Ascendant Voidcores are being retired and replaced in Midnight patch 12.1.5 by Ascendant Venomstones — the same capstone-currency loop with a new name, one meaningful eligibility change, and a hard rule that catches people out: a stone can only lift gear you have already fully upgraded.

The patch is on the PTR now with no confirmed live date. Here is what is confirmed by Blizzard, what is datamined, and how to decide where your first ten stones go.

What Venomstones actually do

They are not loot. A Venomstone spend raises the item level of one eligible item past its normal maximum for that slot — a capstone on top of a finished upgrade path, not a shortcut through it.

Blizzard's own wording from the 12.1.5 overview: "Following the launch of the 12.1.5 content update, Ascendant Voidcores will return as Ascendant Venomstones, allowing players to push their power to new heights."

The necklace addition is the change that actually alters planning. Voidcores could only touch weapons and trinkets; adding a third high-value slot means three slots are now competing for the same scarce currency, in a patch that arrives mid-Season 2 when most players already have those slots nearly maxed.

Unlocking the currency

Unlocking is a one-time gate, and it is not instant:

1. Go to Silvermoon City and find Orin Straylight, standing near the Catalyst.
2. Pick up and complete the quest "Ancient Depths, Ancient Venom."
3. Wait for Orin to "do his research." Blizzard's phrasing is that he then empowers players to acquire the stones.

Until step three resolves, drops do not start flowing. The practical implication: do the quest the moment the patch goes live, before you run your first raid night or key push of the week, so you are not farming stones that are not yet dropping.

Every confirmed drop source

No weekly cap on the currency has been confirmed for the PTR, so treat farming as "run eligible content, collect drops." If you already raid Heroic and push +10 keys, stones accumulate passively. For solo or time-poor players, Tier 11 Bountiful Delves are the most repeatable group-optional source, and they pair with the delve route you are already running for gear and Restored Coffer Keys.

Which slot to spend on: a decision rule, not a number

This is where most guides over-reach, so here is the honest split.

Confirmed: weapons, trinkets and necklaces are eligible; ten stones per upgrade.

Not confirmed: the exact item-level jump. PTR builds suggest a modest increase of roughly one item-level breakpoint, and datamined figures circulating for specific items are not final. Blizzard has not published patch notes for the system yet, so any tier list built on "this trinket gains 9 item levels" is provisional.

Given that, prioritise by structure rather than by hype:

• Do not spend until a slot is fully upgraded. The stones lift a finished item; spending on a partially upgraded piece is not what the system does.
• Weapon first, as a default. A weapon's item level feeds more of your character's output per point than any other slot for the majority of specs. This is the least controversial default.
• Then the slot where your current item is furthest behind its tier. A Season 2 Hero trinket sitting one step below Mythic quality gains more from being lifted than a near-bis Mythic necklace does.
• Necklaces are the trap slot. They are new, they are eligible, and that does not make them the best target — treat the necklace option as a late-cycle choice, not a priority.
• Lock your Season 2 upgrades in now. This is the actionable item while 12.1.5 is still on the PTR: finish the upgrade paths on your weapon and your best trinket before the patch lands, so the stones have something to lift.

Timing

Patch 12.1.5 has been on the PTR since early September and Blizzard has not announced a live date. Alongside Venomstones it adds the Promise of Tomorrow story campaign, the Kith'ix raid, the new Labyrinth format and Aqir Invasions, which we covered in our 12.1.5 PTR briefing. Expect the currency to arrive with the patch rather than at Season 3, which follows Midnight's final major update, Eclipse.