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WoW Midnight Season 2 Guide: Checklist and 12.1.5 Update
Season 2 of WoW Midnight is no longer around the corner: Patch 12.1 went live on 11 August 2026 (North America) and 12 August (Europe), Season 2 followed on 18 August (NA) and 19 August (EU), and the Patch 12.1.5 mid-season update arrived on 13 October (NA) and 14 October (EU). The couple of weeks around a season transition are the busiest stretch of the whole expansion, and if you drifted into it without a plan, you left rewards on the table, wasted currencies that were about to reset, and started the grind a full step behind everyone who did their homework. This guide walks you through everything worth doing around the season start, in the order that actually mattered, and marks what has changed since.
Think of the changeover as two separate events, not one. Patch 12.1 opened the new content week (campaign continuation, the Coiled Isle, Mythic 0, fresh Delves), and then Season 2 itself switched on the following week with the raid, Mythic+, ranked PvP, and the rest. Knowing that gap existed was half the battle, because it told you exactly what you could knock out early and what had to wait.
Below you will find a clean set of Key Takeaways, then the full breakdown: what to finish in Season 1, which achievements and mounts became unobtainable, which currencies reset when the season closed, how to get your main and alts season-ready, and two dated checklists (Patch 12.1 week and Season 2 Week 1), kept as a record of the changeover. The sections also mark what is different in the live season, up to Patch 12.1.5.
Key Takeaways
- Patch 12.1 arrived one week before Season 2 flipped on — they were not the same event, so the two dates mattered separately.
- Season 2 started on August 18 (North America) and August 19 (Europe); Patch 12.1 landed roughly a week earlier, and Patch 12.1.5 followed on October 13 (NA) and October 14 (EU).
- Several Season 1 achievements, titles, and mounts became unobtainable once the season closed.
- Season 1 currencies reset when the season closed. Hoarding Dawncrests for Season 2 did nothing; the new season uses its own upgrade family, the Mistcrests (Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, and Myth tiers).
- Bring your main and any alts you actually intend to play to level 90 with working talents, basic enchants, and a functional Hero-track kit.
- Stock consumables early; prices climb once progression begins. According to Method, Patch 12.1 also added a one-time free knowledge reset for each Midnight profession.
- Running every Season 2 dungeon on Mythic 0 during patch week let you learn the fights before keys went live; Mythic 0 drops item level 292 gear.
Note: As of 22 October 2026, Season 2 has been live since 18 August (NA) and 19 August (EU), and Patch 12.1.5 has been live since 13 October (NA) and 14 October (EU). It added a second Season 2 raid, The Unbinding of Kith’ix, and Ascendant Venomstones for upgrading top-end gear; Season 1 is closed, and Season 2 upgrades use Mistcrests instead of Dawncrests.
What to Do Before Season 2
Here is the short version of the whole guide: the ten priority tasks that gave the most value for the least effort before the season started. Everything else in this guide is just detail on how to do each of these well, and the list is kept as a record of the changeover.
- Finish the Season 1 max-level campaign so you are not blocked when the story continues.
- Complete the Omnium Folio weekly power quests before 12.1 closed them out.
- Claim any Season 1 raid, Mythic+, PvP, and Delve achievements you were close to.
- Spend every Season 1 currency that was about to reset.
- Bring your main to level 90 with a working spec and functional gear.
- Level and gear only the alts you will genuinely play.
- Stock flasks, potions, food, enchants, and gems before prices spike.
- Clean up your bags, quest log, and add-ons.
- Learn the reworked Mythic+ dungeons on Mythic 0 during patch week.
- Read up on the Venomous Abyss raid so you walk in prepared.
One important note about the patch week itself: when Patch 12.1 arrived, all Season 2 dungeons opened at both Heroic and Mythic 0. Mythic 0 was on a weekly lockout in patch week and dropped item level 292 gear (Champion 1/6, from every boss); according to Method, the lockout became daily once Season 2 started. That made it the single best gearing activity available before the season formally began. Running the full Mythic 0 rotation in patch week did double duty — it geared you and it taught you the new dungeon mechanics before timed keys went live.
