Dragon Soul Patch: Currency Changes and Catch-Up Mechanics in Cataclysm Classic

Valor, Justice, Honor (and Conquest) – What Happens to These Points?

Blizzard will implement currency conversions similar to the original Cataclysm: When the Dragon Soul phase (Phase 4) launches, existing high-tier currencies get downgraded to their lower-tier counterparts, just as they did in 2011. Here’s what to expect:

• Valor Points (PvE) – All your Valor will be converted into Justice Points during the patch-day maintenance (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums). If the conversion pushes you above the 4,000 Justice cap, the excess points turn into gold (about 47 silver per point in Cataclysm Classic) (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums). This mirrors the original patch 4.3 conversion, where Valor became Justice (with anything over the cap mailed as gold) ( 4.3 Valor Points - Conversion) (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums). After the patch, Valor Points will start fresh for the new tier’s content (Dragon Soul raid and related activities). All the gear that was previously bought with Valor in Firelands will now cost Justice points instead (Justice Points - Wowpedia - Your wiki guide to the World of Warcraft), making those items easier to obtain.

• Justice Points (PvE) – Justice remains the lower-tier PvE currency. You won’t lose your Justice Points (unless you were over the 4,000 cap; any amount beyond 4k is converted to gold) (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums). Essentially, your Justice balance going into the patch stays (up to 4000 max). Those Justice points will become more valuable since they can buy former Valor gear. (In original Cataclysm patch 4.3, “items formerly purchasable for Valor [became] available for Justice” (Justice Points - Wowpedia - Your wiki guide to the World of Warcraft).) This is intended as a catch-up convenience – for example, Firelands Valor items (ilvl 378) move to the Justice vendor, giving everyone access to solid gear for just Justice points.

• Conquest Points (PvP) – All existing Conquest will be converted into Honor Points when the new Arena season starts alongside Dragon Soul (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums). In past transitions, any Honor above the 4,000 cap would normally be turned into gold (~35–47 silver per point) ( What happens to Conquest Points at the end of a season?). However, in the Firelands phase Blizzard tried a new approach: they allowed Honor to exceed the cap after conversion (so no Honor was lost), requiring players to spend it down below 4000 before earning more (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums). If Blizzard sticks to that plan, your Conquest will simply add to your Honor pool (even above 4000) instead of being wasted. Either way, the season 10 Conquest gear becomes purchasable for Honor after the patch, and the Conquest cap resets (starting at 0 with a 4k weekly cap that increases weekly) (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums).

• Honor Points (PvP) – Honor continues as the base PvP currency and is not being removed or reset. Aside from the above conversion (influx from Conquest), Honor points stay intact. Just note that if Honor does overflow beyond 4000 (assuming the Phase 3 policy continues), you’ll need to spend it down to earn new Honor from Battlegrounds, etc. (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums). Once the new season begins, you can use Honor to buy the previous season’s gear (Ruthless Gladiator ilvl 384) at reduced cost, while new Cataclysmic Gladiator gear will cost Conquest. Essentially, Honor points will serve as a catch-up currency for PvP gear from the older season.

• Fissure Stone Fragments (Heroic+ dungeon currency) – Fissure Stones will NOT be merged into any new currency. This special currency, earned from “Protocol Inferno” Heroic+ dungeons in the Firelands phase, is expected to remain unchanged in your currency tab. There’s no official announcement of a conversion, so they’ll likely just stay as-is (similar to how Wrath’s Beta/Gamma dungeon tokens remained unused in later phases) (The fate of valor points and fissure fragments - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums). You should still be able to spend Fissure Stone Fragments at their original vendor in Stormwind/Orgrimmar after the patch – but they won’t have new uses in Phase 4. In short, Valor → Justice and Conquest → Honor are the big conversions; Fissure Stones persist separately (neither removed nor upgraded).

