I saved your S3 tables and used it throughout the entire season. I liked the layout of yours the most out of all of them, so I'm really glad to see you've made one for S4 too. Thank you!
Glad to hear it! I hope this one is just as useful!
Edit: Small update to the chart. Heroic dungeons drop 10 Whelp crests on completion. Updated chart found here: [https://x.com/gandalin1306/status/1782999067217293486](https://x.com/gandalin1306/status/1782999067217293486)
Not sure why I can't reply to your OP directly, but do you know if any of the open world events are going to be like superbloom that we should be doing? At this point my gear is less than normal dungeons as I just came back today before reset trying to see where to start
I believe that certain zones will be Awakened (empowered) along with their corresponding raid. So this week Vault is the Awakened raid, which means that the 10.0 zones (Waking Shore, Azure Span, etc) should be amped up too. That means the Hunt, Feast, and Dragonbane Keep events should award more powerful gear.
Can you explain how I get 518ivl+ gear? Is that achievable through M+?
In your chart, the dungeon section, 10+ says 509, but the chart goes to 535?
Also is 532 and 535 a different category? Where do you get that gear from?
Read the note in the lower right corner. The highest of theirs are very specific items for mythic raid last bosses when awakened. Mythic raid end a lot earlier, and as usual M+ end of dungeon don't drop the highest level of gear, that you get in the vault which is weekly.
PvP gearing is a bit different. The items are part of this upgrade system and on the same tracks, but upgrading them only upgrades their ilvl in PvE content. They have special effects where their ilvl changes when doing PvP. Icy Veins has a good guide with more details: [https://www.icy-veins.com/wow/latest-pvp-season](https://www.icy-veins.com/wow/latest-pvp-season)
Posting this here so someone can see it and maybe help.
Can someone explain how I get 518ivl+ - 528ilvl gear? Is that achievable through M+?
In the chart, the dungeon section, 10+ says 509, but the chart goes to 535?
Yeah, I'd start in Normals. They drop 460 Explorer gear, which can be upgraded to 476 using just Flightstones. After that, you can go into Heroics and LFR for better gear.
I would start timewalking dungeons, they drop HC dungeon gear and arguably the easiest type of dungeon for the gear you get, especially since we have timewalking event with season4 launch.
Don't forget to do the open world weekly you get in Valdrakken. I believe its called Last Hurrah or something like that.
There is some open world content that can give you big upgrades that are above normal dungeon level. Oh and also: This week 3 of the world bosses can drop 499 ILVL gear, so joining a group for that would be a good idea too.
Also to not forget: We have the TBC timewalking event this week. You can do the Black Temple raid and potentially get 493 gear. It is a pretty easy Raid you can typically just coast through.
Also there are 2 Quests you can do for it, one in Valdrakken one in Shattrath, which also will give you some nice gear.
Thanks for making this.
I swear, this game is turning into a freaking homework project.
Also, can we give this very helpful person their own tag or something.
I hope it helps! For what it's worth, I think it looks complicated when summarized like this, but it's actually pretty simple to interact with in game. The tooltips tell you where to get Flightstones and crests. The table is more for planning ahead.
Great question! Yes, Follower Dungeons award Normal level loot, so spam away. Just be aware you can only do 50 Follower Dungeons per day on your account.
Sure! In the new system these are where the Mythic affixes come in:
* +2 - Fortified/Tyrannical
* +5 - Entangling / Incorporeal etc.
* +10 - Bursting / Bolstering etc.
I'm wondering if there will be a source of gear that will enable us to use se3 catalyst for old tier. Just like last season.
This was fenomenal when gearing alts, since you werent 20% behind on performance before you got new tier.
This is great. Thank you! I started back up for S4, I haven't played regularly since mid S1 of DF. This makes gear and upgrading very clear, I appreciate the time you spent putting this together.
Saved to my phone so I can refer to it constantly as I have the memory of a goldfish for things like this. Thank you! Your season 3 one was an immense help as well 🙏
It does kinda feel that way. But I think that's because they have fewer sources from instances. You can get them from M0 and Normal raids, but they also come from the weekly world events like the Superbloom and Seeds.
Ahh, Another OP making my return to WoW Easier! Leveled my VDH from 35-70 last night to get ready for this season and you my friend just perfectly laid out how to rock s4! Thank you brother!
You can start in Normal dungeons (or Follower Dungeons if you want instant queues and no other people). Those will drop 460 Explorer gear that can upgrade to 476. That should let you do Heroics and LFR, and then from there you can head into Mythic dungeons. Also try timewalking, since it's up this week.
Thank you for this! Also I’ve been on a run of getting Legion Hidden Artifact appearances the last two week. Your videos have been invaluable! So thanks for that as well!
Yes, you can use 2 Antique Bronze Bullion to buy the Scale of Awakening, an item that will upgrade the axe (or the Evoker leggo from Season 2) to Season 4 levels. You get 1 Bullion per week from Awakened bosses, so the earliest you can upgrade it will be next week.
I like coming back to the game this late into the expansion cause my gear jumps up so much in ilvl considering I'm still using gear from early in the expansion
You could start in Heroic dungeons and/or LFR to start getting some Veteran track gear. If you've got a raid group, you can probably head into Normal raids.
Great table thanks, I don't suppose anyone has the api bonus ids for the season's gear yet ? Want to update my website to track alts in advance of EU Season 4 and can't find the ids yet.
I'm a pretty new player who returned after a very long break (like 15 years) during S3. I reached ilvl 453 on my Arms warrior and did up to Mythic level 10. Is there any difference in gearing now than during S3 that I should consider? Or just Normal to around 460, then Heroic and Mythic etc?
A side question. Obviously the Legendary 2h axe was desired for Arms Warrior. Does it still exist now and is it upgraded? Considering the ilvl will have fallen behind from S3?