The table below lays out the full release schedule for both regions. Every date in it is now past, and all four Raid Finder wings of the Venomous Abyss are open.
| Release Stage | North America | Europe | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Content | August 11 | August 12 | Patch 12.1 launch: Coiled Isle, campaign, Altar of Fangs, Mythic 0, new Delves |
| Season 2 Launch | August 18 | August 19 | Venomous Abyss, Mythic+, PvP, Bountiful Delves, Nightmare Prey |
| Raid Finder Wing 2 | August 25 | August 26 | Second Venomous Abyss wing and Story Mode |
| Raid Finder Wing 3 | September 1 | September 2 | Third Venomous Abyss wing |
| Raid Finder Wing 4 | September 8 | September 9 | Final Venomous Abyss wing |
| Patch 12.1.5 | October 13 | October 14 | Mid-season update: The Unbinding of Kith’ix, Labyrinth of Kindo’jan, Aqir Invasions, Ascendant Venomstones |
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Complete Season 1 Campaign Quests
Before you touch anything else, wrap up the Season 1 max-level campaign. The Midnight story is gated in chapters, and the questline that runs through Season 1 sets up the events that Patch 12.1 continues. If you leave it half-finished, you will hit a wall the moment the new content tries to move the plot forward.
The through-line to watch is the Zul’jan storyline. It does not end when Season 1 does — it carries directly onto the Coiled Isle in Patch 12.1. In other words, the new zone’s introduction assumes you have already seen how the Season 1 arc resolved. Players who skipped ahead will find the Coiled Isle intro confusing and, in some cases, temporarily locked until the earlier chapters are done.
The good news is that Warbands take a lot of the sting out of this. Campaign progress and many of the account-wide unlocks are shared across your roster, so you do not have to slog through the same story on every character. Push it through once on your main, and your alts inherit the account-level progress, which means you can jump them into the new content far faster than in past expansions. Do the campaign before you pour hours into gearing: now that Season 2 is under way, every hour you spend on old story quests is an hour not spent on gear.
Unlock Season 1 Powers Progression
The Season 1 power system in Midnight is built around the Omnium Folio — a collection of rune powers you unlock over the course of the season. What made this worth your attention was that these rune powers persist through the remaining Midnight content. They did not evaporate when Season 1 ended. Finishing the Folio meant those bonuses kept working for you well into Season 2 and beyond, until the broader event wraps up.
Progression runs through the Sunstrider Omnium quest chain, handed out and advanced by Magister Umbric and Grand Magister Rommath. The chain is structured around weekly quests, which is the catch — you cannot rush the whole thing in a single sitting because the Folio gates its later stages behind weekly resets.
That weekly cadence is exactly why this belonged at the top of the to-do list. The goal was to finish all the weekly Folio quests before Patch 12.1 arrived (11 August in NA, 12 August in Europe), because every week skipped was a rune power you might not be able to backfill once the content moved on. Patch 12.1 is now live, so check in game which Folio stages are still open on your characters. Once one character has completed the Omnium Folio introduction questline, your alts can skip it, according to Blizzard’s Patch 12.1 notes. Completing the full Folio was one of the highest-impact things you could do to walk into Season 2 already ahead on power.
Claim Season 1 Achievements and Rewards
This is the section where procrastination cost real, permanent rewards. Several Season 1 achievements, titles, and mounts became unobtainable the moment the season closed on 18 August (NA) and 19 August (EU), so the tables below are a record of what Season 1 offered.
Raid
Season 1 had three raids: The Dreamrift, The Voidspire, and March on Quel’Danas. The prestige achievements here are Ahead of the Curve (clear the final boss on Heroic before the tier ends) and Cutting Edge (clear it on Mythic). Both are time-limited feats of strength — once the season is over, you can still run the content, but the achievement version tied to current difficulty is gone for good. On top of that, these raids award Argent, Gleaming, and Aureate Housing rewards depending on the difficulty you clear, so higher difficulties are worth pushing for the decor alone.
Mythic+
Mythic+ rating rewards are earned by hitting rating milestones across the season. The table below lists what each Season 1 threshold granted; Season 1 is now closed. One extra note that was easy to miss: timing every Season 1 dungeon on Mythic 10 also unlocked that dungeon’s teleport, which is a permanent quality-of-life reward you keep forever.
| Rating | Reward |
|---|---|
| 1,500 | “the Umbral” title |
| 2,000 | Calamitous Carrion mount |
| 2,500 | Midnight Keystone Hero achievement |
| 3,000 | Convalescent Carrion mount |
| 3,400 | “the Umbral Contender” title and Timelost Saddle |
| Top 1% | Umbral Ashes mount |
| Top 0.1% | “the Umbral Hero” title |
Season 2 has its own rating ladder, according to warcraft.wiki.gg: 2,000 rating grants the Breath of Blight mount, 3,000 grants the Breath of Ruin mount, and 3,600 grants the Timelost Saddle and the “the Venomous Contender” title through the Midnight Keystone Myth: Season 2 achievement (Blizzard’s Patch 12.1.5 notes confirm the 3,600 reward), with a “the Venomous Hero” title for the top 0.1%.
