WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades will give you a boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of the item Level upgrade by +3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.

Upgraded gear generally sees higher trade value as long as it meets low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or very high stat variation (like eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll to get a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can be used to create Enchantments.

You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader each several weeks.

Upgrades can cost more based on the item level, however they'll always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade items is purchased, it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor using a The button will show the preview of an item's next upgrade level if there are enough materials.

The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot of the item and the current item level. For example weapons are more expensive than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades give a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currencies.

Upgraders for items are available in many places, including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon and a chance to obtain an entirely new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.

Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade must be acquired through a variety of means which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.

In Season 3, many new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a certain item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading additional items to that level will cost less even when they are part of a different gear set.

The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players reach certain achievement milestones.

Crests

Players have several options for upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.

The first thing to note is that crests can only be used to purchase gear of a specific rank, and each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade items path costs 15 crests, while the most complicated may require as many as 20 crests depending on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.

Players can obtain crests by completing content of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an upgrader like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and pathways.

Using these new currencies isn't too complicated, but the system does introduce some modifications to the upgrade process. For example, once a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is designed to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters, rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.

Another significant change is that crests only have one use and it's crucial to use them wisely. It's best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrader gear you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly relevant for trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to avail the account-wide discount when all of the slots are full of high-quality equipment.