Midnight • Patch 12.0.1 • Season 1

Midnight Alt Gearing Guide

The definitive gameplay loop for gearing your characters efficiently — from initial Mythic prep to your ongoing weekly routine.

Last updated: 2026-03-22

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Guide Under Active Development

This guide is brand new for the Midnight launch and will be updated frequently in the upcoming weeks. Check back often for the latest strategies!

Progress

0/23 Steps Completed

Launch Day Ready

23 Steps

Quick Start

Complete the spark quest from Lady Liadrin.
Do the 3x Nightmare Prey weekly quest.
Run at least one Bountiful T11 Delve.
Farm +10s (or +8s) for gear, crests, and vault slots.

Prerequisites

You have a level 90 character.
You have completed the Midnight campaign (or will skip it).
Ideally, you've done Sojourner achievements for champion renown (246 gear).

Priority:

Essential Warband Alt Tips

Crucial account-wide unlocks and discounts to leverage before you start spending currencies on your alt.

Maximize Warband Crest Discounts

High

Each time you finish with crests on one character, all other characters get a 50% discount on upgrades. Try to hold off on upgrading alt gear until your main finishes with crests for a given tier (e.g., getting 6/6 heroic items in every slot gives alts Heroic upgrades for 10 crests instead of 20).

Unlock Account-Wide Catalyst Charges

High

Once you acquire your 4-set bonus for the first time, all content can drop catalyst charges going forward. Queueing for LFR to try to get tier pieces and activate your 4-set bonus ASAP is very important to start generating these drops for your warband.

Alt Spark Crafting Priority

High

For split alts (or most secondary characters), always prioritize crafting a weapon with your first Spark. It offers the most substantial power spike and saves significant crests early in the season.

Claim Warband Delve Keys

Med

The vendor in the delve area has a bag with 2 free Coffer Keys that go over the cap. This is a once-per-warband purchase, so make sure to purchase it on your main or prioritize it to help fuel delve loot!

Initial Mythic Preparation

Set yourself up for success before jumping into Mythic content and pushing high keys.

Save Your High-End Crests

High

Do not spend any Hero or Myth crests unless told to. Saving them for optimal upgrades is critical.

Clear LFR for Tier Pieces

High

If you do not have your 4-set bonus yet, run Looking For Raid (LFR) to secure your tier pieces and activate your class bonuses.

Lady Liadrin's Spark Quest

High

Complete the spark quest from Lady Liadrin to ensure you can craft your best items.

Nightmare Prey Weekly Quest

High

Complete the 3x nightmare prey weekly quest to get an item that summons a delve boss. This boss drops a map and 20 uncapped Hero crests.

/way 2393 55.0 63.4 Astalor Bloodsworn

How to unlock Nightmare Difficulty

Defeat Nulleaus Targets

High

Complete ? Nulleaus for 30 uncapped Hero Crests. Complete ?? Nulleaus for an additional 30 uncapped Hero Crests and 30 uncapped Myth Crests! See Wowhead guide for details.

Tier 11 Bountiful Delve

High

Do at least one bountiful t11 Delve with the map from the nightmare prey boss summon. This yields the cracked keystone quest that awards 20 Heroic and Mythic crests that don’t count towards weekly cap and a hero track item.

Spend Low-Tier Crests

Med

Continue to spend all your Adventurer, Veteran, and Champion Crests upgrading everything that you possibly can to make keys easier.

Farm +10 Keystones

High

Farm +10’s for 3/6h 266 item level pieces, vault slots and all your various Crests. If +10’s are too much of a struggle, do at least +8’s to get 2/6 hero track gear (but don’t upgrade these).

Strategic Pre-Mythic Upgrades

High

Before entering Mythic, upgrade the following 3/6 hero track items to 6/6: chest, pants, helm, 1 ring, 1 trinket. This should take 300/320 hero crests. Save the last 20 Hero crests in case you get a myth 1/6 item that you need to upgrade to 2/6 first. This assumption is based off of crafting a 2h + 1 other embellished item next week. Hunters or others who didn’t craft weapons might consider leveling their weapon instead of pants or helmet in order to gain that power spike after they kill the first boss on mythic if the weapons don’t drop.

Note: Update 3/22: This gives you the largest power spike possible heading into your first week of mythic while avoiding crest waste. Chest, Pants, and Helm are your three most powerful primary stat equipment slots; trinket and ring are safe upgrades. For every WR 75+, this path ensures you don’t lose DPS.

