The War Within Season 1 will be launching September 10th for US, and 11th for EU realms. With it there will be a whole bunch of new loot for us to collect, whether you enjoy pushing keys or tackling raid bosses. This guide has you covered with what item level gear you can expect from the different content and difficulties that are available in TWW Season 1 Mythic+, the Nerub’ar Palace raid and Delves.
In the War Within, Blizzard have changed a few things, mostly in regards to Mythic+ loot, crest acquisition, and how keystone affixes will be laid out. They will be keeping the new condensed keystone levels that were released in Season 4 of Dragonflight.
Mythic+ will be available on the 17th September (US) / 18th September (EU), the same time as Nerub’ar Palace Mythic difficulty releases.
The War Within Season 1 Mythic+ Affix Changes
With TWW Season 1 we will see most of the previous Mythic+ affixes being retired, with all affixes from Dragonflight being removed; goodbye Sanguine, you will not be missed. The only affixes to remain from the previous group are Tyrannical and Fortified.
Season 1 will introduce several new affixes, these are:
- Xal’atath’s Bargain: Ascendant, Oblivion and Voidbound. The active bargain rotates weekly.
- Challenger’s Peril: Increases the amount of time subtracted from the timer for a death from 5 seconds to 15 seconds.
- Xal'atath’s Guile: Will turn off Xal’atath’s Bargain and increase the damage and health of enemies by a further 20%.
Xal’atath’s Bargain
Xal’atath’s Bargain will appear on keystones starting from +2. There are 3 variations of this affix, which rotate weekly, each with its own kiss-curse effect:
- Xal’atath’s Bargain: Ascendant - While in combat, Xal’atath rains down orbs of cosmic energy that attempt to empower nearby enemies, increasing their haste and Movement speed. If players disrupt these orbs, they claim this effect for themselves.
- Xal’atath’s Bargain: Oblivion - While in combat. Xla’atath manifests crystals from the void that can be absorbed by enemies or players.
- Xal’atath’s Bargain: Voidbound - While in combat, Xal’atath summons a Void Emissary that empowers nearby enemies.
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour - While in combat, Xal'atath tears open rifts that devour the essence of players.
Season 1 Affix Keystone Levels
The table below shows the breakdown of what Affixes are active at the different keystone levels.
| Keystone Level | Affixes |
| +2 | Xal’atath’s Bargain |
| +4 | Tyrannical or Fortified |
| +7 | Challenger’s Peril |
| +10 | Both Tyrannical and Fortified are active |
| +12 | Xal’atath’s Guile |
The War Within Season 1 Harbinger Crests
Season 1 of the War Within is sticking to the current upgrade system, where all gear can be upgraded using a combination of crests and Valorstones (the Flightstones of War Within).
Likewise, the amount of Crests for the keystone that you are rewarded is:
- 5 Crests if you complete the key, but not within the timer.
- 12 Crests if you complete the key within the timer.
However, there are some minor changes to what difficulty, keystone level and activity that will drop each crest. The type of Crests that are awarded based on the key level or other content are shown below.
| Crest Type | Keystone Level | Other Content |
| Weathered Harbinger Crests | Heroic Dungeons | Raid Finder, Outdoor activities |
| Carved Harbinger Crests | 0-3 | Normal Raid |
| Runed Harbinger Crests | 4-8 | Heroic Raid |
| Gilded Harbinger Crests | 9+ | Mythic Raid |
It’s also worth noting that the last 2 bosses of Nerub’ar Palace will also drop 15 additional Crests of the next highest type. For example, defeating either of the last 2 bosses on Heroic difficulty (The Silken Court and Queen Ansurek) will award 15 Runed Harbinger Crests and will also award 15 Gilded Harbinger Crests.
The War Within Season 1 Item level Breakdown
The condensed image below shows the item levels in season 1 of the War Within; and shows where you can obtain it, how far it can upgrade for each track, and which crests are used for the upgrade.
Mythic+ End of Dungeon Item levels
The table below shows the item level of the reward you loot from the chest at the end of a Mythic+ dungeon based on the keystone level. The item level that drops at the end of the dungeon can be the same at multiple key levels.
| Key level | Reward Track | End of Dungeon Item Level |
| 0 | Veteran 4/8 | 593 |
| 2 | Champion 1/8 | 597 |
| 3 | Champion 1/8 | 597 |
| 4 | Champion 2/8 | 600 |
| 5 | Champion 3/8 | 603 |
| 6 | Champion 4/8 | 606 |
| 7 | Hero 1/6 | 610 |
| 8 | Hero 1/6 | 610 |
| 9 | Hero 2/6 | 613 |
| 10 or higher | Hero 2/6 | 613 |
Mythic+ Great Vault Item Levels
The Great Vault remains unchanged for the raid and dungeon section. For raids you will have to kill 2, 4 or 7 bosses to unlock the vault options, and for dungeons do 1, 4 or 8 dungeons.
For the raid section you will be able to receive any raid item from bosses you have killed, as well as from bosses that are before them. For example, if you only kill the last boss (Queen Ansurek) and another boss in the raid (to unlock a vault slot) you will be eligible for loot from all of the bosses in your vault slot, on that difficulty.
For the Mythic+ dungeon section we have included a table below to show which item level you will get as an option and what item level and upgrade track it will be on.
| Key level | Reward Track | Great Vault Item level |
| 0 | Champion 3/8 | 603 |
| 2 | Champion 4/8 | 606 |
| 3 | Hero 1/6 | 610 |
| 4 | Hero 1/6 | 610 |
| 5 | Hero 2/6 | 613 |
| 6 | Hero 2/6 | 613 |
| 7 | Hero 3/6 | 616 |
| 8 | Hero 4/6 | 619 |
| 9 | Hero 4/6 | 619 |
| 10 or higher | Myth 1/6 | 623 |
The War Within Season 1 Upgrade Track Item levels
The tables above only show the item level that drops and what stage of its upgrade track it is. The following tables for Champion, Hero and Myth Track give a full breakdown of what item level each stage of the upgrade track provides.
Champion Track
| Track level | Item Level |
| 1/8 | 597 |
| 2/8 | 600 |
| 3/8 | 603 |
| 4/8 | 606 |
| 5/8 | 610 |
| 6/8 | 613 |
| 7/8 | 616 |
| 8/8 | 619 |
Hero Track
| Track level | Item Level |
| 1/6 | 610 |
| 2/6 | 613 |
| 3/6 | 616 |
| 4/6 | 619 |
| 5/6 | 623 |
| 6/6 | 626 |
Myth Track
| Track level | Item Level |
| 1/6 | 623 |
| 2/6 | 626 |
| 3/6 | 629 |
| 4/6 | 632 |
| 5/6 | 636 |
| 6/6 | 639 |
It’s worth noting that in The War Within, Myth Track gear has been extended to 6 levels (previously it was 4).
Very Rare items are also no longer superior in item level to other drops that are available, if anything, they are simply further along the upgrade track.
We hope that our breakdown of the gear item levels available from Mythic+ and the great vault have helped you easily target the content you need; whether it be for gear upgrades, or which crests you need to farm some more of to upgrade your gear.
