Catalyst

This article is about the system. For the object in Dornogal, see the Catalyst.

The Creation Catalyst interface. An item can be placed in the left slot; the right slot will show a preview of the result.

The Catalyst is a system that allows players to empower epic-quality equipment, transforming it into an equivalent tier set piece. The system is accessible through the following consoles:

• Creation Catalyst Console in Zereth Mortis
• Revival Catalyst Console in Thaldraszus
• The Catalyst in Dornogal

The result of conversion depends on the original equipment's source; a Zereth Mortis item will turn into a Tier 28 (Sepulcher of the First Ones) item, a Dragonflight Season 1 item will turn into a Tier 29 (Vault of the Incarnates) item, and so on.

Catalyst consoles are not restricted to items within their own expansion. For example, the Catalyst in Dornogal can transform Dragonflight items into their respective tier equivalents.

Eligible items

The Revival Catalyst interface

Equipment that comes from the following sources can be transformed through the Catalyst:

• Raids
• Timewalking (epic gear only, from weekly quests or Timewalking raids)
• Mythic+
• Rated PvP
• The Great Vault
• World bosses
• Outdoor PvE and War Mode activities (epic gear only, items obtained in later seasons usually become ineligible)
• Delves
• Renown from Dragonflight Season 3 onwards (epic gear only)

Only items in the head, shoulder, chest, hands, and legs slots will contribute to set bonuses after conversion. Items in other slots will convert to "off-set" pieces, which grant no bonuses beyond their regular stats. However, it can still be useful to convert an off-set piece if the source item has poor secondary stats and the target item has stats better suited to a character's class or specialization.

To target a specific set in the Catalyst, gear from that set's season must be converted. The main source of past-season gear is the raid associated with that season.
Alternative and limited sources include:

• Mythic dungeon gear from Shadowlands or later catalyzes into the Normal-mode Tier of the last season of the expansion it was introduced in, unless that dungeon is a returning one in the current season.
• Epic quality Renown rewards from Dragonflight Season 3 onwards, usually 2 items per faction, catalyze into the Raid Finder (lower-iLvl item) and Normal-mode Tier (higher-iLvl item) of the season the faction was introduced in.
• Expansion-specific:
  • Gear purchased from Rafiq with Sandworn Relics catalyzes into the Raid Finder Tier of Shadowlands Season 3.
  • Primalist gear from Primal Storms and Forbidden Reach is catalyzable at upgrade levels 2/3 and 3/3, corresponding to the Normal and Heroic appearances of Dragonflight Season 1 Tier, respectively. Items remain upgradeable after catalyzation. This was a precursor to later seasons' upgrade tracks.

Costs

Converting a current-season item costs a currency that recharges once every two weeks. Items from a previous season typically have no cost.

Each new season has a new currency, with the last season's currency being completely removed.

The War Within

TWW Season	Currency
Season 3	[Ethereal Voidsplinter]
Season 2	[Essence of Kaja'mite]
Season 1	[Harmonized Silk]

Dragonflight

DF Season	Currency
Season 4	[Renascent Awakening]
Season 3	[Renascent Dream]
Season 2	[Renascent Shadowflame]
Season 1	[Catalyst Charges]

During Dragonflight Season 1, players needed to complete the weekly  [70W] Revival Catalyst quest by completing group content to add [Catalyst Charges] to the console. These charges were earned account-wide but spent on a per-character basis. That is, each character on the account could individually use the same charge. During Dragonflight Season 2, players were offered  [70] The Catalyst's Boon, which removed the weekly quest requirement. Simply logging in was enough to add [Renascent Shadowflame] (the new currency for the season). A new charge was provided every other week since and would continue through Dragonflight Season 3 and later switched to "new charge each week" mid-season. Dragonflight Season 4 continued with the "new charge each week".

Shadowlands

During Shadowlands Season 3 and Season 4, converting equipment cost [Cosmic Flux], with the amount varying by slot.

Slot	Cost
Head, chest, legs	1500
Shoulder, hands	1200
Waist, feet	800
Wrist, back	600

Notes

• In Shadowlands, the catalyst initially had a cooldown of 7 days after use, which was then reduced to 4 days. The cooldown has since been removed—presumably with the addition of the charges system in Dragonflight.

Gallery

• 

  The UI during patch 9.2.0 PTR.

Patch changes

• Patch 10.0.5 (2023-01-24): The Revival Catalyst is now available to turn gear earned from the Great Vault, Mythic+, Raids, PvP, Tier 2 (Epic) Storms, Tier 2 War Mode, and World Bosses into the corresponding tier gear for that slot. Travel to the northern side of Tyrhold in Thaldraszus to find the Revival Catalyst located next to the NPC Antuka.
  • Each week, an account-wide quest will be available which awards a charge to the Revival Catalyst. Progress towards this quest will require players to complete relevant Raid, Mythic+, PvP, and/or world content. This can be done on a single character or combined across multiple characters on the account. Completion will then award a separate charge for each character on the account which includes any characters that get created in the future! The total number of charges that can be stored for an individual character is currently capped at 6. If a character vendored, disenchanted, or destroyed a Dragonflight Season 1 item that you want to use for this system, please visit the World of Warcraft Item Restoration page for assistance.
    
• Hotfix (2022-05-10): Creation Catalyst's cooldown time reduced to 4 days (was 7 days).
  
• Hotfix (2022-04-05): Equipment purchased from Rafiq in Pilgrim's Grace is now compatible with the Creation Catalyst and can be converted to tier set pieces.
  
• Patch 9.2.0 (2022-02-22): Added with the Creation Catalyst.