Firelands Catch-Up Mechanics and Preparing for Dragon Soul

The Phase 3 “Firelands” patch introduced a robust catch-up system to help players gear up without full raid progression. This system will continue to help latecomers and alts as we head into Dragon Soul:

• Elemental Rune Dungeons – Protocol Inferno: During the Firelands phase, Blizzard added a Heroic+ mode called “Protocol Inferno” for Level 85 heroic dungeons. Activating this mode (via a Mysterious Device at the dungeon entrance) buffs enemies (Health +100%, Damage +25%) (How to activate Elemental Rune Dungeons in Cataclysm Classic) (Elemental Rune Dungeons Guide (Protocol Inferno - Heroic+) - Cataclysm Classic - Warcraft Tavern) but rewards a new currency called Fissure Stone Fragments. Every boss in an Inferno dungeon drops 2 Fissure Fragments per player, and if you kill all bosses, the final boss drops an extra 3 fragments (Elemental Rune Dungeons on the Cataclysm Classic Rage of the Firelands PTR - Icy Veins) (Elemental Rune Dungeons on the Cataclysm Classic Rage of the Firelands PTR - Icy Veins). These fragments can be turned in to the vendor Kyanite Stonetender for high-quality gear from earlier tiers (How to activate Elemental Rune Dungeons in Cataclysm Classic). Notably, you can buy Normal and Heroic Tier 11 set pieces (helm and shoulder tokens) and Heroic raid loot from Tier 11 (e.g. Nefarian and Sinestra drops) with Fissure Fragments (Elemental Rune Dungeons on the Cataclysm Classic Rage of the Firelands PTR - Icy Veins) (Elemental Rune Dungeons on the Cataclysm Classic Rage of the Firelands PTR - Icy Veins). There are even satchels that contain random Heroic BoT/BWD gear and trinkets, with chances at mounts like the Drake of the North/South Wind from Throne of Four Winds (Elemental Rune Dungeons on the Cataclysm Classic Rage of the Firelands PTR - Icy Veins) (Elemental Rune Dungeons on the Cataclysm Classic Rage of the Firelands PTR - Icy Veins). In practice, this let players obtain item level 359–379 gear without doing Tier 11 raids, greatly accelerating their gearing. A fresh 85 could run Protocol Inferno dungeons (ilvl 346 required to queue) and very quickly deck out in Tier 11 heroic-equivalent gear (Phase 4 and pre-raid gearing - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums). This made jumping into Firelands raids (Tier 12) much easier for late starters.

• Firelands Valor Gear and Nerfs: In Phase 3, even players who didn’t raid could purchase ilvl 378 gear with Valor Points (and now with Justice after conversion). By the end of the Firelands tier, a variety of 378 item pieces (cloaks, rings, boots, etc.) were available from the Valor vendor (4.3 Valor Changes) (4.3 Valor Changes). Additionally, Blizzard typically implemented raid tuning changes to aid catch-up – for example, Firelands bosses were nerfed over time. By the time Dragon Soul arrives, Firelands encounters are much more forgiving than at launch (in original 4.3, the 20% HP/Damage nerf to Firelands was in effect). This means guilds or PUGs in Phase 4 can more easily farm Firelands for 378/391 loot. All of this Tier 12 gear (whether obtained via Valor/Justice or late Firelands runs) serves as preparation so players meet the gear requirements of Dragon Soul content.

• New Hour of Twilight Dungeons (Patch 4.3): The Dragon Soul patch itself adds three new 5-player Heroic dungeons – End Time, Well of Eternity, and Hour of Twilight. These are essentially “catch-up dungeons” that drop item level 378 epic gear for every slot (Phase 4 and pre-raid gearing - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums) (equivalent to Normal-mode Firelands loot). In original Cataclysm, running these dungeons was a quick way for returning players to get fully geared up to ~ilevel 378. For example, a new level 85 in 4.3 could skip straight to these dungeons (which are accessible with relatively low gear requirements) and acquire 378 epics across helm, chest, legs, etc. Meanwhile, Justice Point gear was also updated to ilvl 378 for certain slots in 4.3 (Phase 4 and pre-raid gearing - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums) (because all the former Valor items became Justice items). Between these new dungeon drops and Justice purchases, players could reach about 372–378 ilvl without ever stepping into Firelands (Phase 4 and pre-raid gearing - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums). In Cataclysm Classic we expect the same: these dungeons will be a primary gearing path for anyone who needs better gear before raiding. They also reward Valor points for completion, helping you start earning the new tier’s currency.

