The Revival Catalyst can upgrade your Dragonflight Season 2 armor to tier gear — now live!

The Dragonflight incarnation of the Revival Catalyst is one of the more popular features recently added to World of Warcraft, allowing players to convert armor into tier gear for both set bonus and transmog reasons. Patch 10.1 keeps the Catalyst going while also removing the clunky charge acquisition mechanic, turning it into a passive charge gain system like the Creation Catalyst in Shadowlands. While the six week wait was unfortunately kept in, that wait ends this week and the Revival Catalyst is once again available for Season 2 gear — you can use the Revival Catalyst to upgrade gear right now.

Each week characters will receive a Renascent Shadowflame currency — capping out at eight — which can be used to upgrade Season 2 pieces to tier gear. The addition of a currency is likely a means of distinguishing the current Season from prior ones as the promise of unlimited upgrade charges for older gear remains in place (albeit not yet implemented).

How to get to the Revival Catalyst

The Revival Catalyst is located in the Tyrhold section of Thaldraszus, on the top floor of the northernmost structure. A new quest, The Catalyst’s Boon, will lead you to it (although some players accidentally got the quest a week early). While close to Valdrakken the altitude of the building alongside the lack of a nearby flight point may make it a little onerous to get to on your Dragonriding mount, but if you start at the top of the temple it’s an easy glide down. There you will encounter Antuka to turn in the quest and receive your first Renascent Shadowflame.

The gear that is transformed via the Revival Catalyst will retain the armor’s original ilevel and will unlock appearances from the raid difficulty that matches the ilevel of the gear, so besides the ability to convert gear for a tier bonus you’ll also be able to complete the class set. Armor that has been converted retains the ability to be upgraded under the new system introduced in 10.1.

The following gear is usable in the Revival Catalyst:

• Non-tier gear that drops in the Aberrus the Shadow Crucible. Pieces that occupy slots that don’t provide tier bonuses can still be transformed in appearance to match the class armor set for transmog purposes, or if the class armor secondary stats are better itemized for your character.
• Armor from Mythic+ dungeons.
• PVP gear purchased with Conquest points.
• Armor received through War Mode PVP quests or purchased with Bloody Tokens that has been upgraded with Trophies of Strife (earned via the weekly Sparks of Life War Mode quest).
• Suffused gear from Fyrakk Assaults.

The following gear can not be used in the Revival Catalyst:

• Crafted gear is not eligible to be converted, even if it’s of epic quality.
• Gear unlocked through the Renown tracks and acquired from the faction vendors.
• Dungeon and quest rewards.

The Revival Catalyst remains a beneficial feature and many players will welcome its return this week. Now that it’s an “evergreen” feature, the Catalyst will exist alongside tier gear going forward which is great news for those of us who struggle to get our class sets completed.

Originally published April 19, 2023; updated June 12, 2023