How to get Shadowflame Crests for gear upgrades in patch 10.1

One of the highlights of patch 10.1 has definitely been the gear upgrade system. While at first glance it can seem a little confusing, the overall gist of it — that you need Flightstones and various levels of Shadowflame Crest — is straightforward enough. Flightstones, at least, are easy to come by; it seems like they drop like candy from any kind of content, so it’s going to be easy to hit the current cap of 2000 of them and then keep hitting it after you spend them as long as you’re playing the game. What can be trickier is figuring out where the Shadowflame Crests come from, especially since different content rewards different levels of them, and you don’t want to waste your time pursuing a Whelping’s Shadowflame Crest when what you need is a Drake’s Shadowflame Crest. Most activities will drop fragments of crests rather than a whole crest; you’ll need 15 fragments to make a whole crest.

Whelpling’s Shadowflame Crest Fragments will drop from bosses in Aberrus on the LFR difficulty, the chest at the end of Mythic+ dungeons from +2 to +6 difficulty, rares (but not rare elites) in Zaralek Cavern, and World Quests and treasures in Zaralek Cavern. I also have found them in Shadowflame Residue Sacks that have come from content such as the patch 10.0 World Bosses and the weekly Aiding the Accord quest (of which there are some new variants to encourage people to do activities in Zaralek Cavern), as well as 10.1 activities like the Iskaara soup-making weekly and the centaur Grand Hunt. Finally, you can also buy them directly from Spinsoa in Loamm for Unearthed Fragrent Coins, which often drop from activities in Zaralek Cavern that reward a jingling sack of some kind, and Vaskarn — also in Loamm — will sell you a complete Whelpling’s Shadowflame Crest for a Drake’s Shadowflame Crest (essentially downgrading your Drake Crest).

Drake’s Shadowflame Crest Fragments will drop from bosses in Aberrus on normal difficulty, the chest at the end of Mythic+ dungeons, weekly events in Zaralek Cavern like A Worthy Ally: Loamm Niffen, and rare elites in Zaralek Cavern. Much like the Whelpling fragments, Spinsoa will sell you Drake fragments in return for Unearthed Fragrant Coins. You can also earn a whole Drake Crest as a reward from the weekly quest Fighting is Its Own Reward, defeating the Disciples of Fyrakk during Fyrakk Assaults, or by trading a whole Wyrm’s Shadowflame Crest to Vaskarn in Loamm. You will also earn one from Renown with the Loamm Niffen.

Wyrm’s Shadowflame Crest Fragments are where it starts to get scarce. They can be found on bosses in Aberrus on heroic difficulty, or Mythic+ dungeons between +11 and +15. You can also downgrade an Aspect’s Shadowflame Crest to a Wyrm’s Shadowflame Crest at Vaskarn in Loamm, but you may not want to — Aspect’s Shadowflame Crest Fragments are also fairly rare, dropping only from the hardest categories of PVE content — Mythic raid bosses in Aberrus, or Mythic+ dungeons above +16 difficulty.