What You Should Do Before Dragonflight Season 1 Starts

Key Takeaways

• The Obsidian Cape (ilvl 398) and Obsidian Collar (ilvl 389) drop from Wrathion and Sabellian reputation. In the pre-Season-1 window the grind was fastest because the open world was still densely populated.
• Cobalt Assembly to High rank took roughly two hours with a group of five and rewarded an ilvl 389 role ring. Maximum rank added Blue Dragonflight cosmetics at around six hours total.
• Glory of the Dragonflight Hero rewards the Shellack lava snail mount. The pre-Season-1 weekend was the smoothest window: coordinated Mythic zero groups got harder to find once keyed content went live.
• Reviewing Mythic+ and raid guides before launch paid off, because several returning legacy dungeons had been adjusted for the Season 1 format and tripped up players who assumed they remembered them.
• The Darkmoon Faire overlapped the final pre-Season-1 weekend. For anyone with profession skills to level, the WHEE! buff gave a 10% skill-gain bonus, the only such window before the season began.

Each activity below was faster in the final weekend before Season 1 and got harder or less relevant once the season went live. The guide reads as a retrospective, but the routes, vendors, and rewards remain valid for alts catching up on legacy Dragonflight content.

Wrathion or Sabellian Reputation for 389 Necklace and 398 Cloak

Dragonflight Season 1 launched with the weekly reset on December 13, 2022, and in the final weekend before launch a handful of things became harder or slower once the player base retreated into instances. These tasks rewarded real item-level gear and were fastest when the open world was populated, meaning the pre-Season-1 weekend was the right window. The Darkmoon Faire was also active across that weekend for anyone who still needed profession skill points.

The first priority was maxing standing with either Wrathion or Sabellian in the Obsidian Citadel. Each faction sold unique gear unavailable elsewhere:

• Wrathion (True Friend): Obsidian Collar at ilvl 389 neck (Friend rank) and the Obsidian Cape at ilvl 398 cloak (True Friend rank).
• Sabellian (True Friend): The same Obsidian Collar and Obsidian Cape at identical item levels.

Both items sat at the top and bottom of the normal-raid item-level range, so you could walk away with near-final-boss-tier loot before the season even started. This was the activity that uniquely got faster with more players in the zone: bonus objectives fired constantly at peak hours, making the grind noticeably quicker.

The reputation items to watch for were Mark of Sargha (redeemable with Sabellian only) and Sargha's Signet (redeemable with Wrathion only). Each granted 50 reputation and also sold for several thousand gold on the Auction House. That value dropped once Season 1 gear made these pieces obsolete, so liquidating extras early was the right call. Pick the token that matches your pledged faction; the wrong one gives no rep.

Depending on luck with rare spawns, maxing either faction could take upward of ten hours. Tips: bring a tank, steal as many tags as you can, keep Silver Dragon (addon) running to alert you to rare spawns, and stay near the vault in the lower area, which was one of the densest bonus-objective spots.

Cobalt Assembly for 389 Ring

The Cobalt Assembly reputation in the Azure Span was the most straightforward of these objectives. Reaching High rank unlocked a 389 ring (normal raid item level) in your role's stat spread: Guardian's Ring for tanks, Preserver's Band for healers, Scholar's Loop for casters and melee. Maximum rank added a full set of Blue Dragonflight cosmetics, including drake manuscripts and transmog gear for the fashion-focused.

Getting to High rank took roughly two hours with a group of five. The pre-Season-1 weekend was an especially good window: the Cobalt Assembly had been extremely crowded at launch, and the population was lower by then but still healthy enough to make the free-mob competition manageable. For the full cosmetic set, plan for around six hours, a significant investment, but the transmog is genuinely rare.

Glory of the Dragonflight Hero for the Shellack Mount

Once Mythic+ Season 1 launched, demand for Mythic zero runs dropped sharply because players moved to keyed content fast. That made the pre-Season-1 weekend the ideal window to organize a coordinated group and complete Glory of the Dragonflight Hero.

