For a few days, one of the best ways to get ahead in World of Warcraft: Midnight Season 2 was apparently to have forgotten to finish an old quest.
Blizzard has now decided that perhaps this should not become the foundation of the new crafting economy.
The maximum number of Sparks of Tides players can obtain will increase to four with the weekly reset on August 18, giving characters that missed the accidental third Spark an opportunity to catch up immediately.
That neatly solves the strange situation we covered earlier this week, where some neglected alts could obtain three Sparks while most characters were limited to two.
The Third Spark Came From an Old Midnight Quest
The problem started with
Midnight: World Tour, a one-time quest from earlier in the expansion.
Characters that had never completed it could still do so during the Patch 12.1 pre-season and receive a Spark of Tides. Combined with the normal pre-season Spark sources, that allowed some characters to reach three Sparks while players who had already completed World Tour during Season 1 could not repeat it.
We covered the loophole when it appeared, and the big question was what Blizzard would do before Season 2 officially began.
At the time, the third Spark did not immediately create a major crafting advantage, because most crafted items require two Sparks while two-handed weapons require four.
Next week was where things could have become interesting.
Blizzard has now removed that uncertainty.
Everyone Can Reach Four Sparks Next Week
Community manager Kaivax confirmed that Blizzard is increasing the maximum number of Sparks to four when the weekly reset arrives on August 18.
Importantly, this does
not mean everyone simply receives four additional Sparks.
It means the seasonal acquisition cap becomes four.
A character sitting on two Sparks can therefore catch up to four. A character that managed to obtain the unusual third Spark only needs one more before reaching the same cap.
So the procrastinating alt still had a slightly unusual week.
It just does not get to build an economic dynasty from it.
Four Sparks Opens the Door to Two-Handed Weapons
The timing matters because four Sparks is an important early Season 2 breakpoint.
Normal crafted pieces generally require two Sparks, while a crafted two-handed weapon requires four. That means players can potentially start Season 2 with enough Spark capacity to craft one of the more expensive weapon slots immediately.
Whether doing that is actually the best use of your resources is another question.
Season 2 class tuning is already underway, new raid and dungeon gear is about to enter circulation, and upgrading a high-end crafted weapon still requires additional resources.
But at least Spark availability itself should no longer depend on whether you remembered to finish World Tour several months ago.
Blizzard Chose the Cleanest Possible Fix
There were several ways Blizzard could have handled this.
The extra Spark could have been removed from players who earned it.
World Tour could have been disabled.
Characters with three Sparks could have been prevented from receiving another until everyone else caught up.
Instead, Blizzard simply accelerated the cap for everybody.
That is probably the least disruptive solution with Season 2 only days away.
Nobody loses the Spark they already earned, and the accidental advantage disappears at the first proper Season 2 reset.
It also means our advice from earlier this week changes considerably.
You no longer need to inspect every forgotten alt wondering whether it possesses a secret crafting advantage buried underneath five months of unfinished quests.
On August 18, everyone gets the opportunity to reach the same four-Spark ceiling.
Sometimes the easiest way to fix an unintended head start is simply to move the starting line.
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