GEAR UP / CATCH UP in Season 4 ALTS & MAINS, Patch 9.2.7 GUIDE

Season 4 is a little different compared to what we are used to. There is the normal 26 ilvl increase into this season but that is only in dungeons/raids/PvP.

This means that all outdoor content and crafting will stay exactly as they are. So what can you do to gear up your character?

There are different ways that you can take to gear up your character so that it is ready for casual raiding, meaning LFR. Once you reach that and get gear from it, then it is up to you how far you want to go after that, because after that, you have to group up with other players before entering a dungeon or a raid. Meaning, the requirement to be invited will now be harder. This PuG (Pick up Group) world is known to require more than needed when doing PvP, Raid or mythic plus dungeons. This type of game play will be about Rated Battlegrounds, Arena, Mythic plus dungeons and Normal/Heroic/Mythic Raiding.

In Shadowlands, you have certain factors that will increase the power of your character except from the gear you have with ilvl. It is highly recommended that you try to get your hands on them. These are:

Legendary
Since patch 9.2 we can wear two Legendaries. One is tied to the covenant you are tied to and the other one is tied to your class and spec. You can upgrade a legendary all the way up to 291.
This season 4 does not add higher ilvl legendary gear upgrades. So 291 is your highest. You should not remove your legendary no matter if you get higher ilvl gear in season 4, because the power you gain from legendary will still be better.
Tier Set Bonus
Each spec got character power from 2:piece and 4:piece bonuses. You get these either via class set tokens or gear from PvP/M+/Raids/Sandworn Relics can be converted into tier gear via the creation catalyst. In Season 4 you will get them the same way. What is added now is that Fated Raid Gear from Castle Nathria and Sanctum of Domination can also be converted into tier gear via the creation catalyst.

GEARING UP

Based on your ilvl gear at level 60, you have different paths to choose from. The higher the ilvl reward is, it will require higher ilvl to be able to que up for it.

Doing these steps below will give you an ilvl of 270+ with two Legendaries and 4-Set Tier Bonus gear, without being on any premade groups.

Step 1

Go to the upper floor in Oribos and talk to Au´Dara Broker vendor, next to the flight path. Buy following:

Broker´s Mark of Distinction
Reach Renown 60 when used. This is Bind on Account.
This is only available if you have reached renown 80 with a character.
Incense of Infinity
Learning all Conduits and raising them to ilvl 200.

You can buy the 4 of the Broker´s Mark if you want to get a lot of extra anima that is rewarded when reaching 60 Renown with the different covenants.

Step 2 - TIER GEAR

If you have Sandworn Relics on any character, then send it to the character you want to gear up.

Sandworn Relics are now Bind on Account.
Sandworn Relics Gear can also be crafted into Tier Gear.
If you have enough Sandworn Relics, then you get 4 pieces that are part of the tier set bonus (Head, Shoulder, Hands, Shoulder, Legs).

The costs are following:

Hands	230
Shoulder	230
Chest	300
Head	300
Legs	300

Check out this Sandworn Relics guide: https://www.worldofmoudi.com/sandworn-relics

Step 3 - World Boss (271 ilvl)

In Season 4, we are not getting any new world bosses but the old ones will have higher ilvl. But not all at the same time. The world bosses are tied to their respective raid. The raiding in Season 4 contains all 3 raids in shadowlands, but only 1 is active with a FATED-tag per week, and it rotates. A FATED-tag means that the ilvl reward is season 4 and it also means that the raid is scaled to season 4 with some extra mechanics.

This means that Castle Nathria is FATED one the first week. The 1 of the 4 world bosses in Maldraxxus, Bastion, Revendreth or Ardenweald will drop higher ilvl (271 ilvl).
The week after, Sanctum of Domination is active as FATED. Then we will get the world boss in the Maw that drops higher ilvl (271 ilvl).
The third week will make Sephulcer of the First ones FATED. Then we will get the world boss in Zereth Mortis that drops higher ilvl (271 ilvl).

Step 4-6 FAST GEAR (233-242 ilvl)

Step	Objective	ilvl	Gear	Currency
4	Zereth Mortis: One-Time Chests	236-242	Necklace, wrist, rings, waist
5	Zereth Mortis anima vendor.	226	Armor, Trinkets, necklace, rings, Weapons	500 Anima a piece
6	Crafted Gear (Crafter's Mark IV) Action House	233	Armor, necklace, rings	Gold

Reach minimum 210+ ilvl

Step 7 - HEROIC DUNGEONS (249 ilvl)

Do step 1-3 until you have enough ilvl to que up for Heroic Dungeons.