The achievement chain rewards the Shellack, a lava snail mount with a distinctive red magma appearance. These achievement runs are most enjoyable with a group that communicates, and once Season 1 was live, fewer players were willing to step back into non-keyed content for the meta-achievements.

If finding a coordinated group is the sticking point, WowCarry offers a Book a Shellack mount boost where four experienced players handle all the mechanics and get you through every required achievement.

Get Ahead on Mythic+ and Raid Guides

Before stepping into Season 1 content cold, it was worth reviewing Mythic+ and raid guides in advance. The new dungeons had some genuinely creative mechanics, and the returning legacy dungeons had been modified to fit the Mythic+ design.

The Season 1 Mythic+ pool ran eight dungeons total: four new Dragonflight dungeons and four returning legacy entries. The Dragonflight side was Ruby Life Pools, The Nokhud Offensive, The Azure Vault, and Algeth'ar Academy. The legacy rotation pulled Halls of Valor and Court of Stars from Legion, Shadowmoon Burial Grounds from Warlords of Draenor, and Temple of the Jade Serpent from Mists of Pandaria. Several of those returning dungeons had mechanical adjustments to fit the Mythic+ format. Temple of the Jade Serpent's first boss in particular caught people off guard, and Court of Stars' profession and racial bonus interactions were easy to forget after years away.

One scheduling note: Brackenhide Hollow was a new Dragonflight dungeon but was not in the Season 1 Mythic+ pool. It was only accessible at Normal, Heroic, and Mythic zero difficulties at launch. Players who assumed it was on the keystone roster lost prep time.

WowCarry has guides covering all the new and returning Read our Mythic+ dungeon guides, along with Browse our Mythic+ carry services if you want experienced players guiding you through the season.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the highest item level gear available before Dragonflight Season 1?

The highest pre-Season-1 gear came from Wrathion or Sabellian reputation: the Obsidian Cape at item level 398. The Obsidian Collar is ilvl 389, and the Cobalt Assembly rings are also 389. All three sat at or near normal-raid item-level.

Do I need to pick Wrathion or Sabellian, or can I do both?

You choose one faction initially, but you can eventually reach True Friend with both. The reputation tokens are faction-locked: Mark of Sargha works only with Sabellian; Sargha's Signet works only with Wrathion. Buying the wrong one off the Auction House gives you no reputation. Both factions offer identical gear at the same item levels.

How long does the Cobalt Assembly reputation take?

Reaching the High rank (for the 389 ring) takes roughly two hours with a group of five players. Grinding all the way to Maximum rank for the Blue Dragonflight cosmetics takes around six hours. Both are faster with a coordinated group and easier when the zone has enough players to keep bonus objectives cycling.

What is the Shellack mount?

Shellack is a lava snail mount rewarded by completing every achievement in the Glory of the Dragonflight Hero meta-achievement. It requires a group willing to execute specific mechanics in each of the new Dragonflight dungeons. The window to find that group was narrowest right after Season 1 launched, when Mythic zero runs lost popularity.

What is the Darkmoon Faire and why did it matter before Season 1?

The Darkmoon Faire is a recurring monthly event that awards a 10% bonus to profession skill gains via the WHEE! buff. For anyone with profession skills left to level before Season 1, doing it while the Faire was active was meaningfully faster. The Faire overlapped the final pre-launch weekend.

What changed about Mythic+ dungeons in Season 1?

Dragonflight Season 1 introduced four new dungeons (Ruby Life Pools, The Nokhud Offensive, The Azure Vault, Algeth'ar Academy) alongside four returning legacy dungeons (Halls of Valor, Court of Stars, Shadowmoon Burial Grounds, Temple of the Jade Serpent). Several returning dungeons received mechanical adjustments to fit the Mythic+ format. Court of Stars and Temple of the Jade Serpent in particular had notable differences from their original versions that tripped up players who thought they remembered the fights.

Last reviewed 2026-06-07 against Dragonflight Patch 10.0.2, covers pre-Season-1 prep. Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team.