PvP
Ranked PvP has its own reward ladder tied to your end-of-season rating, plus rewards from Solo Shuffle, Blitz, and rated wins. The table below shows the Season 1 goals and what they handed out. Titles and the seasonal mount are the big pulls, but even the lower ranks give you the seasonal armor set.
| PvP Goal | Reward |
|---|---|
| Combatant and Challenger ranks | Seasonal armor pieces |
| Rival I | Shoulders and helmet |
| Rival II | Galaxy weapon illusion |
| Duelist | Prestigious cloak |
| Elite | Galactic Gladiator’s Tabard |
| Gladiator | Galactic Gladiator’s Goredrake |
| Rated wins above 1,000 | Vicious Snaplizard |
Season 2 PvP started on 18 August. According to warcraft.wiki.gg, the new rewards include the Venomous Gladiator’s Goredrake as the arena reward and the Vicious Lightbloom Boar for rated PvP.
Delve
Delves have a self-contained reward track worth finishing. The three Nullaeus achievements — Let Me Solo Him, My Shady Nemesis, and Lighting the Dark — chain into the Arcanovoid Construct mount, the Nullaeus Domaneye cosmetic, and the “the Ominous” title. There is also the broader Delver’s Journey meta-progression to round out. If you enjoy solo or small-group content, this is the most reliable reward path on the list. Season 2 also added three new Delves (Ring of Glory, Gnarldor Isle, and Venomfall Deeps, the Nemesis Delve), for a total of 12. Bountiful Delves have been available since Season 2 started, and since Patch 12.1.5 Tier 11 Bountiful Delves are a source of Ascendant Venomstones.
Limited-Time Events
A few seasonal events ran on their own timers around the changeover. Decor Duels was due to wrap up with the arrival of Curse of Ula’tek, and its final surge doubled Illusionary Coin bonuses — a last-chance window to bank coins and grab the Voidlight Marl reward. There is also Goal!, which pairs with the Tabard of Participation and can be knocked out near the Thalassian University. Finally, Turbulent Timeways was due to end with Patch 12.1, which is now live. The exact end dates of these events were not confirmed, so check in game whether any of them is still running.
Prepare for Season 1 Resets
When a season ends, a whole batch of currencies and resources either reset, convert, or simply stop being useful. Anything saved “for later” had to be spent before the changeover, because later was not coming for most of these. The table below was the spend-it-or-lose-it checklist; all of it has now reset or converted.
| Currency or Resource | Recommended Action at the Changeover |
|---|---|
| Season 1 Dawncrests | Upgrade useful gear or trade lower crests upward |
| Dawnlight Manaflux | Convert eligible S1 gear through Catalyst |
| Restored Coffer Keys | Use on current Bountiful Delves |
| Coffer Key Shards | Convert or spend before reset |
| Undercoins | Purchase wanted vendor rewards |
| Illusionary Coins | Spend before Decor Duels closes |
| Season 1 Conquest and Bloody Tokens | Finish remaining PvP purchases |
| Season 1 crafting resources | Use only when the craft has value |
| Season 1 Nebulous Voidcores | Converted to gold at the end of Season 1 |
The single most important line at the time: do not hoard Dawncrests for Season 2. It was tempting to imagine you were building a head start, but the Season 1 Dawncrest system ended when Season 2 started, and the new season uses its own upgrade currency family, the Mistcrests, in five tiers: Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, and Myth. According to warcraft.wiki.gg and Method, each upgrade step costs 20 crests and crests can be traded up at a 3:1 ratio. Method reports that Mythic+ keys give Champion Mistcrests at +2 and +3 and Hero Mistcrests from +4 to +8, with high keys giving Myth Mistcrests; Heroic raid bosses give Hero crests and Mythic raid bosses give Myth crests. Blizzard’s Patch 12.1.5 notes say the crest cap is lifted from the week of 20 October. Sitting on a pile of Season 1 Dawncrests just meant wasted potential gear upgrades.