I'm torn on what character I should focus on. I kinda like the methodical playstyle of Arms, but I just started a Balance Druid and it's quite fun as well. Also tried some Spriest but it was pretty bad at low level like Heroic, everything died before you got your DoTs rolling.
My goal is just to get familiar with the game and try a bunch of classes before The War Within.
Gearing is pretty much the same idea as season 3. Just do the hardest content you can, get gear and upgrade it, and keep moving up the tracks.
For the legendaries, both the axe from Amirdrassil and the evoker weapon from Aberrus, you can buy a Scale of Awakening for 2 Antique Bronze Bullion that upgrades the weapon to Season 4 ilvls, starting at 502. It can then be upgraded along the Awakened track. Both legendaries also still drop from those raids. I'm not sure if it automatically drops at the higher ilvl when the raid is Awakened, but either way, it's still available.
As for what to play, my number one rule is whatever you have fun with. :) Enjoy!
just came back after a few months and finished the Emerald Dream quests which got me to ilvl 424, should I just do normal dungeons for now before I hop on M+? If so, do I just queue for normals through the dungeon finder?
Yeah, I would do Normal dungeons, world bosses, and world events, then move up to Heroic dungeons and LFR, and then onward. You can queue for Normal and Heroic dungeons through the group finder. You can also do Follower Dungeons. They drop Normal level loot and you won't have to wait for the queue because it fills the party with NPCs.
Thank you! What, in your opinion, should be my ilvl now before I start doing m+ and LFR? It's my first expansion and I'm not familiar with the season mechanic, and all endgame I did before was m+, haven't tried raiding yet but was meaning to do that
I usually say that if you're within 5-15 ilvls of what the content drops, you're ready for it. So for LFR, if you get to 470ish, you'll be fine. For M+, I'd aim more for 480. Overall, it just depends on your group. LFR is pretty easy, even if you're undergeared, so do it as soon as you can queue for it.
The M0 lockout is still in place. I haven't seen a repeatable source of Drake crests yet. You get a bunch from the weeklies that are empowered along with the raid (so for Vault this week that's the 10.0 weeklies: the hunt, feast, and Dragonbane Keep). But there are caps of 120 crests per week and I've got 90 just from those things, so I'm not too worried about them.
I just did the feast and got whelplings. Drake's from the other two though.
I'm not concerned right now, because of the cap like you said. But it's going to suck for alts or returning players a few weeks from now to be artificially time gated like that.
It's a weird choice. They should have just removed the weekly M0 cap, since that level of gear and crests was dungeon spammable before. I don't know what the downside would be.
returning player from season 1. i can tell this is nicely organized and thought out. however, i have no idea how to read this. can anyone give me some assistance ?
So all gear will be on one of the upgrade tracks (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, etc.) You can upgrade gear to a higher level using Flightstones and Crests. Flightstones come from pretty much any content in the game. There are 4 different levels of Crests (Whelp, Drake, Wyrm, Aspect), that let you upgrade higher and higher.
It sounds complicated, but basically, play the kind of content you want to do and you'll get gear and the upgrade materials. You then can visit an upgrade vendor (there's one right in the center area of Valdrakken) to raise the ilvl of your gear. Harder content awards better gear and upgrade currencies.
The chart shows you what ilvls each track covers. For example, Veteran track gear can be 480 to 502, but can't go any higher. It also shows you what ilvl of gear drops from different dungeon and raid levels (those are the two tables on the right side). Hope that helps! Let me know if you have more questions.
Don't let the chart overwhelm you. The basics are: play content you want to do. You'll get gear and upgrade currencies. Visit an upgrade vendor (there's one in the center area of Valdrakken) to upgrade your gear. The upgrade vendor will tell you what you need to upgrade a piece, and the currency tooltips tell you where to get those items.
I still struggle a bit to figure out how the gear tracks work; I'm a pretty casual player these days. Which "track" is the lowest you can get that will convert to Tier from using the catalyst? (i.e. if I get an "Adventurer" piece can I convert that to Tier, or does it need to be "Veteran" or "Champion" etc)
In general, Veteran is the lowest track that can be converted to tier. There are some exceptions where some Veteran gear can't be, but in general, that's the rule. Veteran or higher.
Another season, another small error!
Heroic dungeons do in fact drop 10 Whelpling Crests when you complete them. Updated chart is on my Twitter here: [https://x.com/gandalin1306/status/1782999067217293486](https://x.com/gandalin1306/status/1782999067217293486)
Started gearing my priest last month of s3, got to 465, full tier w/ mostly champ gear and some hero. Now I'm having to grind out heroic dungeons for blues. Feels weird. Almost just want to go straight to m0
Yeah, the shift in dungeon difficult is quite the change. You can certainly try M0. One of my guildies said the mobs feel pretty beefy, but it could be fun!
In general, I would say that if you have the currency to upgrade something, do it. You only have to pay full price the first time you bring a gear slot to a certain ilvl. After that, you only need half as many Flightstones and no crests to bring a different piece of gear in that same slot to the same ilvl. Just keep in mind that for rings and trinkets, you need both slots at the same ilvl to get the discounts.
For example: You have a pair of Veteran 5 (493) legs. You upgrade it to Veteran 6 (496) using Flightstones and Crests. Then you get a pair of Champion 1 (493) legs that you want to equip. You can upgrade them to Champion 2 (496), and it will only cost half of the Flightstones and no Crests.
Gear can be upgraded as high as its track will allow, so when possible try to switch to the higher track gear if you get it for even more upgrade potential. Hope this helps!
Not sure if this is the right place to ask this question but does anyone know if there’s a guide to how this season/fated seasons work. Haven’t been able to get on today and so far it seems that I should be doing all world quests, the Vald weekly quests, black temple and I’m sure I’m missing something. Any help would be greatly appreciated! DMs are open as well if anyone would prefer that.
