Ascendant Venomstones in WoW Midnight: Where to Farm and What to Upgrade
Why the stones matter and what to spend them on
Ascendant Venomstones arrived with patch 12.1.5 as the last step in gearing up for Midnight Season 2. Once a weapon, trinket or necklace has hit the cap of the normal upgrade track, the stones push it one more step. They are the direct successor to the Season 1 Ascendant Voidcores, with one change: necklaces are eligible now, not just weapons and trinkets.
Each upgrade costs 10 stones, and an item can only be upgraded once. You are unlikely to have enough for everything at once, so deciding where to put them matters as much as collecting them. Below: the unlock, the sources, eligible items and a sensible priority list.
Think of the stones as a season-long goal: a full set of weapon, two trinkets and necklace costs 40 stones. Decide your targets early so you do not sink them into something you are about to replace.
How to unlock Venomstone drops
The stones did not drop on patch day. You need a quest chain from Orin Straylight, who stands next to the Catalyst in Silvermoon City at about 40.04, 64.67. First comes Ancient Depths, Ancient Venom, which starts Orin's research. If that quest does not show up, you may need to finish Prismatic Potential first.
After the weekly reset Orin offers the second quest, Ascending with Venomstones, and that one switches the drops on. Collection began on October 20 in NA and October 21 in EU, so the chain is open to everyone who has not done it yet.
The chain is completed once per account, so there is no need to repeat it on every character. If you are joining the season late, turn in both quests back to back and move on to farming. The waypoint /way 40.0 64.7 takes you right to Orin.
Where the stones come from and how many you get
Sources sit in harder content, so do not expect lucky drops on easy difficulties. Here is what each one gives:
Heroic and Mythic raids. Every boss is guaranteed to drop one stone. A full Heroic clear of The Venomous Abyss gives 8, and Nymrissa Wavecaller and Kith'ix add 2 more stones on Heroic.
Mythic+ 10 and higher. The end-of-run chest guarantees one stone.
Nightmare Prey. Two hunts per week, and each Champion Box holds one stone. Together with Delve Souls that is up to 4 stones a week.
Tier 11 Bountiful Delves. A full Labyrinth of Kindo'jan clear gives 3 Bountiful Chests. Once a week you can also open an Abundant Delve at the Shrine of Dundun on Journey Rank 3, and its bonus chest holds another stone.
Boss breakdowns are in our material on The Venomous Abyss, with separate pages for the Heroic and Mythic modes. For extra weekly kills, see also The Unbinding of Kith'ix and Ula'tek.
If the raid lockout and weekly hunts are done and you are still short, what remains is keys and delves. Raids give stones together with gear, so they are worth running anyway. Keys work best with a regular team and a fast route.
Which items can be upgraded
Only Midnight Season 2 weapons, trinkets and necklaces qualify. The item must be fully upgraded on the Hero or Myth track (6/6), or be a maximum-quality Tidal Crafted weapon. Armor and rings are not accepted.
Item | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
Hero 6/6 | 321 | 328 |
Myth 6/6 | 334 | 341 |
Tidal Crafted Hero weapon | 318 | 325 |
Tidal Crafted Myth weapon | 331 | 337 |
In practice the upgrade is +7 item levels for Hero and Myth, and for Tidal Crafted weapons +7 on the Hero version and +6 on the Myth one.
The values were adjusted after launch, so check the final numbers in the item preview in game.
There are exceptions. Mythic items from The Coiled Altar and Ula'tek already reach item level 344 and cannot go further, and anything already Venomforged cannot be upgraded again. For dual-wield specs each weapon needs its own 10 stones.
How to collect 10 stones quickly
The base route is simple: finish what you already do every week, then top up with the rest.
Turn in both Orin quests if you have not yet.
Kill raid bosses on Heroic or Mythic, the most reliable stones of the week.
Run both Nightmare Prey hunts and open the Champion Box.
Do a Bountiful Delve and the bonus Abundant Delve.
Top up with Mythic+ keys from +10, since you can keep running them after the weekly sources are done.
In the first days after launch some sources failed to drop stones because of bugs, and according to player reports this was hotfixed.
What to spend the first stones on
Do not spend the first 10 stones the moment the button lights up. An item is upgraded once, and if you later find a better version, 10 stones are already locked into the weaker piece. A sensible order:
Main weapon. If you are sure you will keep it to the end of the season, this is the strongest investment.
Best long-term trinket. The effect depends on class and spec, so sim it first.
Second trinket, if it stays in your build too.
Necklace. Better left until the main slots are done.
A note on trinkets: item level helps some effects a lot and others barely at all. Before spending 10 stones, run a sim for your spec and compare.
Another practical point is how long you plan to play the season. If plenty of time remains, wait for a Myth piece in the slot you need and put the stones there. If you play briefly, upgrade what is already in your bag, because another week of waiting will not pay off. To assemble a full starter set, the gear from the Full Gear package helps.
Quick answers to common questions
Do you need to run the chain on every character? No, once per account is enough. Can a ring or chestpiece be upgraded? No, only weapons, trinkets and necklaces. Are there weekly limits? Raids, hunts and delves are on weekly lockouts. What about a 344 item? Leave it as is, it is already at the maximum. Does each necklace need its own stones? Yes, 10 per upgraded necklace, like any other slot. Do not rush the first stones: clearing the weekly sources matters more, because they only return after reset.