You can upgrade the new Korthian catch-up gear in Shadowlands Update 9.1 to match the loot obtained on normal difficulty from the new Sanctum of Domination raid. It's not only an enticing way to equip both your main and your alts, but it's also a way for solo players who prefer the open world to gear up. You'll need to farm for the Librarian's Codex, a new faction in the added Maw area of Korthia, but not before completing an attached minor quest chain that unlocks them first.
Upgrade Korthian gear in Shadowlands by spending Cataloged Research at the Librarian's Codex Upgrade Vendor.
Korthian gear in Shadowlands Patch 9.1 can be upgraded from Item Level 200 up to Item Level 233 at Enhancement Level 6. This is comparable to the gear that drops the last two bosses in the Sanctum of Domination on normal difficulty. The thing is, you need to complete a minor quest chain to unlock the ability to upgrade your Korthian gear in the first place.
Korthian gear can be found in Korthia, or purchased via a Death's Advance Quartermaster Token. You can read all about getting Korth retrofit gear in our article here, but to sum it up: you'll start earning Korth gear long before you can upgrade it. While unlocking Korthia will put you on the path to acquiring gear, you need to unlock the Librarian's Codex faction to actually upgrade your Korthian gear in Shadowlands.
To unlock the Archivist's Codex, you must collect a Search for Korthian relics quest item for rare creatures or treasure scattered across Korthia. You do not need to unlock Korthia to get this item. In short, you can skip straight to clearing the Librarian's Codex quest chain the moment you set foot in Korthia. You'll want to follow this quest chain to "Establish the Archives", which will unlock a few tutorial quests that deal with upgrading your Korthian gear.
First, you need to find Korthian Relics and Relic Fragments which can then be traded at the Roh-Suir Archivist Codex Vendor for Cataloged search. This currency is what you'll use to upgrade your Korthian gear in Shadowlands, but note that it's also used to purchase items from the Librarian's Codex vendor. These Korthian relics and fragments drop from treasures, rare creatures, and can be obtained as quest rewards.
Once you have enough Cataloged Research, you can speak with the Upgrade Vendor near the Archivist's Codex Vendor to upgrade your Korthian gear. Fun fact: you can technically talk to any upgrade NPC, like the one in your alliance, but that upgrade NPC is literally next to whoever you get your cataloged search from, so it's more efficient to use it. Simply drag the part you want to upgrade into the upgrade window to select an upgrade tier and see the stat increase and total cost.
Keep in mind that you can only upgrade Korthian gear to level 4 before you hit a wall. To upgrade your equipment to levels 5 and 6, you will need to purchase Research Report: Adaptive Alloys et Research report: first alloys respectively. These are purchased from Roh-Suir for 4000 and 8000 Cataloged Research, and you need to be "Research Rank 6" (Exalted) with the Librarian's Codex. Additionally, you need to reach Fame Rank 61 to pick up Adaptive Alloys and Fame Rank 75 to buy the first Alloys.
To wrap up this guide, here's how much Cataloged Research each rank will cost, along with the item level of each:
- Level 2 (iLvL 207)
- 250 searches cataloged
- Level 3 (iLvL 213)
- 500 searches cataloged
- Level 4 (iLvL 220)
- 500 searches cataloged
- Level 5 (iLvL 226)
- 750 searches cataloged
- Level 6 (iLvl 233)
- 1000 searches cataloged
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Patch 9.1, Chains of Domination will launch on June 29 (NA) and June 30 (EU).