What Remains in Season 2
Not everything resets — plenty carries over, and knowing the difference keeps you from panic-spending. Your gold, cosmetics, achievements, mounts, reputation, and equipment all stay with you into Season 2. The Omnium Folio rune powers persist as well, right up until the event itself ends. And your Season 1 gear does not turn to dust — it stays perfectly functional. The only catch is that Blizzard’s Patch 12.1 notes say world boss drops stay Season 1 gear and cannot be upgraded, so treat Season 1 gear as a stopgap: it carries you through the opening days, and you will replace it fairly quickly once the new gear tracks open up.
Prepare Season 2 Characters
Now for the roster. The biggest mistake players make at a season flip is trying to prep too many characters and finishing none of them. Be honest about how much you play and pick accordingly. If you are a casual player, commit to one main and pour your prep into it. If you raid, prepare one main plus one backup for a different role or class comp. If Mythic+ is your thing, a second character in a different role (say, a tank or healer to pair with your DPS main) gives your group flexibility.
For every character you commit to, the baseline is the same: get them to level 90, set up a working talent build, apply basic enchants, and gear them up with Mythic 0 drops (item level 292). You do not need to chase max Season 1 item level — that is wasted effort. A functional Hero-track set is a better starting point than a min-maxed Season 1 kit, because Season 2 gear leapfrogs it within the first couple of weeks anyway. Also double-check your loot specialization on each character so that the gear you earn actually rolls for the spec you intend to play.
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Professions and Consumables
According to Method and wow-professions.com, Patch 12.1 added a one-time free knowledge reset for each Midnight profession at Theremis in the Bazaar, Silvermoon: recipes unlocked through knowledge points are unlearned and re-learned when you re-spend the points. Plan around that and do not overinvest in old recipes on the assumption everything carries forward untouched. On the consumables front, stock up early: flasks, potions, food, enchants, gems, and repair materials. Prices are lowest before a season starts and climb sharply once progression kicks off and everyone floods the auction house for the same mats. Buying your opening-week supplies before a season flip can save you a meaningful amount of gold.
Update Bags, Add-ons, and Quest Log
Do the boring housekeeping before the rush. Clear the clutter out of your bags so you have room for the flood of new gear. Purge stale quests from your log. And update your add-ons: make sure Mythic Dungeon Tools, your boss timers, nameplates, and damage meters are all current. Patch 12.1 changed the Cooldown Manager (it now tracks trinkets, potions, and racial cooldowns) and the ping utility, and Patch 12.1.5 added further interface changes such as macro pings showing #showtooltip information, so some add-ons needed updates or replacements right after each patch dropped. A season is the worst possible time to discover your route add-on is broken mid-key.
Season 2 Mythic+ Preparation
Season 2 rotated in a new Mythic+ dungeon pool, and patch week was the free trial run. Every Season 2 dungeon was available on Mythic 0 before timed keys opened, so running each one at least once built a mental map before rating was on the line. When you learn a dungeon, pay attention to the fundamentals that decide runs: which casts need interrupts, what debuffs require dispels (disease, curse, poison, and magic all show up), where the tankbusters land, when to pop defensives, what triggers each phase change, patrol paths, and any skip routes worth learning.
The Season 2 pool has eight dungeons: Altar of Fangs (new in Patch 12.1, with three bosses), the four Midnight dungeons Murder Row, Den of Nalorakk, The Blinding Vale, and Voidscar Arena, and three returning dungeons with updates: King’s Rest, Ruby Life Pools, and Temple of Sethraliss. Altar of Fangs joined Mythic+ when Season 2 started and was open on Mythic 0 in patch week.
A critical warning for returning players: some of these dungeons are old faces with new mechanics. King’s Rest, Ruby Life Pools, and Temple of Sethraliss are back, but their mechanics have changed. Do not reuse your old routes and pull plans from their previous appearances — you will run straight into reworked packs and abilities that no longer behave the way muscle memory expects. Treat them as brand-new dungeons and re-learn them from scratch.
There was also an achievement deadline tucked in here. Temple of Sethraliss lost its old Mythic achievements when Season 2 began. The ones to grab were Snake Eyes, Snake Eater, and Good Night, Sweet Prince before the season flipped — after that, the versions tied to the old dungeon are off the table.