• Raid Finder and “Protocol Twilight” (Phase 4 Catch-ups): For the final phase, Blizzard is layering multiple catch-up options. First, Raid Finder (LFR) is being introduced for the Dragon Soul raid. LFR offers a lower difficulty version of the raid that drops slightly lower ilvl loot (around 384 for most Dragon Soul LFR items, vs 397 in normal mode) (4.3 Valor Changes). This allows virtually any player (with modest gear requirements) to experience the content and pick up solid gear without an organized raid group. Second, just as Phase 3 had Protocol Inferno, Phase 4 will debut “Protocol Twilight” dungeons (a Heroic++ difficulty) on Cataclysm Classic’s PTR (Cataclysm Classic Hour of Twilight PTR Development Notes - Updated February 7 - Blue Tracker) (Cataclysm Classic Hour of Twilight PTR Development Notes - Updated February 7 - Blue Tracker). In Protocol Twilight, dungeon bosses will drop a new currency called Obsidian Fragments (Cataclysm Classic Hour of Twilight PTR Development Notes - Updated February 7 - Blue Tracker). According to PTR notes, players can exchange Obsidian Fragments for Dragon Soul LFR-quality gear and late Tier 12 items from a vendor (Cataclysm Classic Hour of Twilight PTR Development Notes - Updated February 7 - Blue Tracker). The Obsidian Fragment vendor includes ilvl 384/390 Dragon Soul LFR armor/weapons, Normal-mode Firelands tokens for Tier 12 helms/shoulders, all Normal Firelands weapons (378/384), and even some Heroic Firelands items (via random-stat “Flickering” gear bags) (Cataclysm Classic Hour of Twilight PTR Development Notes - Updated February 7 - Blue Tracker) (Cataclysm Classic Hour of Twilight PTR Development Notes - Updated February 7 - Blue Tracker). In other words, Protocol Twilight dungeons will let players buy gear equivalent to what drops in Dragon Soul’s Raid Finder, as well as fill any gaps with Firelands loot – an extremely potent catch-up mechanism. Combined with the new 5-mans and the Justice point vendor changes, even players who never raided Firelands will have multiple ways to quickly gear up for Dragon Soul. Blizzard’s goal is clearly to ensure as many people as possible can participate in the final raid tier by removing gear hurdles through these catch-up systems (Phase 4 and pre-raid gearing - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums) (Cataclysm Classic Hour of Twilight PTR Development Notes - Updated February 7 - Blue Tracker).

Optimal Strategies to Maximize Rewards and Prepare for Phase 4

With these changes incoming, here are some tips to get the most out of your current currency and gear before the Dragon Soul patch hits:

• Plan Around Currency Caps: Before the patch, try to spend down currencies that will hit a cap. For example, if you’re sitting near 4,000 Justice Points, consider buying something now (even if it's trade goods or lower-tier gear) to drop below the cap. This way, when your Valor points convert into Justice, you don’t waste any due to the 4k limit (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums). Remember that any Justice above 4000 gets converted to a paltry amount of gold (47 silver per point) (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums) – a very poor value compared to what those points can buy. The same logic applies to Honor: if you already have 4000 Honor, any converted Conquest that would go beyond 4k could be lost (unless Blizz allows overflow again). It’s safer to spend a bit and keep your Honor just under cap, so the incoming Conquest-to-Honor conversion lands fully on your character ( What happens to Conquest Points at the end of a season?).

• Hold Valor for Cheaper Gear (or Spend on Last-Minute Items?): Since all Firelands-era Valor gear will become purchasable with Justice Points in Phase 4, you might avoid spending Valor now on items that can be obtained later for Justice (Justice Points - Wowpedia - Your wiki guide to the World of Warcraft). For example, expensive Valor boots or trinkets will cost Justice (which you’ll have plenty of after conversion and running 5-mans) in the new patch. By waiting, you essentially get those items “free” using converted points. However, don’t let your Valor sit at the cap unwisely – if you’re capped on Justice already, any excess Valor is wasted for mere silver. A smart move is to cap Valor on the eve of the patch and ensure you have room under the Justice cap to accept the converted points. This maximizes the currency carried forward ( 4.3 Valor Points - Conversion). In short, save Valor for now, and scoop up the former Valor gear with Justice after the patch. The only exception would be if a Valor item upgrades you today such that it helps you clear content (e.g. helps kill Ragnaros now); in that case, do what benefits your raid progress. Otherwise, patience pays off.

• Spend Your Fissure Stone Fragments: If you have any Fissure Stone Fragments from Protocol Inferno runs, plan to use them before Phase 4. They are capped at 160 (you can’t farm beyond that in Phase 3) and are likely to become “dead weight” once Dragon Soul launches (The fate of valor points and fissure fragments - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums) (Elemental Rune Dungeons Guide (Protocol Inferno - Heroic+) - Cataclysm Classic - Warcraft Tavern). Check the Fissure vendor for anything useful you still want – for example, you might pick up heroic Tier 11 pieces for transmog or grab those raid drop trinkets and mounts while you can. Once the new patch hits, you won’t be acquiring more Fissure fragments (Protocol Inferno is effectively being superseded by Protocol Twilight), and there’s no conversion for them. So it’s “use it or lose it” – don’t leave them sitting in your currency tab unspent (The fate of valor points and fissure fragments - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums).

