World of Warcraft spends a great deal of effort telling you how many Mistcrests you're allowed to earn each week.
Azta'rec has apparently not read the memo.
Midnight Season 2's new Nemesis Delve boss comes with a one-time reward that can push players
beyond the normal weekly Mistcrest cap, making him considerably more interesting than another difficult solo boss with a nice mount attached.
Defeating Azta'rec on `?` difficulty is designed to award
30 Hero Mistcrests that do not count toward the seasonal weekly cap.
And once Season 2 properly begins, the rewards get even better.
Azta'rec Gives 30 Uncapped Hero Mistcrests
Azta'rec lives inside Venomfall Deeps on the Coiled Isle and serves as Season 2's Nemesis boss.
Like previous Delve Nemeses, he comes in two special difficulty levels: `?` and `??`.
The first-time reward for defeating him on `?` is 30 Hero Mistcrests.
Normally, Hero Mistcrests are restricted by the season's gradually increasing weekly cap. Once you've earned your allowance, the game politely informs you that your character has consumed enough upgrade currency for one week.
Azta'rec's reward ignores that restriction.
Those 30 crests are additional.
So if you've already reached the normal Hero Mistcrest cap, defeating Azta'rec can still push your total higher.
For players trying to squeeze every possible item level out of the opening weeks, that is not a small bonus.
The ?? Version Gets Even Better
When Midnight Season 2 begins, `??` difficulty becomes the real prize.
Defeating Azta'rec there awards another
30 uncapped Hero Mistcrests and 30 uncapped Myth Mistcrests.
Players who did not previously defeat the `?` version can receive 60 Hero Mistcrests instead, preserving the earlier reward rather than permanently losing it.
That means Azta'rec effectively contains a small stash of upgrade currency sitting outside the normal weekly economy.
And early in a WoW season, when every crest has approximately the economic importance of oil, gold and clean drinking water combined, that matters.
These Are One-Time Rewards
Before anyone prepares to spend the weekend farming Azta'rec until every item is fully upgraded, there is a catch.
The uncapped crest rewards are
one-time rewards.
You cannot repeatedly kill the boss and manufacture an infinite mountain of Hero and Myth Mistcrests.
Blizzard may occasionally make questionable gearing decisions.
It has not yet installed an unlimited Myth-crest ATM inside a Delve.
The value comes from getting an extra injection of upgrade currency precisely when the weekly cap matters most.
Don’t Expect the Full Reward Structure During Pre-Season
There is also an important Patch 12.1 timing wrinkle.
We have already warned in our
Season 2 rollover guide that Delves during the pre-season week are not yet operating with their full Season 2 reward structure.
And early live reports appear to reinforce that warning.
At least one player who killed Azta'rec on `?` during the Patch 12.1 pre-season reported receiving Veteran Mistcrests rather than the expected uncapped Hero reward.
So if you're reading this before Season 2 officially begins, don't build your entire gearing spreadsheet around receiving those 30 Hero Mistcrests immediately.
The important part is what happens once Season 2's reward systems are fully active.
Azta'rec Is Becoming a Very Valuable Boss
The crests join an already impressive list of reasons to fight him.
Defeating Azta'rec solo on `??` difficulty can earn the Apophic Soul Crusher mount, while the new first-week challenge also offers the Fabled Vanquisher of Azta'rec title.
There is also a back transmog, another title and a seasonal quest reward tied to the encounter.
Now add uncapped upgrade currency.
Suddenly, Venomfall Deeps isn't just something Delve completionists will visit.
Serious raiders and Mythic+ players have a reason to care too.
The Weekly Cap Has a Small Azta'rec-Shaped Hole in It
Weekly crest caps exist for a sensible reason.
Without them, the most dedicated players would spend the first 72 hours of a season farming themselves into another dimension while everyone else quietly went to work.
Azta'rec doesn't completely break that system.
He just gives you a small, deliberate exception.
Thirty extra Hero Mistcrests.
Then more Hero and Myth Mistcrests from the harder version.
One time only.
Use them wisely.
Or immediately dump all of them into a weapon that drops again twenty minutes later.
This is still World of Warcraft, after all.
Source: Icy Veins / Wowhead
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