WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades give you boosts in certain statistics. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.

Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless the item has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect model.

Recycle Points

The item upgrade upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to 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.

The upgrader is located in all major cities, and can be accessed at any time to upgrade your gear. It is recommended to visit the upgrader at least once every couple of weeks to ensure that your equipment is up to date.

Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item, however they'll always be cheaper than purchasing new gear. For instance, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item upgrades from another player will costs 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that can be used for weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be applied to any weapon or tool with an button, which will display a preview of the item at its next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.

The cost of upgrades varies based on the item slot and the current item level, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers for instance. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currency types.

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

Icewind Dale does not have an item level upgrade upgrader at the beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades are acquired via a variety of means which is both an improvement and a drawback.

In Season 3, the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with several new features added. After an upgrade has been completed to a certain level of item for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This is even if those items come from an entirely different set of gear.

The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade items is reduced and the discount is affixed to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players reach certain achievement milestones.

Crests

When upgrading equipment in WoW players have a couple of options. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.

First, you must be aware that the crests can only be purchased for equipment that is of a certain rank. Each rank has distinct upgrade paths. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the more complex one can require as much as 20 crests based on the type of gear that is being upgraded.

Players can obtain crests by completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses to obtain endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.

The new currency system isn't difficult to use, but it brings some changes to the process of upgrading. For example, once an item is at the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible on all of their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.

It's also essential to use crests in a wise manner, as they are only used for one purpose. For instance, it's Best item upgrader to utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests on the top equipment you have and save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan on making. This is particularly applicable to trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to benefit from the discount for all accounts when all slots are full of high-quality gear.