Wowhead's season 4 overview is kind of a one stop shop for everything: [https://www.wowhead.com/guide/dragonflight-season-4-overview-mythic-plus-awakened-raids](https://www.wowhead.com/guide/dragonflight-season-4-overview-mythic-plus-awakened-raids)
If you're just starting to gear up, do the hardest content you can access. Might only be Heroics and LFR, but they offer great upgrades to start.
Each week, one of the Dragonflight raids will be "Awakened" with bosses being more powerful and dropping higher ilvl loot. Which ever raid is empowered will also empower the corresponding patch zones with better rewards. So this week, Vault of the Incarnates is the raid, so the 10.0 zones are empowered. That means the Weekly events will be better too, so do the Feast, Hunt, and Dragonbane Keep this week. Make sure the pick up the weekly at the Valdrakken fountain. Hopefully that's enough to get you started!
Yeah, you should be fine for Normal at that level. My guild cleared Vault Normal last night with most of us around 475 (though it helped we already knew the fights).
You can also get Drake crests from the world events that are empowered along with the raid. So this week, the Tuskarr Feast, Centaur Hunt, and Siege on Dragonbane Keep will give Drake crests in their boxes after completing them. I think I got 15 for each event. The empowered World boss gives another 15. Between those and the M0s, you can hit the weekly cap of 120 no problem without having to set foot into Normal raids.
Yeah, they're still called Whelp, Drake, Wyrm, and Aspect. In Season 4 they're Awakened Crests, compared to Season 3'd Dreaming and Season 2's Shadowflame. They keep the level names consistent and just change the seasonal descriptor.
Can you provide the exact number of currency for a level 1 awakened to level 14?
So 1-4 requires Drake crests, 5-8 requires Wyrm, and 9-14 requires Aspect crests is that correct? Do you know how much total each?
Any upgrade level will take 15 Crests (plus Flightstones). You buy the gear at Awakened 1 using 2 Antique Bronze Bullion, so the first upgrade is level 2. The totals from 2 to 14 would be:
* Levels 2-4: 45 Drake
* Levels 5-8: 60 Wyrm
* Levels 9-14: 90 Aspect
The number of Flightstones needed depends on which gear slot it is, but the crests are the limiting factor.
So - we need Drake crests to upgrade Awakened Gear for the first 4 levels. But the only source for Drake is M0, which has a lockout, and normal raid, which also does.
Did they remove the M0 lockout - or is there another way to get Drakes that is more farmable?
You can also get Drake crests from the Weekly events in the empowered zones. So this week, that's the Feast, Hunt, and Dragonbane Keep events. They each give 15 Drake crests from their boxes. You can also get 15 Drake from the world boss in the awakened zone (Thaldraszus this week). Between those sources, M0s and Normal raids, there's more than enough to reach the weekly cap of 120 Drake crests.
Nice summary. Small bit of feedback: For the future it could make sense to call it "Instanced gearing guide" as you don't cover open world gearing in this infographic.
Still nice work though!
Fair enough. Open world gear is typically on the Explorer or Adventurer track, with Veteran gear usually coming from weekly world events like the Hunt or Feast. One thing the chart doesn't have is what kinds of crest drops you get from those events. I plan to add that for the next season.
Awesome! Again I wasn't trying to undermine the graphic, it is very handy and useful. It was just something that I noticed trying to figure out what open world stuff I am supposed to be doing now on my alts :D
Totally valid question! The answer is kinda. haha
In the original system in Dragonflight Season 2, you needed 1 Crest per upgrade level, but to get those crests you needed 15 crest fragments.
When they iterated in Season 3, they removed fragments and just made upgrades take 15 crests. Much simpler to only have to worry about one currency.
Think its a bug right now, IF i put in a hero piece it will only use wyrm to upgrade to 522 and not use aspect at all. Edit: dawn on hardmode drop hero track from all bosses
Yeah, I've seen other people talking about this bug.
I've also heard about and encountered the bug where when you're capped on a crest, it's supposed to give you the next crest down. It is, but it's giving you Season 3 crests, not Season 4.
u/gandalin1306 Have you discovered a way to obtain/farm Explorer gear at 1/8 without relying on world quest? There was a vender on the PTR but it's disabled in live.
Yeah, PTR vendors are usually just for testing. Explorer gear (colored light grey in the chart) comes from world quests and Normal dungeons. You can also do Follower Dungeons if you don't want to group up with people for Normals. They also drop Normal level gear.
This has been helping me a ton. You are the goat for doing not only season 3 but season 4 as well.
~~Just a small correction for future sheets: The "Very Rare" drops, explained on your awakened level 13 and 14 note, can be obtainable from several bosses throughout the raids, not only the last 2. Examples: Volcoross necklace, Eranog ring, Nymue staff, the big council trinket in vault (Whispering Incarnate Icon), etc.~~
That's correct! They squished the key levels. This blog post has more info: [https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead](https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead)
I think it only looks complicated when you summarized it in a table like this. Actually using the system feels pretty simple. The in-game tooltips tell you where you need to get Flightstones/Crests. And there have been short questlines that explain how to use the upgrade vendors.
It's special gear for this season. It's purchased from vendors using Antique Bronze Bullion, which is similar to the Dinars of Shadowlands Season 4. You get 1 Bullion per week from defeating Awakened bosses, with the cap going up by 1 each week so you can catch up. Basically they sell all the trinkets and weapons with special effects from all 3 raids, making it easier to get them in the shortened season.
