This season starts with major changes to the gearing process. Gearing in The War Within season 2 might be overwhelming for active players, let alone for comeback Warcraft seniors, so we’ll try to lay out everything nicely for ya.
Lonely wolves of the season are in for a treat, solo adventurers will have a fair share of higher item level gear and crests, but if you’re a sociable butterfly, do not fret, in general everyone will be able to get great gear pieces in season 2.
Wherever you get them from, you can up them to higher item levels. So we’ll start with getting the War Within gear, then the Valorstones currency and four different types of Crests for reaching maximum item level. There are six upgrade tracks in total and they overlap each other about halfway through. Let’s say you get an item with 639 level, it’s a piece of Champion gear and it’s 2/8 on the track. We’ll be increasing its item level and power as we go. But you shouldn’t ever really see a piece of gear drop at 5/8, they would instead be 1/8 on the next track up, giving you way more potential. Getting 1/8 Champion gear lets you upgrade it way further than Veteran gear, getting 1/6 Hero gear is one step closer to the Myth gear.
| Explorer Track | Adventurer Track | Veteran Track | Champion Track | Hero Track | Myth Track |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 597 | 610 | 623 | 636 | 649 | 662 |
| 600 | 613 | 626 | 639 | 652 | 665 |
| 603 | 616 | 629 | 642 | 655 | 668 |
| 606 | 619 | 632 | 645 | 658 | 672 |
| 610 | 623 | 636 | 649 | 662 | 675 |
| 613 | 626 | 639 | 652 | 655 | 678 |
| 616 | 629 | 642 | 655 | ||
| 619 | 632 | 645 | 658 |
Get your gear upgrades!
Next step in Season 2 is getting Valorstones and crests. Valorstones come from taking part in basically any endgame activity — running Delves, dungeons, raids, weekly world events, participating in PVP season, you can even find them while digging through the Undermine. As long as you’re alive and kicking you’re good.
Crests are a different story, the higher the level of the piece that you’re trying to upgrade, the higher the tier of Crests is required.
- Weathered crests are the lowest, and are used to upgrade the lowest gear. Get them from easy open world content — heroic dungeons, LFR raid bosses, and initial Delves.
- Carved crests come from weekly world events, defeating Normal raid bosses, Mythic Dungeons, and mid-tier delves.
- Runed crests are to be obtained from defeating heroic raid bosses, Mythic dungeons of +2 to +6, and engaging in higher-tier Delves.
- Gilded crests are rewards for Mythic difficulty raid boss kills, Mythic dungeons +7 and/or higher keys, Tier 11 Bountiful delves, and using Delver’s Bounty maps on Tier 8 Delves or higher.
You can get up to ninety crests of every kind weekly, and when you have a cap out on a higher ranking crests farming more will reward with the next tier down. The best way to see what you’re going to need for improvements is to pop by an upgrade NPC, Cuzolth.
| Crest | Used For | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Weathered | Used for Adventurer and Veteran gear in War Within Season 2 up to item levels 623-632 | Repeatable Outdoor Events – Raid Finder Liberation of Undermine – Heroic Season Dungeons – Delves (Tiers 1 to 5) |
| Carved | Used to upgrade Veteran and Champion gear in War Within Season 2 up to 636-645ilvl. | Weekly Outdoor Events – Normal Liberation of Undermine – Mythic Season Dungeons – Delves (Tiers 6 and 7) – Delver’s Bounty (Tiers 4 and 5) |
| Runed | Used to upgrade Champion and Hero gear in War Within Season 2 up to 649-658ilvl. | Heroic Liberation of Undermine – Mythic Keystone Dungeons from +2 to +6 – Delves (Tiers 8 to 11) – Delver’s Bounty (Tiers 6 and 7) |
| Gilded | Used to upgrade Hero and Myth gear in War Within Season 2 up to 662ilvl and above. | Mythic difficulty Liberation of Undermine – Mythic Keystone Dungeons from +7 and up – Delve’s Gilded Stash (Tier 11) – Delver’s Bounty (Tier 8 and up) |
New season, who dis? Keep up!
Season 2 introduces a cool catch-up system that tracks the highest-level piece for each gear slot across all your characters. If you upgrade an item below your highest level — for example, a new trinket, a socketed piece, or gear with better stats — you get a hefty discount on Valorstone and Crest costs.
Here’s the deal: you only need to spend Crests once per gear slot per character. That means even if you pick up a side-grade later, upgrading it to match your best is nearly free. Plus, the Valorstone discount applies to all your alts, so you can power up your entire roster without breaking a sweat.
As you hit key milestones, you’ll unlock a one-third discount on Crest costs at select vendors. The higher your achieved item level is, the sweeter your deals get.
