WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of the item by +3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as valuable for those with higher variance because of the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade items gear to a higher Best item upgrader level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. However, the item that is used to upgrade will be consumed forever and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create the enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended to visit the upgrader once every few weeks, to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.
Upgrades can cost more based on the item level, but they will always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment. For example upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points while purchasing the same item from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for different 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 using an The button will display the preview of an item's next upgrade level in the event that there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the item slot and current item level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than bracers or gloves, for example. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests that are used. After an item upgrades has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currencies.
Item upgraders can be found in a variety of locations including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon and a possibility of getting a new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if 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 can be used to upgrade are acquired via various methods which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, the upgrade system has been tweaked a bit, with numerous new features added. Once an upgrade has been completed to a certain item level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This applies regardless of whether the items are from an entirely different set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is cut as well, but is only available when certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
Players have several options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specific, and are used during specific upgrades to the level of an Item Upgrade. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only available for equipment that is with a certain rank. Each rank has an upgrade path that is different. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complex upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, depending on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through content at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities or doing dungeons or raids in all difficulties to get lower-level gear or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons that have a high difficulty for gear in the endgame. These crests can be exchanged with an item upgrader kit upgrader, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and paths.
Using these new currencies isn't too complicated however, the system introduces some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests wisely, as they have only one purpose. For instance it's a good idea use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the top equipment you have, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you plan to create. This is particularly relevant for rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to benefit from the account-wide discount when all of the slots are full of high-quality equipment.