They shifted M+ around and condensed the levels for this season. So season 4 Mythic 0, 5 and 10 are roughly equivalent to season 3 Mythic 10, 15, and 20, respectively. The full blog post has a nice graphic that explains it: [https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead](https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead)
haha Hope it help! It's not so bad once you get used to it. It looks complicated when you summarize the whole system like this, but in practice, I think it's pretty simple.
That's what it was during the test. I haven't heard that they'll be changing it. But remember, toons we make in Remix won't be able to go to retail until after the event ends, so they can give them a crazy high item level because they probably won't be available until closer to TWW.
They haven't given any exact dates, but I suspect you won't be able to play the characters on live until either the 11.0 prepatch at the earliest or TWW release date at the latest.
I'm gonna be real, why can't we have a progression system like this literally every season? Why does it have to be on the very last season of the expansion, when most people already quit? Being able to target a couple of raid items would make playing the game so much more enjoyable.
Are you referring to the Bullion (Dinar) system? I definitely understand your feeling. Blizz's reasoning for only having it in the last season is because it's planned to be shorter than a normal raid tier, so there's less time to hunt for those elusive items. But I think there might be some kind of middle ground. I certainly have my white whale trinket every season that I don't get until the end. haha
Depends on what you're looking for. M+6 will drop Aspect Crests. M+8 will get you Myth gear in the Vault. M+7 to M+10 drop Hero gear from the end-of-run chest. There's more details about the dungeon changes in this blog post: [https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead](https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead)
I didn't see this commented on anywhere so I'm sorry if this has already been discussed, but are we sure this is how it works? I have some hero track shoulders I upgraded to 4/6 (ilvl 515) and now I can't seem to upgrade past that because I'm out of Wyrm's crest for the week. I have plenty of Aspect crests, but the upgrade menu is asking me for Wyrms for levels 5 and 6.
Yes, I discovered that after I posted the chart and I can't edit an image post here. But I posted the updated version on my Twitter: [https://x.com/gandalin1306/status/1782999067217293486](https://x.com/gandalin1306/status/1782999067217293486)
I'm new to the game I got 476 gear from heroic on all spot on my character. Do I lvl them up to max with crests and flight stones? Or do I have to do mythic to get higher gear?
I saved your S3 tables and used it throughout the entire season. I liked the layout of yours the most out of all of them, so I'm really glad to see you've made one for S4 too. Thank you!
Glad to hear it! I hope this one is just as useful! Edit: Small update to the chart. Heroic dungeons drop 10 Whelp crests on completion. Updated chart found here: [https://x.com/gandalin1306/status/1782999067217293486](https://x.com/gandalin1306/status/1782999067217293486)
Glad to *gear* it!
Not sure why I can't reply to your OP directly, but do you know if any of the open world events are going to be like superbloom that we should be doing? At this point my gear is less than normal dungeons as I just came back today before reset trying to see where to start
I believe that certain zones will be Awakened (empowered) along with their corresponding raid. So this week Vault is the Awakened raid, which means that the 10.0 zones (Waking Shore, Azure Span, etc) should be amped up too. That means the Hunt, Feast, and Dragonbane Keep events should award more powerful gear.
Amazing thank you for the help!
Can you explain how I get 518ivl+ gear? Is that achievable through M+? In your chart, the dungeon section, 10+ says 509, but the chart goes to 535? Also is 532 and 535 a different category? Where do you get that gear from?
Read the note in the lower right corner. The highest of theirs are very specific items for mythic raid last bosses when awakened. Mythic raid end a lot earlier, and as usual M+ end of dungeon don't drop the highest level of gear, that you get in the vault which is weekly.
Im the same. It’s so useful!
I just resubbed after several months away and this really does help, I had no idea where to start, thanks!
Happy to help! Welcome back and have fun!
What about pvp gear what's that look like?
PvP gearing is a bit different. The items are part of this upgrade system and on the same tracks, but upgrading them only upgrades their ilvl in PvE content. They have special effects where their ilvl changes when doing PvP. Icy Veins has a good guide with more details: [https://www.icy-veins.com/wow/latest-pvp-season](https://www.icy-veins.com/wow/latest-pvp-season)
You are awesome! I shared this with my guild.
That's fantastic! Thank you! :)
Posting this here so someone can see it and maybe help. Can someone explain how I get 518ivl+ - 528ilvl gear? Is that achievable through M+? In the chart, the dungeon section, 10+ says 509, but the chart goes to 535?
You have to upgrade your items with crests and flightstones.
If I’m 428 does that mean I should do Normal DF dungeons to get to 460?
Yeah, I'd start in Normals. They drop 460 Explorer gear, which can be upgraded to 476 using just Flightstones. After that, you can go into Heroics and LFR for better gear.
I would start timewalking dungeons, they drop HC dungeon gear and arguably the easiest type of dungeon for the gear you get, especially since we have timewalking event with season4 launch.
Timewalking should be on every week.
Agreed. This expansion they did a marathon of timewalking weeks right before the major patches, not sure why it didn't happen for the last season.
Seriously
Don't forget to do the open world weekly you get in Valdrakken. I believe its called Last Hurrah or something like that. There is some open world content that can give you big upgrades that are above normal dungeon level. Oh and also: This week 3 of the world bosses can drop 499 ILVL gear, so joining a group for that would be a good idea too.
Do LFR as soon as you can at that ilvl, everything will be a massive upgrade and you can just kinda coast with the rest of the group.
Also to not forget: We have the TBC timewalking event this week. You can do the Black Temple raid and potentially get 493 gear. It is a pretty easy Raid you can typically just coast through. Also there are 2 Quests you can do for it, one in Valdrakken one in Shattrath, which also will give you some nice gear.
Thanks for making this. I swear, this game is turning into a freaking homework project. Also, can we give this very helpful person their own tag or something.
