How to upgrade gear in war within

WoW Patch 11.0.0: Gear Upgrade System Guide for The War Within Expansion

Blizzard introduced a new Gear Upgrade System in WoW Patch 11.0.0 for The War Within Expansion. This system revolves around collecting new resources — Valorstones and Crests — from across the world and using them to enhance your gear. Our detailed guide will cover everything you need to know about this system, including how to upgrade gear in Season 1, the upgrade requirements, and the types of gear you can upgrade.

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How to Upgrade Gear in The War Within

How to Unlock Gear Upgrades

In The War Within, there are no specific requirements to unlock gear upgrades. Once you obtain seasonal gear, you can upgrade it using the necessary seasonal currencies. All you need is to gather enough resources and items for an upgrade.

How to Upgrade Gear in Season 1

Wondering how to enhance your gear in The War Within? Complete end-game activities like Mythic+, Raids, World Bosses, and Delves to collect the newly introduced Valorstones and Crests. These resources are used to upgrade your gear. Valorstones function similarly to Flightstones from Dragonflight. Let's delve into the system's details and features.

First, locate an Upgrade NPC. Upgradable gear will have an Upgrade Level tooltip showing the item's level and progression, e.g., Veteran 2/8, indicating that the item can be upgraded up to level 8. Beyond this point, you must obtain better gear for further upgrades.

Each upgrade step increases the item level by +3-4. You can preview all this information at any Upgrade NPC. Select the items you wish to upgrade, and the NPC will indicate the required resources. If you have enough, click the Upgrade button.

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WoW Season 1 Upgrade Changes

With the launch of Season 1, a new currency, Valorstones, has been introduced, retaining an old mechanic. While there are no major changes compared to the previous expansion, here are some key highlights to keep in mind:

• The Heroic Gear track has 6 upgrade ranks.
• The Mythic Gear track has 4 upgrade ranks.
• Dragon-themed Awakened Crests and Dreaming Crests are now replaced with Harbinger Crests.
• Crest fragments are now considered currency and do not occupy valuable inventory space.
• Players can earn up to 90 Crests per week of each type, allowing for 6 upgrades per tier per week.
• Players who no longer need upgrades with a specific Crest can exchange their Crests for higher-tier ones.
• For PvP gear upgrades, Valorstones and Crests are used instead of Honor. Upgrading PvP gear only affects the item level in PvE.

Item Upgrade Tracks With this new system, every item you receive will belong to a specific track. This gear upgrade track limits the range for a certain item to be upgraded within, meaning you can no longer spam low M+ keystone dungeons for items and upgrade them to max. The tracks are shown below.

Gear	Ranks	iLvl	Resources to Upgrade
Explorer Gear	1 – 8	560 to 580	Valorstones
Adventurer Gear	1 – 4	571 to 580	Valorstones
	5 – 8	584 to 593	Valorstones + Weathered Harbinger Crest
Veteran Gear	1 – 4	584 to 593	Valorstones + Weathered Harbinger Crest
	5 – 8	597 to 610	Valorstones + Carved Harbinger Crest
Champion Gear	1 – 4	597 to 606	Valorstones + Carved Harbinger Crest
	5 – 8	610 to 619	Valorstones + Runed Harbinger Crest
Hero Gear	1 – 4	610 to 619	Valorstones + Runed Harbinger Crest
	5 – 8	623 to 626	Valorstones + Gilded Harbinger Crest
Myth Gear	1 – 4	623 to 632	Valorstones + Gilded Harbinger Crest

As can be seen, the higher the iLvl and type of the gear, the better resources are required.

• Weathered Harbinger Crests: Considered starter crests, dropping from early Mythic+ dungeons — your basic endgame activity.
• Carved Harbinger Crests: Looted from mid-level Mythic+ and Normal Raids.
• Runed Harbinger Crests: Required completion of Heroic Raids and higher-level Mythic+.
• Gilded Harbinger Crests: Needed for the best Mythic gear upgrades, collected from Mythic Raid Level and the toughest keys.

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Discounted Upgrades

If you are going to upgrade a new gear piece but already have other better-upgraded pieces for the same gear slots that don't suit you, you will get a discount on the resources. For instance, if you already have an Explorer 580 item level helm, a further 560 → 580 item level helm upgrade will be cheaper.

Valorstones Discounts

Whenever you get gear of a certain item level, whether from a drop or upgrade, future upgrades will have a 60% Valorstones discount. This is an account-wide feature. Rings, trinkets, and one-handed weapons require two pieces to get the discount.

Crest Discounts

For a given slot, once you obtain gear of a certain item level from a drop or upgrade, future upgrades won’t cost any Crests. This discount is not account-wide. Rings, trinkets, and one-handed weapons require two of a certain item level to unlock the discount.

How to Obtain Valorstones

You can get Valorstones from numerous activities. Events in open zones, completing Mythic+ Dungeons, Raid Bosses, and any current Seasonal Activities will reward you with Valorstones. The amount depends on activity difficulty—the harder the content, the more Valorstones you get.

Note: There is no weekly cap on Valorstones, but you can hold only 2000 Valorstones at one time.

Using Valorstones for Profession Item Upgrades

Enchanters can use Valorstones to create powerful optional crafting reagents that allow for better crafting and higher item levels of the crafted gear. Players must obtain Empowered currency first, sold by specific vendors or any other enchanting trainer.

