WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of the item by +3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.

Upgraded gear generally sees higher trade value as long as it meets low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or a very high stat variation (like the eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as important for the latter due to the requirement to roll a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. The Item level upgrade used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create the enchantments.

The upgrader is located in all major cities and is accessible at any time to upgrade your gear. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.

Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item, but they will always be less expensive 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 purchase weapon, armor, tool and accessory upgrades. They are purchased by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for different currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor with a button, which will show a preview of the item when it is upgraded when the player has enough materials.

The cost of upgrading is based on the slot of the item and the current item level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade items cost 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currencies.

Many locations have upgraders for their items in addition to the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon and a possibility of obtaining the latest recipe. The upgrade discount increases with the number of items being upgraded, and can be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or quests.

Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade are acquired via a variety of means which is both an improvement but also a drawback.

In Season 3, a number of new features were added to the upgrade system. When a player has an upgrade items to a certain item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading additional items to that same item level will cost less even when they belong to an entirely different set of gear.

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

Crests

Players have a number of choices when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an important element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.

First, you must be aware that crests are only available for gear with a certain rank. Each rank comes with distinct upgrade paths. The simplest and simplest upgrade items route costs 15 crests while the more complex one can require as much as 20 crests depending on the type of equipment being upgraded.

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

The use of these currencies isn't too difficult however, the system introduces some modifications to the upgrade process. For example, once an item reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible level for all their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.

It's also crucial to choose crests in a wise manner, as they are only used for one purpose. For instance, it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests with the Best item upgrader equipment available, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you plan to make. This is particularly true for items such as trinkets and rings that take up several slots. The account-wide discount is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.