- Weathered of the Undermine: 636 item level.
- Carved of the Undermine: 649 item level.
- Runed of the Undermine: 662 item level.
- Gilded of the Undermine: 675 item level.
No more feeling left behind — you can keep up across all your characters.
Gearing Up in War Within Season 2
World Quests offer quick gear upgrades, though they’re a bit random. From what I’ve seen, you can get gear up to item level 606, making it a solid option if you’re entering Season 2 with a lower item level. It’s worth checking your world quests for potential upgrades, but most of your early gearing progress will come from weekly activities.
Weekly Activities
There are plenty of those rewarding you with caches or loot boxes. The most important weekly quests in Dornogal are marked with spiky blue icons on your world map.
- World Soul Weekly Quest – Choose how you complete it.
- Titan Archive Weekly world events.
- Delve Weekly Quest.
Completing any of them rewards you with a Pinnacle Cache, filled with valuable items. There’s also a new weekly called Urge to Surge, requiring you to complete a Surge Pricing event. Other sources of caches:
Additionally, Special Assignment World Quests unlock after completing a few simple world quests and also reward caches.
What’s Inside the Caches?
The first two caches you open contain Veteran gear — a solid early upgrade.
The first four caches contain a Restored Coffer Key, which is essential for maximizing Delve rewards. If you plan to gear up through Delves, aim to open four caches per week to get your four keys.
Any additional caches beyond that will reward Valorstones and Carved Crests, which are still useful for upping gear. And while you’re running around do not forget to get your reputation with the factions up, Renown rewards are not to be missed.
New World Boss in Undermine
Season 2 introduces a new world boss in Undermine, but loot works differently than before. Your first kill of the week across your entire account guarantees a piece of item level 642 gear. It’s Warband-bound, meaning you can freely trade it between your characters. The catch? The item isn’t necessarily usable for your current class or spec — it could be anything. Although not ideal, it’s still a guarantee, especially if you play multiple characters.
Crafted Gear in Season 2 – Your Shortcut to Power
Crafted gear is back in The War Within Season 2, and while it might seem like a system favoring players with deep pockets, that’s not the full story. Even if you’re not swimming in resources, there are plenty of accessible ways — weekly quests, crafting orders, and smart planning — to forge top-tier gear without breaking your back.
Two Tiers of Crafted Gear
Crafting in Season 2 comes with two major upgrade paths:
- Lower-tier crafted gear caps at item level 629 and is fairly easy to obtain.
- Higher-tier crafted gear can go up to item level 675, but it’s timegated.
Crafting Lower-Tier Gear (Up to 629 ilvl)
If you’re looking for a quick and simple way to upgrade your gear, this is the path for you. All you need is an Enchanted Weathered Undermine Crest — here’s how to get it:
- Buy Enchanted Weathered Undermine Crests from the Crest Vendor in Dornogal for 30 Weathered Crests each.
- Craft a blue-quality crafted item with your profession.
- Apply the Enchanted Crest to boost its item level to 629.
That’s it — super easy.
Crafting Higher-Tier Gear (Up to 675 ilvl)
For the big upgrades, you’ll need a Spark of Fortunes—and this is where things get a little trickier.
How to Get Sparks of Fortunes
- Combine two Fractured Sparks of Fortunes with some Valor Stones to create a full Spark of Fortunes.
- Earn one Fractured Spark per week by completing weekly quests in Dornogal that reward a Pinnacle Cache (World Soul, Titan Archive, or Delve Weekly Quests).
- Even if you do multiple Pinnacle Cache quests, you can only get one Fractured Spark per week.
This means you’ll be able to craft a 675 ilvl piece every two weeks.
Bonus Spark in Week 1
To speed things up, there’s a one-time quest near the Catalyst in Dornogal that grants an extra Fractured Spark when you earn your first one. This lets you craft a high-level piece in Week 1, but after that, you’re locked into the one Spark every two weeks cycle.
Crafting High-Level Gear (Up to 675 ilvl)
Crafting with Sparks is straightforward:
If you have the profession:
- Plug your Spark of Fortunes into the recipe.
- Gather materials to reach Rank 4 or 5.
- Use Concentration to maximize the rank of your craft.
- Boom — 645 ilvl gear at base level!
If you don’t have the profession:
- Visit the Crafting Order Clerks and find the item you need.
- Gather materials and include your Spark of Fortunes.
- Submit a public crafting order, or — if you want Rank 5 — send a guild or private order to a skilled crafter.
Rank 5 crafted gear starts at 645 ilvl, and with consistent weekly questing, you’ll be crafting a new high-level piece every two weeks.
