Gear Upgrade System Enhancements for Dragonflight Season 3

Blizzard Entertainment has recently shared an extensive developer blog detailing the upcoming changes to the gear upgrade system in Patch 10.2, and WowCarry is here to break it all down for you. In the Dragonflight expansion of World of Warcraft, a universal upgrade system was introduced in Embers of Neltharion, bringing about significant changes to the game. While this new system has had a positive impact on gameplay, Blizzard acknowledges that there is still room for improvement. Therefore, in the upcoming Guardians of the Dream update, several modifications will be made to the system based on player feedback to make it more sustainable and player-friendly.

The Length of Upgrade Tracks

One of the key changes being implemented is the extension of the upgrade tracks for Hero and Myth gear. In the previous expansion, Fractures in Time, the Myth upgrade track was added retroactively for high-level gear, allowing players to upgrade their gear from Myth 1 to Myth 3. However, there was a concern about the difference in length between the Hero and Myth tracks. Currently, the Hero track consists of five upgrade levels, while the Myth track only has three. To address this disparity, Blizzard will be adding one more upgrade level to each track. In Dragonflight Season 3, the Hero track will have a total of six upgrade levels, allowing players to upgrade their gear up to Hero 6/6, equivalent to an item level of 444 in Season 2. The Myth track will also be extended to four upgrade levels, enabling players to upgrade their Myth gear up to an item level of 450 in Season 2.

Integration of PvP Gear

Blizzard recognizes the success of the upgrade system in Season 2 and has decided to include PvP gear in the same upgrade tracks as other gear in the game. This change will only affect the PvE item levels on PvP gear, while the PvP item levels and acquisition methods remain unchanged. This integration aims to create a universal upgrade system, eliminating the need for players to learn and manage separate systems and currencies for different sets of gear. It also benefits players who regularly engage in both PvP and PvE activities, providing more freedom in using their upgrades without penalizing their PvE progression. PvP activities will now reward players with Flightstones and Crests, with higher-level Crests available from rated play at higher rating levels.

Inventory Management Improvement

In the current system, Crests and Crest Fragments occupy multiple inventory slots, causing inventory management issues for players. To alleviate this problem, Blizzard will be introducing a change in Season 3. Crests will no longer be items in players' bags but will be stored as currency in the currency tab. Upgrades will still require spending 15 Crests each, but players will no longer need to deal with Crests taking up extra inventory space.

Crest Cap and Trade-Ups

In Dragonflight Season 3, players will be able to earn a maximum of 90 Crests per week for each type. This means they can purchase up to six upgrades per week per tier, a decrease from the previous cap of ten upgrades in Season 2. By lowering the weekly cap, Blizzard aims to balance the progression pacing for players, preventing them from feeling the need to excessively grind to keep up with the previous cap. Additionally, a common feedback from players was that the rewards in Season 2 were exhausted too quickly, particularly for the most dedicated players. With the reduced weekly cap, players will have more weeks of progression before reaching the maximum item level.

One of the highly requested features is the ability to trade lower-level Crests for higher-level ones. Blizzard has listened to player feedback and will introduce this trading system in Season 3. Players who have run out of upgrades to purchase with a certain Crest will be able to trade their excess Crests upwards. The trade-up ratio will be 6-to-1, meaning players can spend 90 Crests to obtain 15 crests of a higher level. This trade-up will count towards both the cap of the lower-level Crest being spent and the cap of the higher-level Crest being purchased, ensuring a fair progression system. The intention behind this change is to allow players to continue progressing even if they are unable or uninterested in participating in higher-level content while also avoiding incentivizing lower-level content for Crest farming.

Crest Fallbacks and Item Level Increase

In Season 3, if a player earns Crests from an activity but is unable to receive them due to reaching the weekly cap, they will instead be awarded the next highest Crest they could earn. This change ensures that players who have put in the effort to earn Crests are appropriately rewarded. While they may not immediately have use for the lower-level Crests, they can potentially trade them in for more relevant Crests in the future when they are no longer capped.

For Season 3, the item levels will be increased by 39 item levels over Season 2. Typically, the increase is 26 item levels, but the new upgrade system allowed players to achieve higher item levels than in previous seasons. To ensure that gear obtained from Season 3 sources, such as the Amirdrassil raid dungeon, are immediately upgrades over Season 2 gear, Blizzard has implemented this larger item level jump.

Shadowflame Crests Becoming Dreaming Crests

In Season 3, the names of the Crests will be changed from Shadowflame Crests to Dreaming Crests. This is a purely cosmetic change to align with the new expansion's theme. The Crests will have different names according to their respective tiers:

• Whelpling's Dreaming Crest
• Drake's Dreaming Crest
• Wyrm's Dreaming Crest
• Aspect's Dreaming Crest

Overall, these changes aim to enhance the gear upgrade system in World of Warcraft's Dragonflight expansion, providing players with a more sustainable and player-friendly progression experience. Blizzard Blizzard looks forward to observing the updated system in action during Dragonflight Season 3, hoping that players will find it to be a significant improvement. So gear up, venture into the enchanting Emerald Dream, and experience the thrill of progression!