What to Expect in Dragonflight 10.1?

WoW Dragonflight has its biggest update yet on May 2, 2024. Patch 10.1 promises to shake up the MMORPG in many ways. Highly-anticipated features include cross-faction gameplay expanding to guilds and an overhauled upgrade mechanism. The expansion’s plot will continue, taking players into a previously secret region of the draconic homeland. Meanwhile, Season Two should reinvigorate the endgame. Keep reading to learn key details about those features.

New Dragon Isles Content

The majority of additions in this patch are tied to a newly-uncovered subterranean locale called Zaralek Cavern. Local highlights include:

  • A story campaign focused on Deathwing’s legacy;
  • Multiple side stories focused on exploring the caves;
  • Loamm Niffen, a new faction of blind mole-like creatures with a fully-fledged Renown track;
  • A couple of fresh Dragonriding talents letting riders regenerate Vigor by flying near the surface;
  • Winding Slitherdrake, the fifth basic drake mount possessing a full suite of possible modifications;
  • Double World Boss encounter involving Djaradin leaders;
  • Unique rares, drops, and harvestable resources.

Familiar parts of the archipelago shall receive new content too. Fyrakk Assaults shall challenge players to complete multiple objectives while fighting Primalist forces. Successful participation in this weekly activity will yield unique Suffused gear. Additionally, several plotlines touch upon the fates of Tyr and Blue Dragonflight.

New Dragonflight Raid

As heroes travel deeper into the caves, they will discover the expansion’s second raid. Aberrus: the Shadowed Crucible takes place in Deathwing’s old underground laboratory. It will open a week after the update. The raid includes nine encounters, two of which are council fights. In addition to the usual high-end gear, players could claim special rewards in AtSC. Firstly, another collection of class-tier items has been released, providing wearers with unique bonuses if they equip two or four items. Secondly, raiders may loot three class-exclusive trinkets with trade-offs between major bonuses and penalties. Thirdly, the end boss drops a cloak that temporarily steals secondary stat points from wounded allies.

Season Two Activities

The Mythic Plus roster shall receive a new selection of four Dragonflight plus four legacy instances:

  • Brackenhide Hollow;
  • Halls of Infusion;
  • Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr;
  • Neltharus;
  • Freehold;
  • The Underrot;
  • Vortex Pinnacle;
  • Neltharion’s Lair.

Affixes have undergone another overhaul. They now apply at Keystones mentioned below, subject to weekly rotation:

  • 2: Fortified, Tyrannical;
  • 7: Afflicted, Entangling, Incorporeal, Storming, Volcanic;
  • 14: Bolstering, Bursting, Raging, Sanguine, Spiteful.

New seasonal achievements, titles, and cosmetics are coming for both Mythic Plus and PvP. Arena enthusiasts can strive to claim Vicious War Snails and the new Dragonriding Drake’s Gladiator skin.

Additional Dragonflight 10.1 Features

Many other tweaks and additions appear in this patch, but these ones are especially important:

  • Blizzard is rolling out an experimental upgrade system for this season. It affects all new items except Mythic raid loot, crafted gear, and PvP equipment. Nearly every activity will drop capped Shadowflame Crests of different tiers and limitless Flightstones. Both resources may be spent to upgrade an eligible item by several steps. As a result, Valor is obsolete;
  • Guilds could optionally accept applicants from the opposing faction. The guild’s allegiance depends on its current leader’s affiliation;
  • Although not yet confirmed, data mining strongly indicates that Evokers will receive a third specialization. It will likely focus on ranged support, buffing allies in some previously unseen way.

Dragonflight Season Two Upgrade System Explained

Perhaps the most interesting feature of WoW Dragonflight’s second season is its unified upgrade system. It will go live with the release of patch 10.1 in early May 2024. Nearly every item dropped while playing this season’s content could be upgraded using the new mechanism. Doing so could extend the useful lifespan of lower-ilvl drops. While universal upgrades are an experiment that might not outlast the season, it could also be extended into the future if successful. Keep reading for all the known details about how this system is meant to operate.

Upgrade System Overview

The upgrade mechanism is fueled by two newly-implemented resources: Flightstones and Shadowflame Crests. They may be spent to buy upgrades from dedicated NPCs in major settlements, including the underground town of Loamm added in this patch. Each item can benefit from a limited number of upgrades, which correspond to certain item levels. For example, upgrading an ilevel 389 piece once raises its ilevel to 392 and improves its stats accordingly. Costs are subject to discounts if any character on the player’s account has higher-ilvl pieces in the same slot.

Open-world, Mythic Plus dungeon, and current raid gear benefit from this mechanic. However, there are several important limits:

  • Items from older content are unaffected. Likewise, if the experiment is discontinued, future drops will not be influenced;
  • Gear cannot be improved beyond ilevel 441, which means that Mythic raid loot has no way to improve;
  • PvP equipment retains its separate progression;
  • Likewise, crafted items may only be upgraded through recrafting.

Upgrade Tracks

The number of upgrades an item can receive is determined by its starting ilevel. Drops are divided into several tracks on this basis:

Track Starting ilevel Maximum upgrade ilevel
Explorer 376 398
Adventurer 389 411
Veteran 402 424
Champion 415 437
Hero 428 441

Upgrade Resources

Flightstones are the simpler of two resources. They are yielded by any activities, from seasonal instances to open-world looting, without restrictions. Some amount of Flightstones is necessary for any upgrade. Shadowflame Crests are considerably more complicated:

  • There are four types of Crests: Whelpling, Drake, Wyrm, and Aspect. They are necessary at different ilevel ranges: 402-411, 415-424, 428-437, and 441, respectively;
  • Crests drop from the same spread of activities as Flightstones. Those drops are non-random, though some variation is possible in open-world content. Different types drop from correspondingly harder activities;
  • In many cases, Fragments drop instead of whole items. Fifteen Fragments may be united into a Crest;
  • There is an individual cap for each kind of Crest. This cap goes up by ten every week. The cap does not apply to quest rewards;
  • Enchanters could combine Crests and other ingredients into Enchanted Crests of the appropriate tier. Those reagents are necessary for high-ilvl crafting;
  • Crests may also be sold to vendors.

Mythic Plus Integration

The new system supersedes Valor points previously earned in Mythic Plus activities and required to improve loot from this source. Mythic Plus Score no longer gates upgrades, but is still tracked for the sake of special prizes. If any member of your party increases their Mythic Plus Score during a run, you will receive additional Flightstones.

How Boosting Can Help

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  • All new content could be unlocked swiftly by playing through the plotlines;
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