• Gearing Up Now = Easier Time Later: Take advantage of the current content to strengthen your character before Dragon Soul arrives. If you can, run Firelands raids now for 378 (Normal) or 391 (Heroic) gear, as this will not only make leveling into Dragon Soul smoother but also gives you a head start on the gear curve. Firelands is likely nerfed enough that even semi-casual groups can clear it, so try to get any missing slots or best-in-slot pieces (Tier 12 set bonuses, trinkets like Matrix Restabilizer or Jaws of Defeat, etc.). Use the Protocol Inferno dungeons as well if you need specific items – for example, you could target a heroic Tier 11 trinket like Heart of Rage or get a helm/shoulder token for a 4-piece set bonus (Elemental Rune Dungeons on the Cataclysm Classic Rage of the Firelands PTR - Icy Veins). These items can still be quite useful going into Dragon Soul (a number of Tier 11/12 trinkets remain strong). Essentially, the better your gear now, the more content you can tackle immediately when Phase 4 hits (possibly even jump straight into Normal Dragon Soul or at least clear the new 5-mans with ease).

• Prep for the New Dungeon and Raid Content: Once Phase 4 launches, dive into the new 5-man Heroics and Raid Finder early. The three Hour of Twilight dungeons can be chain-run for ilvl 378 epics – doing these in the first few days can fill gaps in your gear quickly. Also, the first week of Dragon Soul, you can queue LFR and start getting Tier 13 set pieces (LFR versions) and weapons. LFR has no weekly lockout in terms of re-clearing for loot (in Classic it might still be weekly per boss for loot, but everyone should do it at least once a week). Even if you’re a progression raider, LFR gear (ilvl ~384) can help you hit set bonuses or boost item levels for slots that were lagging. Don’t neglect these “easy” sources of gear – they are there specifically to help players catch up and tackle normal/heroic raids faster (4.3 Valor Changes).

• PvP Considerations: If you PvP, note that a new Season 11 begins with the patch. It’s wise to cap out your Conquest points in the final weeks of Season 10 and even hold some unspent if you can, because they’ll turn into Honor. In Season transitions historically, players start with 0 Conquest and a full Honor cap, so having 4k Honor (or more if overflow is allowed) means you can immediately buy some new Season 11 Honor gear (which will be the old Season 10 elite gear). Check that you’re not exceeding the cap so you don’t lose points. Also, spend your Honor if you’re above 4k – better to buy some current gear (or even honorable mention items like mounts, old PvP sets, or trade goods) than to let it turn to a few gold. Essentially, use the same logic as PvE: carry over the maximum useful currency into the new season. That way, you can quickly get new PvP gear and jump into battlegrounds or arenas at an advantage when Cataclysm’s last season starts.

In summary, Blizzard is following their established pattern for end-of-expansion currency updates. Expect Valor and Conquest to convert downward (to Justice and Honor) with caps in mind (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums) (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums). Leverage the Firelands catch-up systems – from Fissure fragment vendors to easily farmable 378 dungeon gear – to ensure your character is as prepared as possible for Dragon Soul. And finally, go into Phase 4 with a plan: minimize wasted currencies, grab the easy gear upgrades, and you’ll be ready to face Deathwing with the best start possible. Good luck in the Dragon Soul! 🐉🔥

Sources: Official Blizzard posts and patch notes, Cataclysm Classic PTR announcements, and historical Cataclysm references have been used to infer these changes (Currency Conversions and Rewards Updates Coming with Patch 4.4.1 on 30 October - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums) (Justice Points - Wowpedia - Your wiki guide to the World of Warcraft) (Elemental Rune Dungeons on the Cataclysm Classic Rage of the Firelands PTR - Icy Veins) (Phase 4 and pre-raid gearing - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums)1】. (Blizzard has not published a final Phase 4 FAQ as of yet, but all evidence points to conversions and mechanics identical to the original Patch 4.3.) Each point above is backed by either direct Classic info or the known precedent from the 2011 release – ensuring you have the clearest picture of what’s coming. Enjoy the final chapter of Cataclysm Classic (The fate of valor points and fissure fragments - Cataclysm Classic Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums) (Cataclysm Classic Hour of Twilight PTR Development Notes - Updated February 7 - Blue Tracker)7】