Justice Points
Justice points have a seasonal limit which is removed on week 3 of a new season.
200 Justice points are rewarded at the end of each dungeon from keystones level +2-9.
Justice points are used to upgrade gear from 376 up to 405 item level.
Justice points can also be converted into Valor points, at a 5:1 ratio.
Beginning at keystone level 3, an additional 10 Justice points will be rewarded based on keystone level, for example, completing a +4 will reward 220, completing a +9 will reward 270.
Any previous expansions Justice points (if they still exist) are converted to a new currency which also used to exist: Badge of Justice.
Valor Points
Valor points have a seasonal limit which is removed on week 5 of a new season.
200 Valor points are rewarded at the end of each dungeon from keystones level +10 and above.
Valor points are primarily used to upgrade gear from 405 up to 415 item level.
Valor points can also be used to upgrade gear from 376 up to 405 much quicker.
Beginning at keystone level 11, an additional 10 Valor points will be rewarded based on keystone level, for example, completing a +12 will reward 220, completing a +22 will reward 320.
And here’s the rant and reasoning, that I’m sure has been partially said before:
I, and many other players with similar play styles have noticed, or are beginning to notice a major shift in how M+ sign-ups and invites are handled in keystones ranging from +2 to +9, ever since the weekly valor limit was removed. I noticed this same thing last expansion as well. Sure, you can just say “make your own group”, or “make some friends” but the fact remains, that what was once easily accessible, enjoyable content for many, has once again become far less accessible overall for basically no reason, which makes the game worse as a whole for many players like myself.
High end players of course want to farm their valor in the most efficient way possible, I completely understand that, and I don’t blame them. It is a symptom related to a flaw in how the system was designed in the first place, especially in how bonus valor is earned.
Of course, this is greatly benefiting new players, or players that have little dungeon score, at least in the short term, because high end players know they can easily carry them and obtain the bonus valor, but again, this is a flaw in how the system was designed, bonus valor is earned in such a strange way, not only that, these high end players only need one player in the group with little to no score for that particular dungeon, so for players that have been actively participating in these +2-9 keystones since season one began are avoided almost entirely.
I consider myself fairly casual, I no longer have an interest in pushing end-game content to its limits, I no longer raid, or push keys above level 10. I enjoy playing alts (13 to be exact) in lower M+ dungeons, ranging from +2 to +9, and engaging in the outdoor world content. Just these two things are more than enough to keep me entertained, but then the valor cap gets removed and all goes to hell, I get a key for a dungeon I don’t like, and now, instead of quickly getting into a group for a dungeon I do like, and being able to exchange my key, I now have to either spend an hour getting declined for groups I got invited to instantly before the valor limit got removal, or spend sometimes 30+ minutes trying to find a tank for my own key that I’d rather not do to begin with, see the issue here? now imagine if you wanted to do that 12 more times that week, it’s incredibly demoralizing, in fact, I didn’t do a single M+ dungeon last week, and only did one dungeon the week before.
Everyone seems to be funneled towards specific dungeons for easier valor and vault counts, tanks rarely sign up for my keys because most of them are now only joining groups hosted by 2700+ score players that lower their keys to farm valor, because those tanks also want a quick run, and many players with a play style similar to mine are probably just logging on a lot less now, it’s near game breaking for anyone playing more than a handful of alts, and knowing I personally have to wait for next season to begin for the game to return back to normal makes me not want to log on anymore, I was having an absolute blast this expansion up until the valor limit was removed.
Now, I know this issue likely isn’t getting fixed this expansion, but hopefully Blizzard considers some logical changes for the valor and gear upgrade system for the next expansion, this is two expansions in a row with this issue.
I probably won’t be responding to any counter arguments here, I’m simply posting this here because I do believe it’s becoming a real issue that is affecting many players, seemingly for a reason that shouldn’t exist to begin with.