Mastering the Start: Week 1-2 of Patch 10.1 Dragonflight
Patch 10.1 Embers of Neltharion launched May 2, 2023. A past-tense Week 1-2 to-do: Shadowflame Crests, Flightstones, Aberrus, and the Revival Catalyst.
By:
John Langan
Key Takeaways
- Patch 10.1 "Embers of Neltharion" launched on May 2, 2023, and Dragonflight Season 2 opened one week later, the week of May 9. That May 2 to 9 gap was the "pre-season" week this guide is built around.
- Season 2 added the raid Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible (nine bosses, ending on Scalecommander Sarkareth) and the underground zone Zaralek Cavern, replacing Season 1's Vault of the Incarnates.
- The new Shadowflame Crest upgrade system had four tiers: Whelpling's (402 to 411), Drake's (415 to 424), Wyrm's (428 to 437), and Aspect's (441 to 447).
- During the pre-season week you could farm Whelpling's and Drake's Crests from outdoor content, while Wyrm's and Aspect's stayed locked behind Heroic Aberrus and higher Mythic+ keys that were not open yet.
- Flightstones paid the upgrade bills (earned uncapped, held up to 2,000), and one Spark of Shadowflame per week fed high-item-level crafting.
- The Season 2 Revival Catalyst did not open until the week of June 13, 2023, so early tier gear came from raid drops, not conversions.
- A Season 2 Great Vault change made killing a later raid boss count every earlier boss's loot toward your vault, a quality-of-life win for alts and skippers alike.
With the summary out of the way, here is how the 10.1 launch actually unfolded week by week, and where a smart player spent their first hours.
The Pre-Season Week: What Was and Wasn't Live
When Patch 10.1 dropped on May 2, 2023, the new season did not start with it. For that first week, Mythic+ still ran the Season 1 dungeon pool, and the loot dropped at the same item levels as before the patch. You could not earn a Rank 1 title during this pre-season stretch, so any rating you pushed did not bank toward it. Keystone Master and Keystone Hero, however, were still on the table for players closing out Season 1 goals.
The raid situation matched: the new raid was not open, but Vault of the Incarnates was fully available on every difficulty, still dropping Season 1 item levels. The catch that surprised a lot of players was the Great Vault. The vault you opened in the first week of the patch held Season 1 rewards, and because no Season 2 content had been live during that week, the vault you opened in the SECOND week was Season 1 loot too.
✏️ Before the reset, players who still held Season 1 Creation Catalyst charges spent them, since those charges converted Season 1 gear into Season 1 tier for transmog and catch-up. Banked charges were wasted charges.
The Shadowflame Crest Upgrade System
The headline system of 10.1 was the Shadowflame Crest gear-upgrade track. Four crest tiers each covered a different item-level band, and each crest was assembled from 15 matching fragments. The weekly fragment cap rose over time (roughly ten crests' worth more each week), so there was no need to cap out on day one.
| Crest | Item level band | Where it came from |
|---|---|---|
| Whelpling's Shadowflame Crest | 402 to 411 | World quests, outdoor rares and treasures, LFR, low Mythic+ |
| Drake's Shadowflame Crest | 415 to 424 | Elite outdoor creatures, Normal Aberrus, mid Mythic+, the Spinsoa vendor |
| Wyrm's Shadowflame Crest | 428 to 437 | Heroic Aberrus, Mythic+ 11 to 15 |
| Aspect's Shadowflame Crest | 441 to 447 | Mythic Aberrus, Mythic+ 16 and up |
Those bands are the numbers that actually shipped; early PTR builds floated different figures that never went live. Crafters had a matching item family, the Enchanted Shadowflame Crests, which forced crafted gear to a set item level, with Enchanted Aspect's Crests pushing crafted pieces toward the ceiling.
Flightstones and Spark of Shadowflame
Crests unlocked an upgrade, but Flightstones paid for it. Flightstones dropped from nearly everything you did, from world quests and rares to Mythic+, raid, and PvP. There was no weekly cap on earning them, only a holding cap of 2,000, so it was worth spending down toward that ceiling rather than sitting on a full wallet.
Crafting ran on a separate resource, the Spark of Shadowflame. You could assemble one full Spark per week from two Splintered Sparks of Shadowflame, which came from the weekly Loamm Niffen ally quest and from weekly PvP quests. A Spark set a crafted item's starting item level in the 411 to 424 range, so most players spent theirs on a weapon first, where the item-level jump mattered most, and kept using Season 1 embellishments elsewhere.
📌 The common early mistake was spreading Flightstones and crests thin across every slot. Weapons and trinkets moved your output the most, so upgrading those first beat sprinkling one upgrade across ten items.