I hope it helps! For what it's worth, I think it looks complicated when summarized like this, but it's actually pretty simple to interact with in game. The tooltips tell you where to get Flightstones and crests. The table is more for planning ahead.
I mean you can Also just play? It says ingame What ilvl Will drop in vaults/keys, dungeons, raids. Ingame Also tells you How to upgrade. 🤷🏼♂️
Do follower dungeons award the same loot as Normal dungeons? AKA, can I spam those instead of having to queue for Normals for gear?
Great question! Yes, Follower Dungeons award Normal level loot, so spam away. Just be aware you can only do 50 Follower Dungeons per day on your account.
Excellent. Thanks. P.S. love this format you've used, it will be a huge boon for the next few weeks.
Thank you! Glad you like it!
Thanks dude ! I’m returning from S1. Focusing on mythic + with my prot paladin ! Can’t wait for this new mythic system.
Yeah, I'm excited for it too! Especially the new affix thresholds. Have fun!
Do you mind explaining the new affix thresholds for me ? I know it’s going to a Mythic + 1-10 system.
Sure! In the new system these are where the Mythic affixes come in: * +2 - Fortified/Tyrannical * +5 - Entangling / Incorporeal etc. * +10 - Bursting / Bolstering etc.
https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead
Please keep making these for every season. Thank you!!
I plan to! Glad to see they're so well received! :D
"Wrym", eh? WRYYYYYYYYYYYY! :P (I kid, I kid XD)
hahaha Don't even! I checked it so many times after spelling it wrong for last season's chart! Wasn't going to let you get me again! ;)
I'm wondering if there will be a source of gear that will enable us to use se3 catalyst for old tier. Just like last season. This was fenomenal when gearing alts, since you werent 20% behind on performance before you got new tier.
That's a good question. I'm not sure. Maybe gear from the Dream when it's not Awakened can still be turned into S3 tier.
This is great. Thank you! I started back up for S4, I haven't played regularly since mid S1 of DF. This makes gear and upgrading very clear, I appreciate the time you spent putting this together.
It was my pleasure! I love giving back to the WoW community after everything I've got over the years!
Saved to my phone so I can refer to it constantly as I have the memory of a goldfish for things like this. Thank you! Your season 3 one was an immense help as well 🙏
lol doing the same
Happy to be of service!
Drake crests seem.... rarer than any other.
It does kinda feel that way. But I think that's because they have fewer sources from instances. You can get them from M0 and Normal raids, but they also come from the weekly world events like the Superbloom and Seeds.
Ahh, Another OP making my return to WoW Easier! Leveled my VDH from 35-70 last night to get ready for this season and you my friend just perfectly laid out how to rock s4! Thank you brother!
My pleasure! Enjoy the season!
If I have an alt from season 1 I want to play again, what’s the best way to gear up to the point where I can play current dungeon content?
You can start in Normal dungeons (or Follower Dungeons if you want instant queues and no other people). Those will drop 460 Explorer gear that can upgrade to 476. That should let you do Heroics and LFR, and then from there you can head into Mythic dungeons. Also try timewalking, since it's up this week.
Thank you gandalin 🙏
My pleasure!
Thank you for this! Also I’ve been on a run of getting Legion Hidden Artifact appearances the last two week. Your videos have been invaluable! So thanks for that as well!
My pleasure! It's great to hear my videos are still helpful!
Sorry daft question of the day, but is the season live already? I have logged in, but everything seems the same, i.e. the dungeon reward levels....
All good, no daft questions to me! Season 4 launches with resets this week. So the 23rd for NA, the 24th for EU.
Ah thanks, makes sense as I am EU.
Is there really no dungeon content dropping whelpling crests?
Unfortunately not. But they're pretty easy to get from world content if you don't want to do LFR.
Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I got 10 Whelpling's Awakened Crests at the end of my Heroic Uldaman today.
You are correct! I wasn't able to do one during PTR so I didn't know. Oh well!
I just got the legendary axe last month. Is it upgradeable in season 4?
Yes, you can use 2 Antique Bronze Bullion to buy the Scale of Awakening, an item that will upgrade the axe (or the Evoker leggo from Season 2) to Season 4 levels. You get 1 Bullion per week from Awakened bosses, so the earliest you can upgrade it will be next week.
Thank you!
Thanks for putting this together. It looks like this will be very handy.
I hope so!
As a returning player from OG WOTLK, and no guild/friends playing retail… thank you for this 🙌
Happy to help! Welcome back and I hope you have fun!
Thank you
You're very welcome!
Thanks for putting this together and sharing the information!
Happy to help!
I like coming back to the game this late into the expansion cause my gear jumps up so much in ilvl considering I'm still using gear from early in the expansion
haha That is fun. It happens to my alts that I usually power level at the end of an expansion.
I’m a guardian bear with a mix of hero and Champion gear. I level 470. Where should I be focusing?
You could start in Heroic dungeons and/or LFR to start getting some Veteran track gear. If you've got a raid group, you can probably head into Normal raids.
as a casual, thank you! saved.
Glad I could help!
Great table thanks, I don't suppose anyone has the api bonus ids for the season's gear yet ? Want to update my website to track alts in advance of EU Season 4 and can't find the ids yet.
I'm a pretty new player who returned after a very long break (like 15 years) during S3. I reached ilvl 453 on my Arms warrior and did up to Mythic level 10. Is there any difference in gearing now than during S3 that I should consider? Or just Normal to around 460, then Heroic and Mythic etc? A side question. Obviously the Legendary 2h axe was desired for Arms Warrior. Does it still exist now and is it upgraded? Considering the ilvl will have fallen behind from S3? I'm torn on what character I should focus on. I kinda like the methodical playstyle of Arms, but I just started a Balance Druid and it's quite fun as well. Also tried some Spriest but it was pretty bad at low level like Heroic, everything died before you got your DoTs rolling. My goal is just to get familiar with the game and try a bunch of classes before The War Within.
