WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades can give you an increase in certain stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item upgrade by 3. Each upgrade also boosts a random substat.

Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless the item has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (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 level upgrade upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to the enchantments.

The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be visited at any time to upgrade your gear. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader once every few weeks to keep your equipment up to date.

The cost of upgrading will be based on the current item upgrader kit (click here.) level of the equipment being upgraded however, they will always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are useful items that can be used to improve the quality of weapons, tools, armor, and other accessories. They can be bought by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for various currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any weapon, tool or armor. The button will display a preview of an item upgrade's next upgrade level if there are enough materials.

Upgrade costs differ based on the slot of the item and the current item level. For instance, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades offer a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain level and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lower amount of the two currencies.

Many locations offer item upgraders in addition to the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount and the chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.

Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are only accessible via a variety of ways. This is both a positive and a disadvantage.

In Season 3 the upgrade system was modified a bit, and some new features added. Once the player has upgraded to a certain item level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This is even if the items are from another set of gear.

The discount is available to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced also, but is only available after certain milestones have been reached.

Crests

Players have a variety of options for upgrading their equipment in WoW. They can choose to use Flightstones, which are a common upgrade currency that is available to all, or crests, which are more specific and consumed during upgrades at specific item levels. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.

The first thing to be aware of is that crests can only be used on equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complex may require as many as 20 crests depending on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.

Players can earn crests through completing content of the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, dungeons or raids of any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.

The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, however it brings some changes to the upgrade process. When a piece has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it no longer requires Flightstones. This change is intended to allow players to get their equipment to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.

It's also important to use crests wisely, as they have only one purpose. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the highest-quality gear that you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly relevant for rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character which can only be eligible to avail the account-wide discount when all of the slots are filled with high-quality gear.