Before a couple weeks ago, I was a pretty solo only player and all my gear came from WC/LFR.
I upgraded all my gear with storm sigils to 385 or had LFR gear and then used the revival catalyst to make tier pieces.
I have started to get out of my comfort zone and pugging a few M+. I now have pieces with a higher ilvl that are also upgradable but unsure about how the “6 charge cap” works.
I have done the catalyst quest each week since the beginning and used either 3-5 charges at some point but haven’t used any in the past few weeks.
The question: Is the “6 charge cap” at total number of charges that a character can ever use the catalyst or the number of charges that you can build up? (as mine says 1 but I know I have done the quest and not used it the past 2-3 weeks)
I just want to know if I will still be able to change one piece of my M+ gear each week or I am no longer able to use the catalyst again as I used it on the other gear earlier in the year.
Grats on your M+ completions! The 6-charge cap is the max you can hold at any time, but you will still accrue them weekly with quest completion on characters with fewer than 6. It is account-wide, so all your new alts will start with 6 charges, but you will not be able to accrue more until you use them. Even if one character is capped, another with fewer than 6 should gain one. If you use one every week, you will not reach the cap on that character and can use them at any time if you have charges.
The catalyst interface only seems to show the number of charges needed for conversion (1), not how many you have. You can download a weak aura that displays your charges. Search “catalyst charge” on the site to see some options. You will need to download the WA addon first and import the string into the game after using the /wa command. (Editing to add: There are some good guides on WA if you haven’t used them before. Or we could help here, surely!)
So my friend is starting today. If he unlocks the catalyst this week, will he have 6 charges like they did in SL 9.3 for that catalyst? or is it unlocked one time per week so will take 6 weeks to get every one? I hope not 6 weeks, that’s a rough place to be to catch up to everyone else as his end goal is pushing high keys and raiding.
Unfortunately, since you need to do the quest to get a charge, I think he would start at 0. Like you, I also prefer the Shadowlands catalyst where you have unlimited charges and aren’t set back as a new player.
I do recommend he try to get set pieces from LFR and getting through a normal raid if his ilvl allows so he can potentially accrue some set tokens. That will help offset the need for charges initially and he can replace them over time. Depending on the class, some set pieces may not be as crucial at first. Also crafting some off-set spark pieces can help increase power. To maximize options, if he fills the vault for both raid and mythics, he may get a set piece there.
You probably know a lot of that extra stuff already, but I hope it helps! Best of luck to him.