Upgrading Crafted Gear
Once you’ve crafted your gear, you can push it beyond 645 ilvl using special upgrades from the Crest Vendor:
- Enchanted Runed Crests – Cost 45 Runed Crests, upgrades crafted gear to item level 658.
- Enchanted Gilded Crests – Cost 60 Gilded Crests, upgrades crafted gear to item level 675.
Since Runed and Gilded Crests are easier to get this season — even through Delves — everyone has a shot at fully upgrading their crafted gear.
Fine-Tuning Your Crafted Gear
- Embellishments: Crafted gear can be enhanced with special bonuses, but you can only wear two at a time — so choose wisely.
- Missives: Want to customize your secondary stats? Missives let you tailor your gear to perfectly fit your spec.
With these upgrades, crafted gear can even outshine standard drops, making it one of the best gearing methods in Season 2.
Bountiful Delves – Big Gains
Delves are fast-paced mini-dungeons packed with goodies. Delves now feature outdoor vaults that you can explore alongside the Dragonscale Expedition, offering hidden outdoor treasures that add extra swag to your haul. Pick a difficulty — the higher you go, the harder it gets, but the better the rewards. Unlocking higher tiers requires clearing the previous one while keeping your deaths in check; too many, and you’re locked out. Good news, though — once unlocked, tiers stay open for your entire Warband.
The usual Delve runs will net you currencies like Valorstones and Crests, but if you’re hunting real upgrades, Bountiful Delves are where it’s at. Every day, four delves get marked as Bountiful on your map, glowing to let you know where to go. Clearing one drops a locked Bountiful Chest, but you’ll need a Restored Coffer Key to crack it open. These keys come from weekly quests and pinnacle caches, with a cap of four per week — no key, no treat, so get your weeklies done first.
Delve gear maxes out at Tier 8, where you can score item level 639 pieces. As you climb higher tiers, you’ll start earning Runed Crests to upgrade gear, with Tiers 9–11 handing out more of them. Tier 11 Bountiful Delves give seven Gilded Crests per run, up to 21 per week — a huge step up for Season 2, making solo gearing way more viable.
While there you can pick up Delver’s Bounty Maps, limited to one weekly. Use one and your next Delve spawns an extra chest with rewards. The loot from these caps at item level 649 in Tier 8+ delves and offering up to 10 Gilded Crests in Tier 11.
And don’t forget the Great Vault — Delves count toward your raid reward row, with higher-tier runs leading to better loot when the reset hits. Tier 8 is the cap for Vault rewards, giving up to item level 649 gear. Knock out at least two Tier 8 runs per week to maximize your rewards.
RAIDS!
Season 2 brings us The Liberation of Undermine raid, the go-to spot for snagging some of the best gear in the game. As you progress through the raid the item level of gear drops keeps scaling up.
On Group finder difficulty, gear starts at item level 623, with the final bosses dropping ilvl 632 gear pieces. Normal mode kicks things off at ilvl 636, ending at ilvl 645 from the last boss. If you’re pushing Heroic, expect ilvl 649 at the start, ramping up to ilvl 658. And for the Mythic difficulty slayers, gear starts at ilvl 662, peaking at ilvl 672 for the final encounters.
But that’s not all — even higher item levels are scattered throughout the raid, absolute game-changers if you get your hands on them. This is also the only place where Tier set tokens drop directly from bosses, giving raiders a good shot at completing their sets.
The final boss drops an Excessively Bejeweled Curio, which can be traded for any piece of Tier set gear, making it a clutch way to fill in gaps. And the weekly goodies from the Great Vault — killing raid bosses contributes to your Raid Reward Row, unlocking rewards at two, four, and six kills. The Vault will then give you a random piece of raid gear at the highest difficulty you cleared, including super rare items and Tier set pieces, so every raid is an extra shot at some serious upgrades.
TL;DR: Raid, get loot, flex on everyone.
Dungeon Gearing – Fast, Easy, and Worth It, up your item level
Dungeons are a solid way to gear up, no matter where you’re starting.
- Normal dungeons drop 593 ilvl gear — super accessible, even with NPC followers if you don’t feel like playing with others.
- Heroic dungeons bump that up to 619 ilvl gear, and you can queue straight in via the Dungeon Finder.
- Mythic 0 dungeons take it a step further with 636 ilvl gear, but you can only do them once per week — still, a huge step up from Heroic.
Mythic+ – Scaling Rewards, Big Gains
Now Mythic+ is where the real upgrades start rolling in. If you’re pushing keys, you’re gearing fast. Mythic+ is the go-to for scaling rewards and Crest farming, making it one of the best gearing methods this season. Keystone dungeons = Crest farming central. Even +2 keys drop Runed Crests, and the higher the key level, the more you get:
- +2 keys give 639 ilvl gear, scaling all the way up to 655 ilvl at +10 keys.