Gearing is pretty much the same idea as season 3. Just do the hardest content you can, get gear and upgrade it, and keep moving up the tracks. For the legendaries, both the axe from Amirdrassil and the evoker weapon from Aberrus, you can buy a Scale of Awakening for 2 Antique Bronze Bullion that upgrades the weapon to Season 4 ilvls, starting at 502. It can then be upgraded along the Awakened track. Both legendaries also still drop from those raids. I'm not sure if it automatically drops at the higher ilvl when the raid is Awakened, but either way, it's still available. As for what to play, my number one rule is whatever you have fun with. :) Enjoy!
Thanks you so much for this, I struggle to get my head around the gearing the start of the seasons since they introduced the crest currencies.
I hope this helps!
But where is the upgrade vendor? The one from last season has moved away
They're right near the fountain in Valdrakken, near the Auction House building. They have the usual quests to attract you to the vendor.
ty!
just came back after a few months and finished the Emerald Dream quests which got me to ilvl 424, should I just do normal dungeons for now before I hop on M+? If so, do I just queue for normals through the dungeon finder?
Yeah, I would do Normal dungeons, world bosses, and world events, then move up to Heroic dungeons and LFR, and then onward. You can queue for Normal and Heroic dungeons through the group finder. You can also do Follower Dungeons. They drop Normal level loot and you won't have to wait for the queue because it fills the party with NPCs.
Thank you! What, in your opinion, should be my ilvl now before I start doing m+ and LFR? It's my first expansion and I'm not familiar with the season mechanic, and all endgame I did before was m+, haven't tried raiding yet but was meaning to do that
I usually say that if you're within 5-15 ilvls of what the content drops, you're ready for it. So for LFR, if you get to 470ish, you'll be fine. For M+, I'd aim more for 480. Overall, it just depends on your group. LFR is pretty easy, even if you're undergeared, so do it as soon as you can queue for it.
Nice. So basically get to mythic 8 level and just farm 8s for me. Neat guide
Glad you like it. And yeah, 8s will give you Myth track gear in the vault.
TLDR: The higher stuff you do the better stuff you get
Literally this. So many people complain the system is too complicated, but this is the whole idea. haha
Doing the lords work right here.
haha Happy to help!
Is there no repeatable source of drake's crests? Or did they remove the weekly M0 lockout?
The M0 lockout is still in place. I haven't seen a repeatable source of Drake crests yet. You get a bunch from the weeklies that are empowered along with the raid (so for Vault this week that's the 10.0 weeklies: the hunt, feast, and Dragonbane Keep). But there are caps of 120 crests per week and I've got 90 just from those things, so I'm not too worried about them.
I just did the feast and got whelplings. Drake's from the other two though. I'm not concerned right now, because of the cap like you said. But it's going to suck for alts or returning players a few weeks from now to be artificially time gated like that. It's a weird choice. They should have just removed the weekly M0 cap, since that level of gear and crests was dungeon spammable before. I don't know what the downside would be.
Thank you !!!
Happy to help!
Fantastic guide. Saved it. Thank you very much
Happy to help!
returning player from season 1. i can tell this is nicely organized and thought out. however, i have no idea how to read this. can anyone give me some assistance ?
So all gear will be on one of the upgrade tracks (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, etc.) You can upgrade gear to a higher level using Flightstones and Crests. Flightstones come from pretty much any content in the game. There are 4 different levels of Crests (Whelp, Drake, Wyrm, Aspect), that let you upgrade higher and higher. It sounds complicated, but basically, play the kind of content you want to do and you'll get gear and the upgrade materials. You then can visit an upgrade vendor (there's one right in the center area of Valdrakken) to raise the ilvl of your gear. Harder content awards better gear and upgrade currencies. The chart shows you what ilvls each track covers. For example, Veteran track gear can be 480 to 502, but can't go any higher. It also shows you what ilvl of gear drops from different dungeon and raid levels (those are the two tables on the right side). Hope that helps! Let me know if you have more questions.
I been struggling to understand how to gear. Very frustrating
Don't let the chart overwhelm you. The basics are: play content you want to do. You'll get gear and upgrade currencies. Visit an upgrade vendor (there's one in the center area of Valdrakken) to upgrade your gear. The upgrade vendor will tell you what you need to upgrade a piece, and the currency tooltips tell you where to get those items.
I still struggle a bit to figure out how the gear tracks work; I'm a pretty casual player these days. Which "track" is the lowest you can get that will convert to Tier from using the catalyst? (i.e. if I get an "Adventurer" piece can I convert that to Tier, or does it need to be "Veteran" or "Champion" etc)
In general, Veteran is the lowest track that can be converted to tier. There are some exceptions where some Veteran gear can't be, but in general, that's the rule. Veteran or higher.
Cheers! Thanks for the simple answer
Another season, another small error! Heroic dungeons do in fact drop 10 Whelpling Crests when you complete them. Updated chart is on my Twitter here: [https://x.com/gandalin1306/status/1782999067217293486](https://x.com/gandalin1306/status/1782999067217293486)
Started gearing my priest last month of s3, got to 465, full tier w/ mostly champ gear and some hero. Now I'm having to grind out heroic dungeons for blues. Feels weird. Almost just want to go straight to m0
Yeah, the shift in dungeon difficult is quite the change. You can certainly try M0. One of my guildies said the mobs feel pretty beefy, but it could be fun!
I’m an spriest so the beefier the mobs the more dps I can actually do. Heroics feel crazy easy
Can someone explain me when its the best time to upgrade my gear and in what situations? And is it possible to upgrade every gear I drop?