Upgrade Mythic Raid Drops

High

If lucky enough to get a mythic item from raid, you can upgrade it all the way. If you get a 1/6 mythic track item, upgrade its heroic counterpart first to 6/6 for a free 2/6 mythic upgrade.

The Core Gameplay Loop

Your ongoing checklist for continuing to gear up and maximize your character's power.

Claim Great Vault Loot

High

Open your vault for a 272+ myth track item. Upgrade this AFTER crafting (see instructions below).

Finalize Your Crafts

High

Make a decision on spending your 3 crafts if you haven’t yet. We assume you crafted a 2-hander + one other item for a total of 160 crests. If you crafted 3 separate items, you will have 80 fewer crests to spend for future weeks. Adjust accordingly.

Lady Liadrin's Spark Quest

High

Complete the spark quest from Lady Liadrin.

Nightmare Prey Weekly Quest

High

Complete the 3x nightmare prey weekly quest to get an item that summons a delve boss to get 20 uncapped Hero crests.

/way 2393 55.0 63.4 Astalor Bloodsworn

Defeat ? Nulleaus

MedOptional

Complete ? Nulleaus for 30 uncapped Hero Crests. (Note: ?? Nulleaus is no longer recommended on repeated weeks). See Wowhead guide for details.

Farm +10 Keystones

High

Farm +10’s for vault slots and all your various Crests.

Heroic Upgrades

High

Upgrade a 3/6 266 item to 6/6 276 for 60 Heroic Crests. Upgrade 2 3/6 266 items to 4/6 269 for 40 Heroic Crests. Save 20 Heroic Crests for the next step.

Mythic Upgrades

High

If your vault item was 1/6, upgrade its heroic counterpart first to 6/6 heroic for 20 Heroic Crests. Upgrade your 1/6 272 Myth track item to 6/6 289 for 80 Myth crests.

Future Mythic Upgrades

Med

If you have a 2nd myth track item, skip to the next cycle’s upgrade advice for it.

Champion Gear from Renown (246 ilvl)

By leveling reputation to the Champion track, you can earn powerful 246 ilvl gear pieces from specific factions. Completing Sojourner in each zone is the fastest way to get there.

Helm

Silvermoon Court

Rank 9 • 246 ilvl

Neck

Amani Tribe

Rank 9 • 246 ilvl

Belt

Hara'ti

Rank 8 • 246 ilvl

Trinket

The Singularity

Rank 7 • 246 ilvl

Full guide on Wowhead →

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does the core loop take?

The weekly required tasks (Sparks, Delves, Nightmare Prey) can be done efficiently in an hour or two. Farming M+ takes additional time depending on your group and key levels.

Why should I save my Hero Crests?

Saving Hero Crests for specific slots (Chest, Pants, Helm, etc.) maximizes your power spike going into Mythic raid progression. It also gives you buffer room for unexpected drops.

What about my lower-tier crests?

Spend your Adventurer, Veteran, and Champion crests aggressively to raise your overall item level. This will make your M+ runs significantly easier and smoother.

What if I can't do +10s?

If +10 keys are too challenging, step down to +8s. You will still receive 2/6 Hero track gear (which you shouldn't upgrade until strictly necessary), but you'll avoid the headache of a bricked key.

Pro Tips

Run LFR early if you don't have your 4-set bonus to enable your class’s true potential.
Spend your low-tier crests as fast as possible to make jumping into high keys smoother.
Use the Heroic-to-Mythic discount trick when getting new Vault or Raid loot to save valuable Mythic crests.
Align your crafted item choices before heavily committing Hero crests to ensure you don't waste resources.
Wait to upgrade your alt's gear until your main finishes with crests for that tier to get a massive 50% account-wide discount!

Recommended Addons

Azeroth Pilot Reloaded (APR): Free on CurseForge. Best for Sojourner routing and speedrun mode.
FollowTheArrow: Highly optimized Midnight leveling addon by Harldan. Use this for your next alt!
TomTom: For /way coordinates to find NPCs and quest objectives quickly.
Plumber: Adds useful UI tweaks and expansion specific quality of life improvements.
BugSack & BugGrabber: Highly recommended to catch and hide annoying UI errors during a new launch.

What's Next?

Optimization & PVP

Now that you are comfortably geared, take your character to the next level by optimizing your stats, or test your mettle in the arena!

Go to Optimization Guide →Go to PVP Guide →

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