- +6 keys = 18 Runed Crests per run.
- +12 keys = 20 Gilded Crests per run.
Great Vault Rewards – Always Worth It
What can you get? Valorstones and Carved & Runed Crests for crafting and upgrading, armor slot items to boost your gear further. Even if there’s no gear upgrade from your Weekly Vault, take the currency option instead. You can earn up to 6 Algari Tokens of Merit weekly and trade them in at the vendor. No wasted rewards — even a bad Vault roll helps you power up.
Running Heroic+ dungeons contributes to your Weekly Vault dungeon rewards. Keystone 10 dungeons cap out at 662 ilvl gear in the Great Vault, but with Gilded Crests you can push that to 678.
PvP Season, PvP Gear, PvP Rewards — How It Works
PvP gear has two item levels: one for PvE and one for PvP. However, only the PvP item level matters in PvP combat. This ensures that players are on a more even playing field, preventing situations where someone has an unfair advantage just because of better gear.
Honor Gear (Item Level 597, PvP 665)
Honor gear is the starting point for PvP players. It has a base item level of 597 in PvE, but in PvP, it scales up to 665. You can purchase this gear from the Honor Vendor using Honor, which is earned by participating in unrated PvP activities, including:
- Random Battlegrounds;
- PvP Brawls;
- Arena Skirmishes.
Conquest Gear (Item Level 636, PvP 678)
Conquest gear is stronger than Honor gear, with an item level of 636 in PvE and 678 in PvP. It is obtained from the Conquest Vendor and requires Conquest Points. You can earn Conquest by:
- Competing in rated PvP modes (such as Rated Arenas and Rated Battlegrounds);
- Winning certain unrated PvP matches for the first time each week.
War Mode Gear (Item Level 632, PvP 675)
War Mode gear offers another way to gear up for PvP. It has a PvE item level of 632 and scales up to 675 in PvP. This gear is sold by the War Mode Vendor and is purchased using Bloody Tokens. You can earn Bloody Tokens by:
- Completing War Mode World Quests;
- Finishing weekly PvP quests;
- Defeating enemy players in the open world while War Mode is active.
And if you’re lucky you”ll land the Gladiator Mount — The World Within Season 2’s badass ride fit for the boss of the arena! Jump in, gear up, and dominate. Whether you’re queuing for battlegrounds or testing your mettle in solo shuffle, having the right gear is key to crushing the competition.
Catalyst – Get Your Tier Gear Fast
The Revival Catalyst is one of the most important systems for gearing up in Season 2. It provides a reliable way to obtain tier set pieces without depending on raid drops or the Great Vault. You can find the Catalyst in Dornogal, and it is marked on your world map for easy access.
How the Catalyst Works
The Catalyst allows you to convert almost any piece of seasonal gear into a tier set item. This means you can get powerful 2-set and 4-set bonuses without having to farm specific content like raids. Eligible gear comes from a variety of sources, including:
- Dungeons (Mythic+, Heroic, and Normal);
- Delves;
- Raid drops;
- Weekly events;
- Quests.
If the piece of gear is part of the current season’s loot pool, you can most likely use it in the Catalyst.
Which Gear Should You Prioritize?
Not all gear slots contribute to set bonuses, so your priority should be the five tier set slots:
- Head;
- Shoulders;
- Chest;
- Hands;
- Legs.
Converting these items first ensures you unlock your 2-piece and 4-piece set bonuses as quickly as possible, giving you a major boost in power.
How Many Charges Do You Get?
To use the Catalyst, you need a Catalyst Charge. You will receive 1 charge in the first week of the season, and 1 additional charge every two weeks afterward.
Since it takes four tier pieces to activate your full 4-set bonus, the maximum time required to complete your set is 7 weeks — assuming you don’t get tier pieces from other sources. However, if you obtain tier gear from raids or the Great Vault, you will complete your set much faster.
Speeding Up the Process – The Season Mastery Achievement
If you want to get your tier set even faster, you can earn an extra Catalyst charge by completing the Season Mastery achievement. This is a Feats of Strength achievement in Season 2 called “War Within Season 2 Master Blaster.”
To complete this achievement, you must do one of the following:
- Defeat the final boss of the Season 2 raid on Heroic difficulty;
- Reach 1600+ rating in PvP;
- Reach 2000+ rating in Mythic+.
For reference, 2000 Mythic+ rating is roughly the equivalent of completing all dungeons at +5 or +6 keystone level, making it a very achievable goal for many players.
If you complete any of these goals, you will earn an additional Catalyst charge, reducing the time needed to complete your set by 2 weeks. The faster you unlock your set, the harder you pop off. Get grinding.