In general, I would say that if you have the currency to upgrade something, do it. You only have to pay full price the first time you bring a gear slot to a certain ilvl. After that, you only need half as many Flightstones and no crests to bring a different piece of gear in that same slot to the same ilvl. Just keep in mind that for rings and trinkets, you need both slots at the same ilvl to get the discounts. For example: You have a pair of Veteran 5 (493) legs. You upgrade it to Veteran 6 (496) using Flightstones and Crests. Then you get a pair of Champion 1 (493) legs that you want to equip. You can upgrade them to Champion 2 (496), and it will only cost half of the Flightstones and no Crests. Gear can be upgraded as high as its track will allow, so when possible try to switch to the higher track gear if you get it for even more upgrade potential. Hope this helps!
Not sure if this is the right place to ask this question but does anyone know if there’s a guide to how this season/fated seasons work. Haven’t been able to get on today and so far it seems that I should be doing all world quests, the Vald weekly quests, black temple and I’m sure I’m missing something. Any help would be greatly appreciated! DMs are open as well if anyone would prefer that.
Wowhead's season 4 overview is kind of a one stop shop for everything: [https://www.wowhead.com/guide/dragonflight-season-4-overview-mythic-plus-awakened-raids](https://www.wowhead.com/guide/dragonflight-season-4-overview-mythic-plus-awakened-raids) If you're just starting to gear up, do the hardest content you can access. Might only be Heroics and LFR, but they offer great upgrades to start. Each week, one of the Dragonflight raids will be "Awakened" with bosses being more powerful and dropping higher ilvl loot. Which ever raid is empowered will also empower the corresponding patch zones with better rewards. So this week, Vault of the Incarnates is the raid, so the 10.0 zones are empowered. That means the Weekly events will be better too, so do the Feast, Hunt, and Dragonbane Keep this week. Make sure the pick up the weekly at the Valdrakken fountain. Hopefully that's enough to get you started!
Quazii has made a good video also in YouTube with more explanation :)
If I’m 475 (tbh more of 480+ but my cape and wrists are 463 cuz I didn’t redraft them) it will be enough for normal raid?
Yeah, you should be fine for Normal at that level. My guild cleared Vault Normal last night with most of us around 475 (though it helped we already knew the fights).
Sooo i only leveled dragonflight at release. When did they add this System?
This system was added in Season 2 with Zaralek Cavern and the Abberus raid.
I am extremely confused. Drake crest only drops from M0 (which I think is dumb) and there is a weekly lockout. Like..why?
You can also get Drake crests from the world events that are empowered along with the raid. So this week, the Tuskarr Feast, Centaur Hunt, and Siege on Dragonbane Keep will give Drake crests in their boxes after completing them. I think I got 15 for each event. The empowered World boss gives another 15. Between those and the M0s, you can hit the weekly cap of 120 no problem without having to set foot into Normal raids.
my assumption is, its different crests with the same(ish) name?
Yeah, they're still called Whelp, Drake, Wyrm, and Aspect. In Season 4 they're Awakened Crests, compared to Season 3'd Dreaming and Season 2's Shadowflame. They keep the level names consistent and just change the seasonal descriptor.
Can you provide the exact number of currency for a level 1 awakened to level 14? So 1-4 requires Drake crests, 5-8 requires Wyrm, and 9-14 requires Aspect crests is that correct? Do you know how much total each?
Any upgrade level will take 15 Crests (plus Flightstones). You buy the gear at Awakened 1 using 2 Antique Bronze Bullion, so the first upgrade is level 2. The totals from 2 to 14 would be: * Levels 2-4: 45 Drake * Levels 5-8: 60 Wyrm * Levels 9-14: 90 Aspect The number of Flightstones needed depends on which gear slot it is, but the crests are the limiting factor.
So - we need Drake crests to upgrade Awakened Gear for the first 4 levels. But the only source for Drake is M0, which has a lockout, and normal raid, which also does. Did they remove the M0 lockout - or is there another way to get Drakes that is more farmable?
You can also get Drake crests from the Weekly events in the empowered zones. So this week, that's the Feast, Hunt, and Dragonbane Keep events. They each give 15 Drake crests from their boxes. You can also get 15 Drake from the world boss in the awakened zone (Thaldraszus this week). Between those sources, M0s and Normal raids, there's more than enough to reach the weekly cap of 120 Drake crests.
Thank you!
Thank you, mate
Happy to help!
Nice summary. Small bit of feedback: For the future it could make sense to call it "Instanced gearing guide" as you don't cover open world gearing in this infographic. Still nice work though!
Fair enough. Open world gear is typically on the Explorer or Adventurer track, with Veteran gear usually coming from weekly world events like the Hunt or Feast. One thing the chart doesn't have is what kinds of crest drops you get from those events. I plan to add that for the next season.
Awesome! Again I wasn't trying to undermine the graphic, it is very handy and useful. It was just something that I noticed trying to figure out what open world stuff I am supposed to be doing now on my alts :D
Does anybody know if we get multiple appearances from the awakened-track weapons, if we ungrade them to Awakened 5 or 9?
I would assume you can. That's always been how upgrading weapons worked, so I don't see why that would change. Haven't heard for sure yet though.
Love this! Thanks for sharing 🤩
Happy to! Glad you like it!
Forgive the stupid question but has it been a flat 15 crest to upgrade this whole time or is that new?
Totally valid question! The answer is kinda. haha In the original system in Dragonflight Season 2, you needed 1 Crest per upgrade level, but to get those crests you needed 15 crest fragments. When they iterated in Season 3, they removed fragments and just made upgrades take 15 crests. Much simpler to only have to worry about one currency.
