How to earn and spend Valor Points in WoW patch 9.0.5

With patch 9.0.5 came the newest iteration of Valor Points, another currency to add to the growing list that Shadowlands has added. Valor Points allow for the upgrading of Mythic and Mythic+ gear. But how much VP can be earned? And what ilevel can I upgrade this gear to?

Let’s take a look at this system added in Shadowlands‘ first patch.

How to earn Valor Points

Simply put, to gain Valor Points, run Mythic+ dungeons. How much VP is earned from a dungeon? 135 VP. Regardless of the level of the key, every Mythic+ dungeon rewards 135 Valor. The only other way VP can be earned outside of Mythic Dungeons is by completing Callings, the daily quests from your Covenant that ask you to do World Quests in a Shadowlands zone. They reward 35 VP for most Callings and 50 VP for Epic Callings, like those that ask you to do a dungeon or an elite quest.

There is a maximum cap on how much Valor can be earned. In the first week this will be 5,000 Valor. This will increase by 750 each week. In the second week of the patch it is 5,750, third week it is 6,500 Valor, and so on and so forth. This will continue on for the full length of the season, which should mean until Patch 9.1 comes out. Otherwise, there is no cap on how much Valor can be held, other than the cap on how much can be earned.

How to spend Valor Points

The primary function of Valor Points is to upgrade new gear that comes from Mythic+ dungeons. This will include Mythic+ gear that drops in the dungeons, and the gear that comes from the Great Vault at the start of the week. Any gear that existed prior to patch 9.0.5 will not be able to be upgraded.

To upgrade gear, take it the PVP gear upgrader in Oribos, Aggressor Zo’dash, at coordinates 34.55, 56.55. Or, in your Covenant halls, take the gear to the same NPCs who upgrade your Covenant gear.

The gear will have 12 ranks, each rank corresponding to an ilevel. This is true regardless of whether it’s a weapon, armor, trinket, neck, or ring. The item will have its ilevel on it, and will also state its rank. — this rank will confirm whether it can still be upgraded, and how much further. The cost to upgrade an item isn’t based on its rank, but the type of item. This will be the same cost to upgrade it every step of the way — the cost doesn’t scale up if you’ve already upgraded it.

• 250 Valor — Shield, offhand, ring, cloak, bracer, neck
• 400 Valor — Trinket, belt, shoulders, gloves, boots
• 475 Valor — Helm, legs, chest
• 500 Valor — One-handed agility and strength weapons
• 750 Valor — One-handed intellect weapon
• 1000 Valor — Two-handed weapon

Lastly, if you are earning VP from Callings and not running Mythics — and therefore don’t really have gear to upgrade — there is also a vendor in Oribos that will trade VP for crafting materials. They’re expensive, but if you don’t have Mythic gear it’s better to spend them on fish or leather than to just sit on them.

Restrictions on upgrading Mythic Keystone Gear

There are restrictions on how far the gear can be upgraded. Yes, the gear can only be upgraded to ilevel 220 in total, but along the way, there are other hurdles. At first, the gear can be upgraded to ilevel 200, with no limitations.

To upgrade the gear higher than ilevel 200 (Rank 6) requires completing all Shadowlands Mythic dungeons within the time limit at +5 or higher. To upgrade beyond ilevel 207 (Rank 8) requires timing all the Mythic dungeons at +10. And to upgrade the gear past ilevel 213 (Rank 10) requires the achievement Shadowlands Keystone Master: Season One, which means timing all of the dungeons at +15.

Don’t panic just yet, though — these criteria are account-wide, so timing all of these Mythics on your main will allow your alts to upgrade their gear all the way to Rank 12. This might be the main reason for Valor Points. If a character can complete all Mythics within the time limit at +15, then ilevel 220 probably isn’t really necessary for them — maybe to fill in a piece or two that is lagging behind the rest of their gear. However, this would help to gear up alts much faster, perhaps making them more appealing to play, and earn Valor Points of their own.

Originally published 3/8/2021, updated 3/16/2021