WoW Upgrades - The item upgrade Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item level upgrade by +3. Each upgrade also boosts an unspecified substat.
Upgraded gear generally sees higher trade value, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or very high stat variation (like the eth titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as important for those with higher variance because of the requirement to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapon. However, the item that is used for the upgrade will be consumed forever and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each several weeks.
The cost of upgrades will depend on the current item upgrades level of the equipment being upgraded but they will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that are used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They are purchased 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 purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will show 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 slot of the item and the current item level and the weapon's price is higher than bracers or gloves, for instance. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades give a discount on the Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Many locations have upgraders for their items in addition to the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon and a chance to obtain an entirely new recipe. The discount for upgrading increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or complete 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 that are both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, a number of new features have been added to the upgrade system. After a player has earned an upgrade to a particular level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading additional items to that same item level will cost less even if they are part of another set of gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
Players have several options when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an important part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System, which was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only able to be used on gear of a specific rank, and every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one may require as many as 20 crests depending on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing tasks at the appropriate level. This could be by doing outdoor activities, or by completing dungeons and raids in any difficulty to earn lower-tier gear or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons that have a high difficulty for gear in the endgame. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrades upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
Using these new currencies isn't that difficult however, the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. Once a piece of gear attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it will no longer require Flightstones. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible level on all of their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests with care, since they are only used for one purpose. It's best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the top-quality equipment you can locate, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is particularly applicable to items like trinkets and rings that take up multiple slots. The discount for the entire account will only apply when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.