Heroic dungeons will reward you with 249 ilvl gear.

When running Hc dungeons, make sure to check where your legendary powers drop, because many of them come from dungeons

Step 8 - LEGENDARIES (291 ilvl)

Once you know what legendary you want on your character and learned the power, it's time to craft it.

Remember that you can wear one legendary power that is tied to your covenant and that power is always called UNITY. Unity changes based on your covenant. The other legendary is whatever you want that is tied to your class/spec.

Getting UNITY legendary power
This one is learned on all of your characters once you have completed chapter 7 in Zereth Mortis Main Story on any character.
If you don't want to craft a 291 legendary power, you can get this legendary power as a 265 by completing chapter 7 questline in Zereth Mortis.

Getting Legendary FAST

You can get all the currencies needed to make a legendary directly, if you have cosmic flux. The Enlightened rep vendor Vilo in Zereth Mortis, Haven, sells an item called Bag of Explored Souls.

This contains all currencies needed to make a legendary power. The only thing you need is the base item, which you can craft or buy at the auction house. Bag of Explored Souls requires you to be Honored with the Enlightened rep faction. The fastest way to get Honored is:

Do the skip when entering Zereth Mortis. This gets you to chapter 3 and almost halfway to Honored reputation.
Complete chapter 4 and 5 in the Zereth Mortis questline.

Cosmic Flux can now be sent to alts as well. The item is called Pouch of Prodigious Wonders and sold by the Enlightened rep vendor Vilo in Zereth Mortis, Haven. It costs 1500 Cosmic Flux and once you use it, it gives 1250 Cosmic Flux.

It´s actually good to complete the Zereth Mortis questline because it will give you a 265 UNITY legendary waist and also unlock the bag that contains all currencies needed to craft legendary.

Step 9 - RAID FINDER (265-272 ilvl)

Complete the steps above and you are ready for LFR.

The raiding in Season 4 contains all 3 raids in shadowlands, but only 1 is active with a FATED-tag per week, and it rotates. A FATED-tag means that the ilvl reward is season 4 and it also means that the raid is scaled to season 4 with some extra mechanics.

These raids will reward you with 265-272 ilvl gear.

You can now also do the 3 part questline that rewards Dinar. Each quest will reward one Dinar. One dinar is used as a currency to buy best in slot trinkets and weapons. Check out this guide on how it works. https://www.worldofmoudi.com/trinket-weapon-vendor

Making higher Tier-Sets
These raids will also drop chest/head/shoulder/hands/legs. Getting gear from any of the 3 raids when they are FATED will make you be able to craft them into a tier at the Creation Catalyst.

Alternative - PvP

You can also que up for Random Battle grounds which rewards Honor as a currency. Here is a list of what you can buy and the ilvl of them all the way to rank 7.

Rank	ilvl (PvE)	ilvl (PvP
1	229	265
2	236	268
3	242	272
4	249	275
5	255	278
6	262	281
7	268	285

PUG PREMADE - NORMAL RAIDS

Jumping in on pre-mades with players you don't know has its history in WoW. The requirement to get invited is in general much higher than the content you will do. It is both the gear and the status. By status I mean achievements or mythic scores.

Gear

The ilvl reward in FATED normal raids is 278.
The PuG world normally requires some ilvls below the reward. In this case 270+.
The PuG world that are on end bosses or doing a full clear normally requires the same ilvl as the rewards. In this case 275-280.

Since the Legendaries and Tier Gear are much easier to get now compared to at start, players expect you to have this when you get invited.

Achievements

Since these are raids that we have done before, then we got achievements already on day 1. This is the only thing that players can require from you (even though it could be completed in LFR back then).

Season 4 has new achievements for clearing bosses, which will be part of the requirements later in this Season.

Fate of Nathria
Defeat all the bosses on any Difficulty while Castle Nathria is Fated.

Fate of Domination
Defeat all the bosses on any Difficulty while Sanctum of Domination is Fated.

Fate of the Sepulcher
Defeat all the bosses on any Difficulty while Sepulcher of the First Ones is Fated.

Once you have defeated all bosses in all raids, you will get the Achievement “Fates of the Shadowlands Raids. Which will reward the Mount; Jigglesworth Sr.