With Patch 11.1, players were surprised to discover that Season 1 items were no longer able to be upgraded. Blizzard replied to the matter, saying it was a limitation from the Upgrade system and couldn't be fixed. We haven't heard about it since then, which likely means we will have the same situation with the upcoming reset, with Season 2 items no longer upgradable with the release of Patch 11.2.
You can read more about it on our coverage of the situation back in February.
Transmog Thresholds
If you're curious about the item level required to obtain an appearance, it's easy to find out. You must upgrade the item above the 5th upgrade of its upgrade track to unlock the next appearance. This means:
Upgrading a Veteran piece to 5/8 unlocks its Champion appearance.
Upgrading a Champion piece to 5/8 unlocks its Hero appearance.
Upgrading a Hero piece to 5/8 unlocks its Myth appearance.
You won't lose previously unlocked appearance, meaning you you'll keep both the old and the new unlock appearance by doing this.
Season 1 Blue Post
Hello! We’d like to acknowledge the unusual situation here, where Season 1 gear upgrades are no longer available.
You’ll find that world content in in the new zone gives Season 2 gear, which can be upgraded. There’s some awkwardness to the one week transition period, but as of the patch going live, we need the world to be in a “Season 2” state in terms of currencies so that the Undermine zone content can function as expected. At the same time, we’re keeping Season 1 instanced content active just to make sure players have a few more days to finish some of the achievements that are still available.
We don’t currently have a way, technically, to keep Season 1 gear upgradeable after moving into a Season 2 currency ecosystem, which we have now done.
We understand that this can be confusing and frustrating, and we’ll continue to discuss further improvements to season transitions in the future.
