WoW Midnight Patch 12.1: Curse of Ula'tek has officially launched and is currently in Pre-Season 2 week.
While the available activities this week are limited, for most players it's a great opportunity to improve their strength and shine at the start of Season 2.
The currently available Altar of Fangs Dungeon gives players an opportunity to secure Season 2 Champion gear ahead of the upcoming content cycle.
With Patch 12.1, Champion gear can be upgraded to item level 308. Since Season 2 will last only one week, getting this gear early can provide a substantial advantage and help players gain a head start over those who wait. Below, we'll walk through the upgrade process and explain how to make the most of this early gear advantage.

Core Mechanism Changes
In WoW Midnight Patch 12.1, Blizzard has changed the game's gear upgrade system, completely removing Valorstones. Upgrades no longer require cumbersome secondary currencies; instead, each upgrade requires a fixed 20 Mistcrests and a small amount of Gold.
Therefore, to obtain a level 308 Champion piece of gear, you first need to acquire Champion base gear, then collect enough Mistcrests and gold to upgrade it step by step.
Acquiring Champion Base Gear
Since Mythic+ dungeons and raids are not yet available in WoW Midnight Patch 12.1, there are four main ways to obtain Champion base gear in the game.
1. Farm 8 Mythic 0 Dungeons
Mythic 0 bosses have a chance to drop base Champion gear with an initial level of 292. Currently, in WOW Midnight, besides the newly added Altar of Fangs, you can farm Mythic 0 Dungeons from 7 returning dungeons, including:
- Mechagon - Junkyard
- Siege of Boralus
- Kings' Rest
- Temple of Sethraliss
- Shrine of the Storm
- Waycrest Manor
- The Underrot
Note that this week's Mythic 0 Dungeons are locked for the week only, so you only have one chance to farm each dungeon. Ensure your character is strong enough to safely complete them.
2. Defeat the New Lair Boss
WOW Midnight Patch 12.1 introduces the new Lairs instance mode. Head to the newly opened Coiled Isle and defeat Lair Boss there for a chance to directly obtain level 292 Champion gear.
If you're not satisfied with the loot drop, you have one chance to use Nebulous Voidcore to re-evaluate the drop, significantly increasing your chances of getting it.
3. Prey Hunts
Unlock Prey Hunts questline in Coiled Isle for WOW Midnight: Curse of Ula'tek Season 2. This week, head to the ritual point and use the collected Ossified Relics to summon the new elite monster Ral'kala. Defeating it will not only earn you reputation points, but the chest will also guarantee a high-tier piece of equipment.
4. Bountiful Delves
Use Restored Coffer Keys you've accumulated this week to clear Bountiful Delves at level 4 or higher. Bountiful Coffers provide a reliable way to obtain Champion-level base gear.
Acquiring Upgrade Currency
Due to this being the first week of Patch 12.1, there is a weekly cap on Mistcrests needed for gear upgrades. Upgrading a basic Champion piece of gear from level 292 to 308 requires five upgrades (292→295→298→302→305→308), consuming approximately 100 Mistcrests and a significant amount of WoW Midnight Gold.
Besides obtaining the necessary currency from the eight dungeons this week, completing the weekly campaign quests in the new capital city and Curse Surges on Coiled Isle will also reward a small amount of Mistcrests.
You just need to max out your Mistcrests by August 18th next week.
Utilizing the Discount Mechanism
In fact, simply consuming resources to upgrade gear without proper preparation won't be enough to upgrade your entire set, even if you collect a full set of Mistcrests. Therefore, you must perfectly utilize Account-wide Discount mechanism of WoW Midnight: Curse of Ula'tek:
1. Upgrade Veteran Gear First
This week, world quests and normal dungeons will drop a large amount of Veteran gear (level cap 295). Upgrading Veteran gear only requires very low-tier Weathered Mistcrests.
2. Stay at the 295 Level Cap
First, use Weathered Mistcrests to upgrade all your Veteran gear pieces to level 295.
3. Free Upgrades
Once your character (or even characters on the same account and in the same team) already has a level 295 piece of gear, upgrading that piece of Champion gear (from 292 to 295) will trigger a 100% Mistcrest reduction - completely eliminating the need for Runed Mistcrests and requiring only a minimal amount of gold!
The saved Runed Mistcrests can then be used to upgrade the last three tiers from 295 to 308.
Upgrade Tips
1. Avoid Upgrading Major Items
Don't upgrade all pieces of Champion gear at once. Prioritize using Mistcrests to upgrade weapons, Trinkets, rings, and amulets. The improvements to these pieces will immediately boost your character's DPS, healing, and tankiness, and you can achieve higher combat power with fewer Mistcrests.
2. Don't Solo
Because M0 is locked for the week, you only have 8 runs. It is strongly recommended to form an Armor Stack in Premade Groups or with guild friends.
This way, if teammates get duplicate pieces or level 292 Champion base gear that is useless to them, they can trade it directly to you. This is the fastest way to quickly acquire a full set of Champion base gear in the first week of WoW Midnight: Curse of Ula'tek.
3. Account-Wide Secondary Discount
WoW Midnight Patch 12.1's Account-Wide Discount mechanism not only applies to a single character but also to the entire Warband under the same account.
If your main character has already upgraded a Champion piece of gear to the maximum level, you can also enjoy the halved Runed Mistcrest cost when upgrading the same Champion piece of gear on your alt character under the same account.
Furthermore, since this week is only Pre-season, many of Champion pieces you obtain may have very poor stats and will not be of much use to your character's attributes.
In this case, you can avoid wasting Runed Mistcrests on upgrading them. Mythic+ expansion, which opens in Season 2 after August 18th, allows you to farm suitable gear without restrictions.
This week, save your Mistcrest. Unless you find a near-BiS set with perfect stats, or want to get into next week's raid early, keeping Mistcrest until next week is the most efficient way to maximize your gains.















