Five Killer Quora Answers On Item Upgrade

WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also boosts a random substat.

The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect model.

Recycle Points

The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can be applied to 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 once every couple of weeks to ensure that your equipment is up to date.

The cost of upgrades will vary based on the current Item Level Upgrade level of the gear being upgraded however, they will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear 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 upgrading, it will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are functional items that can be used to level up weapons and tools, armor and accessories. 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 has been purchased it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor with an button, which displays an image of the item at the next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.

The cost of upgrades varies based on the slot of the item and the current item level and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers for instance. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain degree and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currencies.

A lot of locations offer upgraders for items which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting the latest recipe. The discount for upgrading increases when more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.

Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no item upgrader available at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades are acquired via several methods which is both an improvement but also a drawback.

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

The discount is applicable to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievements.

Crests

Players have a number of options for upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specific, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an integral part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.

The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be spent on equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has its own requirements for upgrading. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one can require as much 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 means walking around and doing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an upgrader for the item like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade item steps and routes.

The use of these currencies isn't that difficult, but the system introduces some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, when an item reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is intended to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.

Another significant change is that crests only have one usage and it's crucial to make use of them in a responsible manner. It is best to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the Best item upgrader gear you can locate and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is particularly relevant for rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, which can only be eligible to benefit from the account-wide discount when all of the slots are full of high-quality gear.