If you want full PvP gear before you ever care about a rating number, the fastest path in WoW Midnight (patch 12.0.7, Season 1) is brutally simple: hit your weekly Conquest cap, farm Honor on the side, and convert both into upgrades on a fixed schedule. This guide is the math and the weekly checklist for that plan. It is deliberately separate from rating-push guides. Here we only care about one thing: turning time into ilvl as efficiently as possible.

The fast answer: how Conquest capping works

Conquest is the premium PvP currency. Every week you can earn up to a rising cap, and you spend it on the highest base-item-level PvP pieces and on upgrade tracks. Honor is the entry-level currency: it gears you from zero and feeds the Honor-to-Conquest upgrade path so nothing you earn is wasted. The plan is to cap Conquest every reset while keeping a healthy Honor buffer, and let the catch-up bonus carry you if you fall behind.

Cap Conquest, bank Honor, upgrade on schedule. Do that for a few weeks and you arrive at full PvP gear before rating ever enters the conversation.

Weekly Conquest cap math

In Midnight, the season opens with a base weekly Conquest cap that increases by a fixed amount every week. That rising cap is the whole reason capping early matters: the cap is cumulative across the season, so a week you skip is a week of cap you can technically reclaim later through the catch-up, but only up to the season's running total. Practically:

  • Each week the cap goes up by a set increment, so your spending power grows the longer the season runs.
  • Unspent cap rolls into a catch-up pool. If you start late or miss a reset, you can earn beyond the current week's nominal cap until you are back in line with the season total.
  • Conquest itself does not expire mid-season the way old systems sometimes implied; the constraint is the earn cap, not a spend timer. Hoard it if you are waiting on a specific upgrade.

Because exact per-week numbers shift with hotfixes, treat the principle as fixed and check the in-game currency tooltip for your current cap. The tooltip always shows your remaining earnable Conquest this week and your season total, which is the only number you actually need to plan around.

Where your Conquest comes from

  • Rated wins (Arena, Blitz, RBG-style modes) pay the most Conquest per game and are the backbone of capping.
  • The weekly PvP quest (win a set number of rated or Blitz games) is a large lump sum and should be your first stop every reset.
  • Random and Epic Battlegrounds plus Brawls trickle Conquest and Honor together, useful when you want to cap without queuing rated.

The Honor-to-Conquest upgrade path

Honor gear is not a dead end. It is the on-ramp, and it stays relevant because of how the upgrade track works:

  • Gear in Honor pieces first. Honor floods in from any battleground, so you can fill every slot with the Honor-track PvP set in a day or two of casual queuing. This removes the worst stat gaps immediately.
  • Buy Conquest pieces for empty or weakest slots. Conquest items start at a higher base item level than Honor items, so prioritize Conquest purchases where the ilvl jump is largest (usually trinkets, weapon, and the big armor slots).
  • Upgrade Honor pieces with the PvP upgrade currency. Honor-track items can be pushed up the PvP track using upgrade materials earned alongside Honor. This closes the gap on slots you have not yet replaced with Conquest gear, so you are never stuck at a hard ilvl wall.

The rule of thumb: never let a slot sit empty waiting for the perfect Conquest piece. Fill it with upgraded Honor gear now, then replace it when Conquest allows. An equipped, slightly-lower item always beats a missing one, especially because PvP gear scales up inside instanced PvP.

Catch-up bonus Conquest: how to not fall behind

The catch-up system is what makes this plan forgiving. If real life eats a week, you do not lose that progress permanently. The season tracks a running total of Conquest you should have been able to earn, and the bonus lets you earn above the current weekly cap until you have closed that deficit. In practice:

  • Returning after a break? Your first weeks back will let you earn well beyond the normal weekly increment, so a single strong session can recover most of a missed week.
  • Starting the season late? The catch-up means a late start is not a permanent handicap for gearing; you can compress several weeks of cap into a concentrated push.
  • The bonus only helps Conquest, not the upgrade currencies tied to Honor, so keep playing battlegrounds for the materials even during a catch-up sprint.

The fastest weekly checklist

  1. Reset day: complete the weekly PvP quest first for the lump-sum Conquest.
  2. Cap Conquest: queue your preferred rated mode (Solo Shuffle or Blitz are the fastest solo-friendly options) until the weekly cap tooltip reads zero remaining.
  3. Spend immediately: buy the Conquest piece that gives the biggest ilvl jump on your weakest slot.
  4. Top up Honor: run a few Epic BGs or Brawls to keep Honor and upgrade currency stocked.
  5. Upgrade: push any Honor-track pieces you are still wearing up the PvP track to stay above the ilvl floor.

Repeat this every reset and your full PvP set assembles itself in a predictable, math-driven way, no rating required.

Want it done for you?

Capping every week is consistent but time-consuming, and the rated queues can be a grind if PvP is not your main mode. PEWPEWSHOP offers weekly Conquest and Honor cap carries as either a piloted or self-play boost, so you can hit cap on schedule and keep your gear current without spending every reset in the queue. It is a clean way to stay capped during a busy stretch and arrive at full PvP gear ready to push rating whenever you choose.

Quick FAQ

Should I buy Honor or Conquest gear first?

Honor first to fill every slot fast, then Conquest to replace your weakest pieces with higher base item level. Use the Honor upgrade track to cover anything Conquest has not replaced yet.

Does unused Conquest carry over?

The earn cap is what limits you, not a spend timer. Your unspent cap feeds the catch-up pool, so missing a week is recoverable up to the season's running total.

Do I need rating to get full PvP gear?

No. Capping Conquest and upgrading Honor gear gets you a full set on its own. Rating unlocks cosmetic and higher-end upgrade tiers, but the base full set comes from capping alone.

What is the single fastest way to cap?

Do the weekly PvP quest, then grind Solo Shuffle or Blitz wins until the cap tooltip hits zero. Win rate matters more than queue count, so play your strongest spec.