The Revival Catalyst and Tier Timing
One thing the launch did not hand you was fast tier conversion. The Season 2 Revival Catalyst, which turned regular gear into tier set pieces, did not open until the week of June 13, 2023, roughly six weeks into the season. Until then, tier came from the raid loot table or from the Great Vault, so early raiding across difficulties was the main route to a set bonus.
Week 1 Priorities
With the mechanics clear, here is where the first week paid off best. None of it required no-lifing the patch; it was about touching the time-gated things early.
- Farm Whelpling's and Drake's Crests from outdoor content. Whelpling's came easily from world quests, rares, and treasures; Drake's was more limited, mostly from elite creatures plus a weekly stack bought from the Spinsoa vendor.
- Bank your Spark progress. Grabbing both Splintered Sparks meant a full Spark of Shadowflame ready to craft the moment Season 2 gear mattered.
- Stockpile Flightstones so second-week upgrades were instant rather than gated on currency.
- Push your highest Season 1 Mythic+ key. The Season 2 key you pulled from the vault the following week started ten levels lower, so a strong Season 1 finish set your baseline. If the climb ate more time than you had, you could compare our Mythic+ key carries to bank the key without the grind.
- Chip away at professions, reputation, and recipes. If you wanted to sell or self-craft Spark gear, you could level a crafting profession ahead of the rush.
- Run the campaign and world quests in Zaralek Cavern for reputation with the Loamm Niffen and the story beats.
⚠️ Wyrm's and Aspect's Crests simply were not obtainable in the pre-season week, because Heroic Aberrus and high Mythic+ keys had not opened. Anyone expecting Mythic-track upgrades in week one was chasing content that did not exist yet.
Week 2 Priorities
Once Season 2 went live the week of May 9, the real gearing began. Now all four crest tiers were in play, and the raid and high keys were open.
- Farm the full crest spread: Whelpling's and Drake's for the early bands, then Wyrm's from Heroic Aberrus and Mythic+ 11 to 15, and Aspect's from Mythic Aberrus and Mythic+ 16 and up.
- Complete about eight Mythic+ dungeons to fill all three Great Vault slots, aiming as high as your group could time for the best vault item level.
- Kill raid bosses across Normal, Heroic, and Mythic for tier and vault progress. If you needed a hand into the new tier, you could clear Aberrus for vault gear with a group.
- Craft your Spark item, weapon first, after checking your spec's current guidance.
The Season 2 Great Vault also changed in a way worth planning around: killing a boss made the loot of every boss before it eligible in your raid vault slots. Kill the final boss, Scalecommander Sarkareth, and the whole raid's loot pool became fair game. Blizzard framed it as a quality-of-life buff, especially for alts, and it also quietly closed the old habit of skipping bosses to steer a vault. For a deeper look at the currencies and math behind all this, you can read our gear upgrade guide.
Video Guide
If you would rather watch the first-weeks plan than read it, the creator Naguura put together a period-accurate walkthrough covering the same crest, Flightstone, and Mythic+ priorities from the 10.1 launch.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Patch 10.1 and Dragonflight Season 2 start?
Patch 10.1 "Embers of Neltharion" launched on May 2, 2023, and Dragonflight Season 2 opened the week of May 9, 2023. The week in between was the pre-season, where Season 1 Mythic+, loot, and vaults were still in effect.
What item levels did the Shadowflame Crests upgrade gear to?
Whelpling's Crests took gear from 402 to 411, Drake's from 415 to 424, Wyrm's from 428 to 437, and Aspect's from 441 to 447. Earlier PTR numbers like 421 and 428 as the Whelpling and Drake ceilings never shipped.
Could you farm crests during the pre-season week?
Whelpling's and Drake's Crests, yes, from outdoor content such as world quests, rares, treasures, and the Spinsoa vendor. Wyrm's and Aspect's Crests were gated to Heroic and Mythic Aberrus and higher Mythic+ keys, which only opened when Season 2 started.
What were Flightstones for?
Flightstones were the currency you spent alongside crests to pay for each gear upgrade. They dropped from almost all content with no weekly earning cap, but you could only hold 2,000 at once, so spending them regularly avoided waste.
When did the Season 2 Revival Catalyst open?
The week of June 13, 2023, about six weeks into Season 2. Before that, tier set pieces came only from Aberrus raid drops and the Great Vault, which made early raiding across difficulties the fastest path to a set bonus.
How did the Season 2 Great Vault change work?
Killing a raid boss made the loot of every boss before it eligible in your vault raid slots. Defeating the final boss, Scalecommander Sarkareth, opened the entire raid's loot pool. It was mainly a quality-of-life buff for alts and also removed the incentive to skip bosses to steer a vault.
Last reviewed 2026-07-20 against Patch 10.1 Embers of Neltharion. Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team.