Catalyst Conversions Fixed, Sparks Still Pending

Two long-running gearing bugs are at different stages this week. One is closed. The other is not, and if you are affected by it you are still behind.

The Catalyst is sorted

The good news first. Blizzard has confirmed that any remaining items sourced from the Great Vault that could not be converted at the Creation Catalyst have been fixed. The line in the notes is unambiguous: the Catalyst should now be correctly usable on all pieces of gear.

This followed an earlier fix that made Great Vault and Bonus Rolled items usable at the Catalyst in the first place, including raid armour from the Coiled Altar and Ula'tek that previously refused to convert when it came from those sources.

One side effect worth knowing: certain non-armour items were incorrectly appearing convertible at the Catalyst, and that has also been fixed. If the Catalyst is showing you something odd, relog — affected characters may need it before the change takes.

Check your bank. If you wrote a piece off weeks ago because it would not convert, it will now.

Sparks of Tides is still a mess

This one has been going for three weeks and is not finished. Worth laying out the sequence, because the compensation has been as uneven as the bug.

In week one, an extra quest that only some characters could complete handed those players a third Spark of Tides. Blizzard identified it and announced everyone would be able to get 4 Sparks in week two.

In week two, some players could only get 2. The community theory was that missing your second Spark in week one locked you out of the full four, and Blizzard addressed it by granting 2 additional Sparks to affected players. That is where it went sideways: some players who already had the correct amount also received two more, and some who were genuinely short are still short.

Where it stands now

Blizzard has acknowledged it again, saying the previous remedy left a number of players missing Sparks, that they are getting closer to a solution, and that they expect to restore Sparks to most affected players over the next few days, with another update when that is done.

The practical advice is unchanged: count your Sparks, and if you are behind, do not spend the ones you have on something you will regret. A crafted weapon is one of the biggest single upgrades available this season, and committing your last Spark to the wrong slot while a restoration is pending is how you end up worse off than the bug left you.

This is also the second season in a row with a major crafting problem, after the Season 1 recrafting bug that ate Crests. If you are sitting on a big-ticket craft, patience has been the correct play both times.