WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boosts in specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of the Best item upgrade by +3. A random additional substat is also added to every upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more useful, unless the item is not required 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 version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader enables 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. However, the item that is used for the upgrade will be consumed forever and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enhancements.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and can be accessed at any time to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended to visit the upgrader once every few weeks, to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
The cost of upgrading will be based on the current item level of the gear being upgraded, but will always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest up to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item level upgrade will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for a variety of currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be used on any weapon or tool with the help of The button will display a preview of an Best item upgrader's next upgrade level, when there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrading is based on the item Level upgrade slot and current item level and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers for instance. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades give discounts on Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain level it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to obtain a new upgrade item recipe. The discount for upgrading increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players complete certain 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 are available to help with upgrades require a variety of means that are both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, many new features were added to the upgrade system. After a player has upgraded to a certain item level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This is regardless of whether the items come from a different set of gear.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is reduced also, but is only available after certain milestones are reached.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW, players have a variety of options. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are utilized during specific item upgrader kit level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
First, you must be aware 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 requires up to 20 crests, contingent on the type or gear being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by completing content of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and pathways.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, but it does bring some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece of equipment attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it will no longer require Flightstones. This change is intended to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest possible ilvl for all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one usage therefore it's essential to use them wisely. It is recommended to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the highest-quality gear you can find and save Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is especially relevant for trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount when all slots are filled with top-quality equipment.