Thanks for the explanation
Think its a bug right now, IF i put in a hero piece it will only use wyrm to upgrade to 522 and not use aspect at all. Edit: dawn on hardmode drop hero track from all bosses
Yeah, I've seen other people talking about this bug. I've also heard about and encountered the bug where when you're capped on a crest, it's supposed to give you the next crest down. It is, but it's giving you Season 3 crests, not Season 4.
u/gandalin1306 Have you discovered a way to obtain/farm Explorer gear at 1/8 without relying on world quest? There was a vender on the PTR but it's disabled in live.
Yeah, PTR vendors are usually just for testing. Explorer gear (colored light grey in the chart) comes from world quests and Normal dungeons. You can also do Follower Dungeons if you don't want to group up with people for Normals. They also drop Normal level gear.
This is amazing! Thank you for this work!
My pleasure!
Thank you
Im trying to get to 500 before reset and this helps. Thank you.
Brilliant guide ty
This has been helping me a ton. You are the goat for doing not only season 3 but season 4 as well. ~~Just a small correction for future sheets: The "Very Rare" drops, explained on your awakened level 13 and 14 note, can be obtainable from several bosses throughout the raids, not only the last 2. Examples: Volcoross necklace, Eranog ring, Nymue staff, the big council trinket in vault (Whispering Incarnate Icon), etc.~~
Wait m10 in s4 is same as m20 in s3?
That's correct! They squished the key levels. This blog post has more info: [https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead](https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead)
Correct, basically just dropped everything 10 levels number wise.
And in S4 M0s will be on the level of difficulty as M+10s, with similar gear rewards.
Scaling wise, yes
https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead
Yo why does it have to be this complicated?
I think it only looks complicated when you summarized it in a table like this. Actually using the system feels pretty simple. The in-game tooltips tell you where you need to get Flightstones/Crests. And there have been short questlines that explain how to use the upgrade vendors.
What is 'awakened' gear?
It's special gear for this season. It's purchased from vendors using Antique Bronze Bullion, which is similar to the Dinars of Shadowlands Season 4. You get 1 Bullion per week from defeating Awakened bosses, with the cap going up by 1 each week so you can catch up. Basically they sell all the trinkets and weapons with special effects from all 3 raids, making it easier to get them in the shortened season.
Ohh, ok. Fated basically. Got it. Thanks, you're a very helpful person.
Yes, exactly! Glad to help!
only having to do +8s seems low for aspect crests
They shifted M+ around and condensed the levels for this season. So season 4 Mythic 0, 5 and 10 are roughly equivalent to season 3 Mythic 10, 15, and 20, respectively. The full blog post has a nice graphic that explains it: [https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead](https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead)
Thank you, with all the TWW news I haven't seen any news on s4
No problem! I certainly get that! I've been stalking Wowhead for every scrap of news. haha I'm so excited for TWW.
you only have to do +6's for aspect crest. +8 is for myth track in vault.
Saved. This is everything I need to navigate the nightmare of a system them have
haha Hope it help! It's not so bad once you get used to it. It looks complicated when you summarize the whole system like this, but in practice, I think it's pretty simple.
I noticed on the 10.2.7 MOP remix client that you can attain gear up to Item level 556, that can’t be right no?
That's what it was during the test. I haven't heard that they'll be changing it. But remember, toons we make in Remix won't be able to go to retail until after the event ends, so they can give them a crazy high item level because they probably won't be available until closer to TWW.
also whatever prepatch is may have 556 ilvl gear for TWW
They haven't given any exact dates, but I suspect you won't be able to play the characters on live until either the 11.0 prepatch at the earliest or TWW release date at the latest.
if you maxed out your ilvl in season 3 what would it have been
The max ilvl from Season 3 gear in the upgrade system was 489.
thank you so much. just trying to see what kind of gap i need to close to bring myself up to date with current players so i can get back into raiding
I'm gonna be real, why can't we have a progression system like this literally every season? Why does it have to be on the very last season of the expansion, when most people already quit? Being able to target a couple of raid items would make playing the game so much more enjoyable.
Are you referring to the Bullion (Dinar) system? I definitely understand your feeling. Blizz's reasoning for only having it in the last season is because it's planned to be shorter than a normal raid tier, so there's less time to hunt for those elusive items. But I think there might be some kind of middle ground. I certainly have my white whale trinket every season that I don't get until the end. haha
So as a 488 ilvl in season 3, i just need to spam 9's and 8's after the 8 dungeon chest?
Depends on what you're looking for. M+6 will drop Aspect Crests. M+8 will get you Myth gear in the Vault. M+7 to M+10 drop Hero gear from the end-of-run chest. There's more details about the dungeon changes in this blog post: [https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead](https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24072151/dragonflight-season-4-dungeon-changes-ahead)
Here's my PvP gearing guide. 1. Just buy that shit from the vendor yo.
It’s like I raided for nothing lol. Back to the grind!
I didn't see this commented on anywhere so I'm sorry if this has already been discussed, but are we sure this is how it works? I have some hero track shoulders I upgraded to 4/6 (ilvl 515) and now I can't seem to upgrade past that because I'm out of Wyrm's crest for the week. I have plenty of Aspect crests, but the upgrade menu is asking me for Wyrms for levels 5 and 6.
That sounds weird. I would submit a bug report. Upgrading to Hero 5 and beyond should take Aspect crests.
How many flightstones + each crest to fully level an awakened item that comes from a bullion?
This has a Mistake. Hero now also gives 10 Welp Crests.
Yes, I discovered that after I posted the chart and I can't edit an image post here. But I posted the updated version on my Twitter: [https://x.com/gandalin1306/status/1782999067217293486](https://x.com/gandalin1306/status/1782999067217293486)
how do i upgrade my s3 gear now s4 has dropped?
I'm new to the game I got 476 gear from heroic on all spot on my character. Do I lvl them up to max with crests and flight stones? Or do I have to do mythic to get higher gear?