TL;DR
- Valorstone farming remains essential but requires strategic spending to avoid resource waste
- Mythic Plus 7 keys emerge as the optimal efficiency point for gear and crest acquisition
- Delves provide solo players with up to 31 gilded crests weekly through optimized tier progression
- Crafting decisions now heavily favor PvP weapons for early progression advantage
- Achievement rewards shift to Catalyst charges, changing long-term gearing strategies
Welcome to the comprehensive WoW The War Within Season 2 gearing strategy guide! This detailed analysis builds upon SoulSoBreezy’s expert insights to deliver advanced optimization techniques for your character progression. Whether you’re pushing Mythic raids or prefer solo content, this guide provides actionable strategies to maximize your gear acquisition efficiency. We’ll explore the significant changes in Season 2 and how they impact your overall gearing approach. Let’s dive into the most effective methods to gear up quickly and strategically!

Valorstone Farming: Strategic Resource Management
Valorstone acquisition represents a fundamental progression pillar that demands careful resource allocation. Many players struggle with inefficient spending patterns that significantly slow their overall advancement. Here are the core principles for maximizing your Valorstone efficiency:
Strategic Spending Framework: Embrace Valorstones as your primary currency for meaningful upgrades rather than temporary improvements. The most common mistake involves upgrading gear that gets replaced within days, wasting precious resources that could accelerate your endgame progression.
Priority Investment Guidelines: Focus your Valorstone expenditure exclusively on Hero or Champion tier equipment. Additionally, prioritize crafting Spark creation for long-term gear development. Avoid spending on marginal upgrades unless you’re approaching the weekly cap, as this represents one of the most frequent progression errors.
Optimal Valorstone Acquisition Methods: Traditional sources remain viable, but Season 2 introduces enhanced farming opportunities. For maximum efficiency:
- Complete Scrap Heap events and Shipping and Handling assignments for substantial rewards beyond weekly chests
- Progress through renown tiers to unlock C.H.E.T.T. list completions, providing excellent Valorstone income particularly beneficial for alternate characters
- High-tier Delves deliver the most time-efficient returns, with full completions rewarding approximately 65 Valor Stones depending on enemy composition and Nemesis pack encounters
Raiding: Direct Path to High-End Gear
Raiding continues to offer the most direct route to acquiring top-tier equipment in Season 2. All difficulty levels become immediately accessible at season launch, including Mythic and Raid Finder modes. Important note: Raid Finder divides content across four distinct wings, requiring an item level 606 threshold to queue—equivalent to maximum Veteran gear or mid-level Champion equipment from the previous season.
- Initial progression may feel gradual during week one with only two available bosses, though numerous alternative Veteran gear sources exist
- Progression-focused players will demonstrate high activity across multiple content types to accelerate their gearing timeline
- Gear progression mirrors raid clearing patterns, with final encounters awarding crests for both current and next difficulty levels to complete your Veteran sets
Creation Catalyst Mechanics: The Creation Catalyst maintains its Season 1 functionality, providing one charge during the inaugural week and additional charges every subsequent fortnight. These charges can be strategically hoarded to activate crucial 2- or 4-piece set bonuses at optimal moments.
Mythic Plus Dungeons: The Efficiency Sweet Spot
Season 2 implements substantial modifications to Mythic Plus content, particularly Mythic Zero dungeons which now yield Champion equipment and Carved Crests. The weekly completion limit returns, ensuring consistent crest accumulation throughout the season.
- Champion Equipment Farming: Mythic Zero instances serve as excellent locations for Champion gear acquisition. Continuing to run level two and three keys enables collection of hero equipment from the Great Vault
- The Optimal Progression Tier: Plus 7 keys emerge as the definitive sweet spot for advancement. Successful completions provide opportunities for level 1 hero gear, level 4 hero equipment from Vault rewards, and gilded crests. These difficulty levels provide the fastest gearing pathway at this tier, becoming essential content for players targeting Mythic track equipment
At Plus 7 difficulty, you’ll encounter affix combinations like Fortified or Tyrannical, with escalating penalties at Plus 12. These represent your primary key levels for obtaining gilded crests to craft gear or enhance your hero equipment.
