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WoW Dragonflight Trade Up Crests: How To Unlock & Cost

A new Trade-up Crests system is arriving in World of Warcraft Dragonflgiht, and here's what you need to know about how to unlock this new system as well as the costs involved.

By Shane Moosa |

First Published October 19, 2023, 05:37

WoW Dragonflight Trade Up Crests: How To Unlock & Cost — Blizzard

As the release of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Season 3 draws near, Blizzard's developers have some exciting gameplay improvements and content additions in store for players. Notably, a new patch, version 10.2, will accompany the season, and one feature that has generated a lot of player excitement is the Crest system and its upcoming changes.

Patch 10.2 will introduce a Trade-up Crest system to the game, allowing players to exchange their low-level crests for higher-tier versions. If this has piqued your interest, you're in the right place. Below, we'll provide a detailed overview of everything we know so far about the Trade-up Crest system in the WoW Dragonflight 10.2 patch, including how to unlock this new system and the associated costs.

WoW Dragonflight Trade Up Crests

Patch 10.2 will introduce the ability for players to exchange lower-tier crests for higher-tier crests when they no longer need them. This means that players can trade in crests they no longer require for higher-tier crests that can be used for enhancing their gear and as crafting reagents.

For example, players can trade in their Drake Crest for a Wyrm Crest, thereby upgrading their current gear item from Normal to Heroic. To perform these trades, the item that players want to upgrade must meet a specific item level requirement, which will unlock the trade feature for that particular Crest (further details on this to come).

This system can have a significant impact on various character builds in the game and the overall meta. In Season 2, when Shadowflame Crests were introduced, players had to find shards to create new, more powerful Crests. This new system in Season 3 not only allows players to progress through higher tiers more rapidly but also helps in managing the potentially excessive number of crests in players' inventories.

Now that you have an overview, let's take a look at how to unlock the Trade-up Crest system in WoW Dragonflight, as well as the costs associated with each Crest level trade.

How To Unlock the Trade Up Crest System in WoW Dragonflight

As mentioned earlier, to unlock the ability to trade in your crests for higher-tier versions, you must have a piece of gear with a minimum item level. Achieving this item level will earn you an achievement and an Emerald Flightstone.

WoW Dragonflight Trade Up Crests How To Unlock — To unlock the trade-up mechanic for a specific crest tier, players will need to have an item meeting a specific item level. (Picture: Blizzard)

Here are the item level requirements to unlock each tier of the Trade-up Crest system in WoW Dragonflight:

Whelping to Drake: Achievement "Dreaming of Drakes" - Achieve at least item level 450 in every slot.
Drake to Wyrm: Achievement "Dreaming of Wyrms" - Achieve at least item level 463 in every slot.
Wyrm to Aspect: Achievement "Dreaming of Wyrms" - Achieve at least item level 476 in every slot.

Once you've obtained the relevant achievement, Vaskarn will offer a new crest trade option for you to utilize.

Trade Up Crest Costs in WoW Dragonflight

While the option to trade in lower-tier crests for higher-tier ones is indeed exciting, it won't be an easy task, and players will need to put in some effort to earn these upgrades. To give you an idea, here's what we know about the trade costs so far:

WoW Dragonflight Trade Up Crests Cost — The trade will cost a hefty sum of the low-tiered crests to gain a fractionally smaller amount of higher-tier crests, and while we don't know the all numbers just yet, be sure to stay tuned for a full breakdown of the costs. (Picture: Blizzard)

Whelping to Drake - 90 Whelpling Crests for 15 Drake Crests
Drake to Wyrm -?
Wyrm to Aspect -?

As for the costs of upgrading from Drake to Wyrm and from Wyrm to Aspect, they are not yet known. However, based on the information from the 10.2 PTR, it's expected that there will be a slight exponential increase in cost for each tier. This means that moving from Whelping to Drake may cost 90 crests, and it could be a similar cost for the subsequent upgrades. Earning more of the higher-tier crests is likely to become more challenging as you ascend through the tiers.

Rest assured that we will update this article with the relevant costs as soon as they become available, so be sure to check back for the latest information. Armed with this knowledge of how the Trade-up Crest system will work in Season 3's 10.2 patch of WoW Dragonflight, you'll be well-prepared with crests and gear to tackle the challenges that await.

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