Great Vault options from Mythic+ scale with key level. According to warcraft.wiki.gg and Method, +2 and +3 keys offer Hero 1/6 gear at item level 305, +4 and +5 offer Hero 2/6 (item level 308), +6 offers Hero 3/6 (311), and +10 and higher offer Myth 1/6 at item level 318. Mythic 0 itself drops item level 292 gear.
Season 2 Raid Preparation
The Season 2 raid is Venomous Abyss, and it opened alongside the season. It is an eight-boss raid that culminates in the fight against Ula’tek. The release cadence mattered for planning: Normal, Heroic, and Mythic difficulties plus Raid Finder Wing 1 all opened in the first reset, while Story Mode and Raid Finder Wing 2 arrived a week later, followed by the remaining wings on the schedule in the deadlines table above; all four wings are now open. Since Patch 12.1.5 (13 October in NA, 14 October in Europe) there is a second Season 2 raid, The Unbinding of Kith’ix: a single-boss encounter featuring Lady Liadrin, available on Story Mode, Raid Finder, Normal, Heroic, and Mythic, where Mythic is flexible for 15 to 25 players.
If you are coming to the raids late, get the prerequisites done first. Finish the campaign and the Coiled Isle introduction so nothing is gating your entry. It was also worth physically scouting the raid entrance during patch week so you were not fumbling for the portal on launch night. Sort out your group situation ahead of time too — if you raid with a guild, confirm the roster and start time; if you are pugging, get familiar with group finder and have a plan for which difficulty you are aiming at. One thing to avoid: do not pre-lock your crafted gear slots before the raid’s loot tables settle. You want to see what drops where before you commit expensive crafts to a slot the raid might fill for you.
For a full boss-by-boss breakdown, tactics, and loot rundown, check out our Venomous Abyss raid guide before you step in.
Raid Consumables and Raid Add-ons
Bring the full consumable kit — flasks, combat and healing potions, food, and a stack of runes or weapon oils appropriate to your class. Progression raiding burns through consumables fast, so overbuy rather than run dry mid-pull. On the add-on side, update your boss mods in the first week of any new raid, as soon as the encounters go live; boss timers and warnings are frequently patched in the opening days as the community nails down mechanics. Healers in particular should review the expanded Raid Frame settings introduced in Patch 12.1 before the first pull, since the new options can meaningfully change how you track and respond to raid damage.
Mid-Season Gearing in Patch 12.1.5
Patch 12.1.5 added Ascendant Venomstones. They drop from every Heroic and Mythic raid boss, from Mythic+ keystone dungeons at +10 and higher, from Tier 11 Bountiful Delves, and from Nightmare Prey Hunt Champion gear chests. Collect 10 and use them near the Catalyst in Silvermoon to raise the item level of a fully upgraded Season 2 Hero or Myth item, or of a maximum-quality Tidal crafted weapon, trinket, or necklace. According to warcraft.wiki.gg, the upgrades go from item level 322 to 331 and from 335 to 344; Method adds that an Ascendant Venomforged item cannot be upgraded again, and that Mythic Coiled Altar and Ula’tek items cannot be upgraded this way.
Nebulous Voidcores are the bonus-roll currency: a raid boss item roll now costs 1 Voidcore (it was 2), and Voidcores are a Great Vault option from the start of Season 2. From the week of 6 October, Orin Straylight (next to the Catalyst in Silvermoon) offers an extra Voidcore each week, and in Patch 12.1.5 you can buy one more per week with gold, Voidlight Marl, or Veteran Mistcrests after completing “Umbral Blessings of the Catalyst” (the chain starts with “In the Catalyst’s Shadow” from Decimus in Voidstorm).
Great Vault raid rewards come one track step above the boss loot for Raid Finder, Normal, and Heroic (the Heroic raid vault gives Myth 1/6), and the Mythic raid vault gives Myth 6/6.
Patch 12.1.5 also added the Labyrinth of Kindo’jan, a Delve-like solo challenge (nine chambers, Tier 11, rewarding Mythic gear, with Valeera as companion), and Aqir Invasions, an hourly zone event.
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Patch 12.1 Week Checklist (Archive)
This was the dated to-do list for the week Patch 12.1 went live (11 August in NA, 12 August in Europe) — the week before the season formally started. It is kept here as a record of that week.
- Continue the campaign where Season 1 left off.
- Unlock the Coiled Isle.
- Complete the Coiled Isle introduction quests.
- Run the Altar of Fangs.
- Clear every Season 2 dungeon on Mythic 0.
- Try all three new Delves.