Delves: Solo Player Power Progression
Delves experience transformative adjustments in Season 2, especially at elevated tiers. The curios obtained during Season 1 are being replaced with new variants that enhance our equipment capabilities.
- Tier 8 Delve Strategy: Despite gear level reductions to level 1 hero equipment, these delves maintain their importance for independent players.
- Bountiful Delve Optimization: Completing Tier 11 Bountiful delves while preserving lives rewards you with gilded chests containing 7 gilded crests each. You can claim these chest rewards three times weekly, accumulating up to 21 gilded crests
- Delver’s Bounty Mechanics: The Bounty now features increased drop frequency, with tier level becoming irrelevant. Obtaining it from Tier 11 delves provides an additional 10 gilded crests bonus
- This establishes Delves as a premier source for Rune and Gilded Crests, particularly valuable for solo-oriented players seeking progression outside raid or Mythic dungeon environments.
Crafting: Strategic Gear Enhancement
Crafting doesn’t constitute a distinct gameplay pathway but remains an indispensable element of Season 2 gearing strategy. With Mythic Plus and Delves accelerating gilded crest acquisition rates, crafting becomes increasingly viable for character advancement.
Gilded Crest Utilization: Through dedicated delve farming, you can accumulate approximately 31 gilded crests weekly. This enables creation of high-tier equipment without requiring raid or dungeon participation. Gradually, you’ll convert runed crests into additional gilded ones, further accelerating your progression timeline.
However, crafting decisions require careful consideration. Raid encounters drop specialized weapons featuring cantrip effects that inflict damage over duration. These effects accumulate without expiration, though their practical utility appears limited outside raid environments due to currently modest damage output.
For dedicated players, crafting PvP weapons (assuming quest repetition) represents a powerful alternative. These provide excellent initial weapons to establish a solid foundation for your progression journey.
Achievement System Overhaul and Impact
Achievement Reward Modifications: The reward structure for completing Ahead of the Curve, Keystone Master, and Gladiator achievements has been fundamentally altered. These no longer provide tokens for heroic tier equipment but instead grant Catalyst charges. This transformation produces different effects based on individual playstyles:
- Advanced Player Impact: Elite performers across content types may experience reduced control over their gearing velocity as Catalyst charges introduce a more gradual, extended progression approach. However, this enables creation of Mythic tier set pieces, delivering more substantial long-term benefits rather than immediate power spikes
- Casual Player Experience: Individuals who engage across multiple progression pathways might perceive minimal disruption from this adjustment. They’ll continue acquiring substantial equipment overall and can reserve specific items for their additional Catalyst charge utilization. Casual participants frequently derive limited benefit from these achievements since they often possess comparable gear from alternative activities
Optimized Progression Path for Season 2
If you’re pursuing efficient cross-content progression, implement this optimized advancement route when Season 2 commences:
- Raid Finder Initialization: Begin your progression here for veteran equipment and tier piece opportunities. Complete weekly assignments for four Pinnacle chests alongside equivalent gear drops.
- PvP Integration: When accessible, complete the seasonal initiation PvP quest and craft necessary equipment for your configuration as you advance.
- Delve Progression Strategy: Advance through Tier 8, then initiate Bountiful Key usage for supplementary rewards. If you acquire a Delver’s Bounty, preserve it until you can successfully complete tier 11 delves while maintaining lives for maximum gilded crest and chest acquisition.
- Mythic Plus Implementation: After completing your weekly raid requirements and additional activities, engage with Mythic Plus dungeons to approach Plus 7 keys, which provide valuable equipment and gilded crests.
- Strategic Upgrade Application: Expend Valorstones exclusively on equipment you’ll retain for multiple weeks. Concentrate enhancement efforts on items meeting Champion tier or superior requirements.
- Gilded Crest Allocation: Reserve your gilded crests for optimal equipment or crafted gear improvements. Replacing components as you obtain Mythic-tier equipment represents the fundamental progression principle.
Action Checklist
- Complete Raid Finder weekly for veteran gear and tier pieces
- Progress through Tier 8 Delves before using Bountiful Keys
- Run Mythic Plus dungeons targeting Plus 7 keys for optimal crest returns
- Farm Valorstones through Scrap Heap events and high-tier Delves
- Save gilded crests for best-in-slot items only
- Use Catalyst charges strategically for Mythic tier set completion
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