more damage, Judgment casts Wrathful Sanction | Wrathful Sanction enables Echoes of Wrath, double-hitting Templar’s Verdict or Divine Storm |
| Priest | Discipline | Smite and Penance increased by 20%; Smite extends Atonement. | Smite adds shadow damage during undefined. |
| Priest | Holy | Holy Word: Serenity triggers Renew; Holy Word: Sanctify grants Renew. | Renew may make next Holy Word: Sanctify or Serenity free. |
| Priest | Shadow | Shadow Word: Death triggers more at lower damage, extra trigger if target is below 20% health. | Shadow Word: Pain and Shadow Crash damage increase after Shadow Word: Death. |
| Rogue | Assassination | Nature damage and speed increase with energy use. | Envenom triggers a Nature damage explosion. |
| Rogue | Outlaw | Chance for Sinister Strike to hit twice. | Roll the Bones can refresh a combat buff. |
| Rogue | Subtlety | Shadowy doppelganger on Eviscerate, Rupture, or Black Powder use. | Doppelgangers hit harder and grant combo points. |
| Shaman | Elemental | Enhanced connection with elements. | Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning is faster and stronger after Lava Surge. |
| Shaman | Enhancement | Primordial Wave summons a Lightning Feral Spirit, increases Nature damage. | Feral Spirits reduce Primordial Wave cooldown. |
| Shaman | Restoration | Improved healing waves. | Riptide heals more and may trigger additional Riptides. |
| Warlock | Affliction | Soul Rot deals more damage and lasts longer. | Malefic Rapture hits harder and extends other agonizing spells. |
| Warlock | Demonology | Demonbolt brands target with Doom; Hand of Gul’dan reduces Doom cooldown. | Hand of Gul’dan summons a Doomfiend. |
| Warlock | Destruction | Immolate burns hotter and may grant Dimensional Rift charge. | Dimensional Rift can cause a Flame Rift. |
| Warrior | Arms | Rend deals more damage; chance to trigger Sudden Death. | Execute causes the target to bleed; Thunder Clap has increased damage. |
| Warrior | Fury | Increased damage and focus for Bloodthirst and Odyn’s Fury. | Critical hits with Bloodthirst reduce Odyn’s Fury cooldown. |
| Warrior | Protection | Shield Slam uses wounds to deal damage. | Consuming wounds reduces enemy damage; Thunder Clap resets faster. |
| Evoker | Devastation | Emerald Trance from Dragonrage boosts damage. | Essence Burst after Emerald Trance. |
| Evoker | Preservation | Empowered spells cast Living Flame on friends and foes. | Echoing Embers on healed allies or new targets. |
AmirDrassil Raid Gear: Hero gear and others
Raid gear is indeed similar to the previously explained tier gear. If you require information about which raid modes offer different ilvl gear with titles for the universal upgrade system for players collected crest fragments for each gear slot, and how to progress through the Amirdrassil raid in normal raid difficulty to obtain higher-level crests without a weekly cap from the first week.
We have detailed tactics and strategies for all raid bosses that you can utilize right from the start of the expansion. This information is available to help you optimize your raid experience and gear progression. Catch the AmirDrassil Raid guide here!
PVP gear season 3
Gearing up in PvP is gonna feel a bit different in Dragonflight Season 3. Instead of grinding out honor for those same upgrade tracks, you’re going to use flightstones and crests to boost the item level of your PvP gear.
The Verdant titles in Dragonflight Season 3 PvP appear to correspond to a certain tier of gear similar to the PvE gear system. Below, I have enhanced the PvP gear table by providing a comparison with the PvE titles from the previous table you provided.
| Gear Type | Source | PvP Item Level | PvE Gear Track Analog |
| Verdant Combatant | Crafted | 463 | Champion 4/8 |
| Verdant Aspirant | Honor | 476 | Hero 4/6 |
| Verdant Gladiator | Conquest | 489 | Myth 1/4 |
| Scalewarden Starter Gear | Bloody Tokens (War Mode) | 473 | Hero 3/6 |
| Scalewarden Upgraded Gear | Trophy of Strife (War Mode) | 486 | Higher than myth 4/4 |
So here’s the lowdown:
- Get Your Gear: First off, snag your PvP gear the usual way – jump into battles, scrap it out, and earn your pieces.
- Stockpile Flightstones: These little beauties are your ticket to higher item levels. You’ll rake in flightstones by doing pretty much any PvP stuff, so just get out there and mix it up!
- Grab Some Crests: Want those top-tier upgrades? You’ll need crests, and you only get those by showing your chops in rated PvP. So, if you’re all about climbing that ladder, this is good news for you.
- Upgrade Time: Once you’ve got a stash of flightstones and crests, hit up the upgrade NPC and bump up your gear’s item level. The better the gear, the more it’ll cost, but that’s just how it goes if you want to be the best, right?
Remember, all those honor points you used to use? You can forget about those for upgrades now – it’s all about those new currencies. So whether you’re crafting your gear or tearing it up in War Mode, keep those flightstones and crests coming and you’ll be decked out in no time!
The most optimal Strategy in how to get the highest gear for the first weeks with crafted gear
So, finally, you’ve been waiting for this part of the Guide. How to collect the highest possible gear as clearly, quickly, and optimally as possible.
This section of the guide will be brief but still helpful. First, you need… Gold! Why do you need gold? It’s simple; with gold, you can purchase the most optimal gear to kickstart your journey. So, you should spend your gold on:
- The Explorer set that suits your class. It’s the set that’s typically available near Keystone level 2.
- One or more BoE (Bind on Equip) items with the highest possible ilvl dragonflight. You don’t need to overspend on Mythic ilvl gear; items for the heroic raid will suffice.
- Pick up BoE items from professions.
By using the Auction House, you can quickly achieve an average ilvl of around 440. With this ilvl, you can start farming Mythic dungeons at the minimal level. You’ll be overpowered for those keys, allowing you to run them without worrying about being kicked or wiped.
After completing 3-5 keys for +2 (without upgrading your own key), you can increase your ilvl from 440 to 450 or higher. This will enable you to tackle the hardest keys. In just a day, you can raise your gear ilvl from 0 to 460 in a straightforward manner, provided you have some knowledge of your rotation or tactics.
Next, you can move on to the normal raid and collect all the required gear. Now you have a moderately geared character capable of handling Keystone levels 8-10. Was it challenging? Just 5-6 hours and one or two million gold.
On the other hand, if you want to start the season with the most optimal gear, it’s much simpler. Farm 10 keys, complete the normal raid, and participate in Battlegrounds. With these activities, you can obtain your gear without going to the extremes of farming.
The most optimal way to farm gear is to consult our table in Mythic+ keys and obtain the gear that is at the lowest level of upgrading. Then, simply farm some crests, and you’ll become one of the most powerful characters on the server.
Don’t waste your time farming trinkets or other items from Emerald Dream; focus on keys, Battlegrounds, and Arena battles. It has been, is, and will be the most efficient way to obtain the highest gear in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, the Guardians of the Dream.