- Do the Normal and Hard Prey hunts.
- Fill your Great Vault.
- Check the new currency and profession menus.
- Update your talents, gear, and consumables.
A few notes on how that week worked. Mythic 0 was on a weekly lockout and dropped item level 292 gear; according to Method, it became a daily lockout once Season 2 started. Several activities stayed locked until Season 2 actually started: Bountiful Delves, keystones, Mythic+, Nightmare Prey, and the Venomous Abyss raid were all unavailable during patch week. One more quirk: the Tidebound Grotto was available only on World Difficulty during patch week, so you could explore it but not run it at seasonal difficulty until later.
Week 1 Checklist (Season 2 Start, Archive)
When Season 2 officially began (18 August in NA, 19 August in Europe), this was the list to follow. It was the opening week that set the tone for the whole season.
- Open your first Season 2 Great Vault.
- Do your weekly quests.
- Clear your planned Venomous Abyss difficulty.
- Begin pushing Mythic+.
- Run Bountiful Delves and use your keys.
- Unlock Nightmare Prey.
- Run the Tidebound Grotto.
- Review your crafting options and the Catalyst.
- Spend crests — but only after checking your strongest slots.
- Fill next week’s Great Vault.
The one piece of advice that saves the most resources in week 1: do not upgrade every drop the moment it lands. Early-season gear changes fast, and crests spent upgrading a piece you will replace in three days are simply gone. Wait until you can see which slots are your strongest and most stable, then invest your crests there. Patience in the opening week pays off far more than rushing every green arrow.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Season 2 start?
Season 2 began on August 18 in North America and August 19 in Europe. Patch 12.1, which set up the season, landed roughly one week earlier (August 11 in NA, August 12 in Europe), and Patch 12.1.5 followed on October 13 (NA) and October 14 (Europe).
Is Patch 12.1 the same thing as Season 2?
No. Patch 12.1 was the content update that arrived first — new campaign, the Coiled Isle, Mythic 0, and new Delves. Season 2 was the separate event that switched on a week later, bringing the raid, Mythic+, ranked PvP, and the rest. They were two dates.
What should I do first?
Season 1’s timers have expired, and its time-limited achievements and mounts can no longer be earned. If you are catching up now, finish the Season 1 campaign and the Coiled Isle introduction first, then gear up through Mythic 0 and Delves.
What reset when Season 1 ended?
Season 1 currencies (Dawncrests, Manaflux, Coffer Keys and shards, Conquest, and seasonal tokens), your Mythic+ rating, ranked PvP standing, and the current-difficulty achievement versions all reset or closed out, and Season 1 Nebulous Voidcores were converted to gold.
Will my Season 1 gear be useless in Season 2?
No. Season 1 gear stays fully functional and carries you through the opening days of the season. Blizzard’s Patch 12.1 notes say world boss drops stay Season 1 gear and cannot be upgraded, so you will gradually replace it as new gear becomes available.
Should I have spent my Season 1 crests before Season 2?
Yes. The Season 1 Dawncrest system ended when Season 2 started, and Season 2 uses five Mistcrest tiers instead (Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, and Myth), so hoarding Dawncrests gained you nothing.
Is it worth gearing my alts?
Yes — but only the alts you will actually play. Prep too many and you will finish none. Pick your main plus one or two backups that fit your playstyle and bring those to a functional level 90 kit.
What item level do I need for Season 2?
There is no hard requirement. A functional Hero-track set is a perfectly fine starting point, and Mythic 0 gear (item level 292) will get you there comfortably.
What did Patch 12.1.5 add to Season 2?
A second raid, The Unbinding of Kith’ix, the Labyrinth of Kindo’jan, hourly Aqir Invasions, and Ascendant Venomstones for upgrading top-end gear. The details are in the Mid-Season Gearing section above.
Closing Thoughts
The stretch around a season flip rewards preparation more than raw playtime. The players who showed up on day one already ahead were not necessarily the ones who grind the hardest — they were the ones who spent their Season 1 currencies instead of hoarding them, finished the achievements that were about to disappear, learned the reworked dungeons on Mythic 0, and brought a lean, focused roster to the starting line instead of a dozen half-prepped alts.
If you are catching up now, use the two dated checklists as an order of work, read the Patch 12.1.5 gearing notes above, and be patient with your crests. Do that, and you will spend your time playing the new content instead of scrambling to catch up on the old. Good luck out there — see you in the Venomous Abyss.