Hitting level 80 in The War Within is the easy part. The real grind in Season 2 is the climb from a fresh dinged character sitting around item level 590 to a setup that can comfortably walk into Mythic raid and high keys. The good news: Blizzard's upgrade-track system makes the path very legible once you know what each track ceilings out at. Here's the exact ladder, rung by rung, with the gear sources and currencies that move you up each one.

The Season 2 upgrade tracks at a glance

Every piece of endgame gear in Season 2 sits on one of five upgrade tracks. Knowing the ceiling of each one is the whole game — it tells you instantly whether an item is worth investing crests into or just a stepping stone.

  • Veteran: 8 ranks, awarded gear from ilvl 597 up to 610.
  • Champion: 8 ranks, 610 to 626. This is your Heroic dungeon and early raid band.
  • Hero: 6 ranks, 623 to 639. The Mythic+ and Heroic raid sweet spot.
  • Myth: 6 ranks, 636 to 652. Mythic raid drops and the very top end.

Upgrading costs three crest tiers — Weathered, Carved, Runed, and Gilded — plus Valorstones. Weathered fuels Veteran/Champion lower ranks, Runed pushes Champion-to-Hero, and Gilded Crests are the bottleneck currency for everything Hero rank 4 and above. You're capped at earning a limited number of crests per week early in the season, so spend them deliberately.

Phase 1: Fresh 80 to ilvl ~600 (the free part)

The moment you hit 80, do not queue for anything serious yet. The fastest opening jump comes from the world content that hands out gear with no skill check.

  • Spend Restored Coffer Keys in the Isle of Dorn delve vaults — these drop ~597-610 gear depending on which keys you use, and they're trivial to farm.
  • Run Tier 8 Delves solo or in a group. Bountiful Delves with a Coffer Key reward a guaranteed item, and the Great Vault from delves can grant a Hero-track piece at the top end.
  • Clear the weekly outdoor objectives (Theater Troupe, Awakening the Machine, world bosses) for Champion-track drops.

This phase is pure time investment with zero difficulty wall. Within a few hours of dedicated delving you'll be sitting at roughly 600-610 and ready for group content. If you only have a couple of evenings a week, this is where most players naturally stall — and it's the one phase where buying anything is overkill. Just delve it out.

Phase 2: ~600 to 619 — Heroic dungeons and your first raid lockout

With a 600+ average you can run Heroic dungeons and step into the Liberation of Undermine on Normal. Your targets here:

  • Heroic dungeon drops land on the Champion track (610-626). Fill every slot.
  • Normal raid drops Champion gear too, but more importantly it starts feeding you tier set tokens. Prioritize getting 2-piece, then 4-piece — the set bonus is frequently worth more than 6-7 raw item levels.
  • The Catalyst lets you convert any eligible non-tier piece into a tier piece. Charges accrue weekly, so plan which slots you'll convert rather than burning a charge on the first drop.

This is also where you should start running your first Mythic+ keys at +2 to +6 to open the Hero track.

Phase 3: 619 to 636 — Mythic+ and the Hero track grind

This is the longest phase and where most of your week-to-week progression happens. The Hero track (623-639) is unlocked primarily through Mythic+ and Heroic raid.

  • Mythic+ end-of-dungeon chests drop Hero-track gear once you're clearing roughly +7 and above. Your Great Vault is the real prize: run at least 8 keys at +7 or higher each week to fill all three Mythic+ slots with the best possible Hero/Myth options.
  • Farm Runed Crests from +7s and Heroic raid to push your existing gear from Champion rank toward Hero rank 6 (639).
  • Don't over-invest Gilded Crests early. Only crank a piece to Hero rank 6 if it's in a stable, best-in-slot-ish slot. Trinkets and weapons first.

Realistically, getting from 619 to a clean 636 average is two to four weeks of consistent vault turn-ins for most players. The wall here is timing keys at +7 reliably — if your group keeps depleting keys, you stall. This is the one honest place where a Mythic+ carry or a timed-key boost is a sensible time-for-money trade: a couple of guaranteed +8 to +10 timed runs both fills vault slots and bumps your score so pugs invite you, which compounds. If you can already time your own keys, skip it and bank the gold.

Phase 4: 636 to 645+ — Mythic-ready

"Mythic-ready" for the first wing of Mythic Liberation of Undermine realistically means an average around 639-645 with your 4-piece tier set and your two best trinkets pushed as high as your crests allow. To get there:

  • Myth-track drops (636-652) come only from Mythic raid bosses and the very top Great Vault slots. Until your guild is clearing Mythic, your Vault is the main pipeline for Myth-track pieces.
  • Gild your weapon and trinkets first. A Myth-track weapon at 649+ is one of the single largest DPS jumps available.
  • Finish your set with the Catalyst so you never need a specific tier token to drop — convert a high-ilvl off-piece instead.

The honest summary

The whole path is: delve to 600, Heroic-dungeon and Normal-raid to 619 while building your tier set, then live in Mythic+ for the Hero track and Great Vault until you're 636+, and finally let Mythic raid and vault Myth-track pieces top you off. Crests are the throttle — Gilded is always the bottleneck, so spend them on weapons, trinkets, and confirmed best-in-slot armor only. Tier set bonuses almost always beat raw item level, so chase your 4-piece before you chase ilvl. Most of this is achievable purely by showing up two or three nights a week; the only stretch worth paying to skip is the Mythic+ timing wall in Phase 3, and only if grouping is your actual blocker rather than gear.