Upgrading powerful equipment in World of Warcraft will soon become easier. The hurdles will be lowered and more intermediate steps will be added.
In Patch 9.1 Chains of Domination of World of Warcraft, there is again the possibility to upgrade items with Valor Points. The rigid boundaries will be slightly broken and expanded. This gives players more options to upgrade their equipment earlier.
What will be changed? Previously, upgrading with Valor Points required certain achievements. The limits were set for completing all dungeons at levels +5, +10, and +15. With Patch 9.1, this system will be switched to a rating system that works similarly to the Raider.io rating system. Depending on your performance, you will receive a rating.
However, that’s not all. Blizzard has incorporated many intermediate steps. So, if you reach certain thresholds with your rating, equipment can be upgraded with Valor Points.
What limits are there? Depending on which item level you want to upgrade your equipment to, there are different limits. You can refer to the following table:
| Item level | Required Rating |
| 210 – 226 | No rating required |
| 229 | Rating of 600 or higher |
| 233 | Rating of 1,000 or higher |
| 236 | Rating of 1,000 or higher |
| 239 | Rating of 1,400 or higher |
| 242 | Rating of 1,700 or higher |
| 246 | Rating of 2,000 or higher |
Note that you still need Valor Points, which you must earn again in dungeons after the launch of Season 2.
What are the implications? Basically, this system allows for more flexibility and also enables players to regularly upgrade their items, which increases their performance in smaller increments. For many, the jump from “Mythic+10” to “Mythic+15” was quite hard. There are now finer gradations, so you can upgrade your equipment a bit if you complete a handful of dungeons at +12 or +13. This gives players more “goals” to work towards.
What do you think of these adjustments to loot and upgrading? A good thing? Or were the previous limits sufficient?