How to Obtain Harbinger Crests

You can get Harbinger Crests from Raid Bosses, Mythic+ Dungeons, and Rated PvP. Additionally, some Crests are obtainable from open-world activities. The latest update from Blizzard outlines changes in Crest farming, affecting the minimal M+ level:

• Weathered Harbinger Crest: Earned from Heroic Dungeons, LFR Nerub-ar Palace, and many outdoor activities.
• Carved Harbinger Crest: Earned from Mythic 0 (M0) dungeons, Normal Nerub-ar Palace, and some outdoor activities.
• Runed Harbinger Crest: Earned from +4 to +8 keystones (previously +2 to +5) and Heroic Nerub-ar Palace.
• Gilded Harbinger Crest: Earned from +9 or higher keystones (previously +6) and Mythic Nerub-ar Palace.

While you used to run +6 keystones for quick Aspect Crests, now you’ll need to tackle +9s or even higher-level Mythic+ dungeons for those top-tier Gilded Crests. If you’re unsure you can handle difficult content and crest acquisition, you can always use our Harbinger Crest obtaining service from boostbae.

Using Crests for Profession Item Upgrades Enchanters can create Enchanted Harbinger Crests. Crafters can upgrade crafting recipes with these Enchanted Crests.

Enchanted Crest	Cost
Enchanted Weathered Harbinger Crest	Nascent Weathered Harbinger Crest — x1
	Storm Dust — x50
	Gleaming Shard — x5
Enchanted Runed Harbinger Crest	Nascent Runed Harbinger Crest — x1
	Storm Dust — x100
	Gleaming Shard — x10
	Refulgent Crystal — x1
Enchanted Gilded Harbinger Crest	Nascent Gilded Harbinger Crest — x1
	Storm Dust — x150
	Gleaming Shard — x15
	Refulgent Crystal — x2

Downgrading Harbinger Crests

If you are looking for lower-tier Crests, head to Vaskarn in Dornogal. There, you can trade higher-tier Crests for lower ones. But before you can do so, you need to complete a certain quest line — The Harbinger of Crests. Below, you will find the necessary information about downgrade pricing:

Pouch	Cost
Pouch of Weathered Harbinger Crests	Carved Harbinger Crest — x15
Satchel of Carved Harbinger Crests	Runed Harbinger Crest — x15
Pack of Runed Harbinger Crests	Gilded Harbinger Crest — x15

Upgrading Harbinger Crests

The upgrading system allows you to buy higher-tier Crests using your lower ones. To do this, you need to reach a certain milestone in gathering basic Crests. Here’s a table stating the required Crests to buy an upgraded version:

Upgraded Crest	Cost
Nascent Weathered Harbinger Crest	Weathered Harbinger Crest — x30
Nascent Runed Harbinger Crest	Runed Harbinger Crest — x45
Nascent Gilded Harbinger Crest	Gilded Harbinger Crest — x60

F.A.Q.

To make it even more convenient for you, we gathered a list of Frequently Asked Questions about WoW Gear Upgrade and provided answers to each of them.

How To Level Up Gear in WoW The War Within?

Just as in any previous expansion, in The War Within, you need to focus on completing high-level activities such as Dungeons and Raids. All of the activities mentioned above often provide better gear as you progress, and you can choose which activity offers better options by looking at the descriptions of the rewards.

Additionally, Weekly Quests are essential as they often offer valuable gear pieces. Participating in World Events grants good gear or unique rewards, which can also contribute to leveling up the gear. Engage in Faction Reputation farming since certain factions offer excellent gear for purchase once you reach a high enough reputation. Crafted Gear from professions is another effective way to obtain high-level items, especially when using Optional Crafting reagents.

How Does Gear Work in The War Within?

In The War Within, gear has an item level — ilvl — that indicates its power. The higher the item level, the better your stats and abilities will be. To obtain gear with a higher ilvl, you need to participate in higher-level content, such as advanced Mythic+ Dungeons and Raids. The more challenging the activity, the better the gear you will receive.

How to Upgrade Weapons in WoW The War Within?

Upgrading weapons involves several steps. First, obtain weapons from Dungeons, Raids, and World Bosses. Once you have a weapon, you can use specific currencies earned from weekly activities, such as Valorstones, and faction reputations to upgrade it further. Continually engaging in these activities and farming reputation will provide the materials and currencies needed for weapon upgrades.

How to Improve Item Level in WoW The War Within?

Your item level can be improved by participating in endgame activities such as Mythic Dungeons and Raids, which drop some of the best gear in the game, or even your class BiS gear. Completing weekly quests can also grant a chance to obtain a better item, as they often provide high-level gear as a reward. Additionally, Delves, Elites, and World Bosses can drop high-level gear.

As you can see, the item upgrade system in The War Within is flexible and offers great variability. We hope our guide will help all types of players to enjoy the game even more. Also, we hope that other comprehensive guides on our platform will be useful to you.

Thank you for reading our detailed and helpful The War Within Best Class Guide. We appreciate that you’re considering our precise advice, tailored by top pro players. Now, it’s time to pick your class and begin your adventure in The War Within. If you need any assistance, remember that our professional team at Boostbae is here to help you make the most of your journey. Enjoy your combat experience and good luck in Azeroth!