WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases item level by 3. A random additional substat is also increased with every upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like Eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapons. The item level upgrade used to upgrade the item level Upgrade will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can be used to create enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks, to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item but they will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points purchasing a similar piece from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that are used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and other items. They are purchased by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for different currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade items is able to be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will display a preview of an item's next upgrade level, if there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot for the item and the current item level. For example weapons cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades give a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item upgrader kit is upgraded to a certain level, it can be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currencies.
Many locations have upgraders for their items, including the main Island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded, and can be boosted by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no upgrader for items available at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades must be acquired through various methods, which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once an upgrade has been completed to a specific level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This is even if those items are from another set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is reduced as well, but is only available when certain milestones are reached.
Crests
When upgrading gear in WoW players have a couple of options. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item upgrader kit level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.
First, you must be aware that crests are only available for equipment that is of a certain rank. Each rank comes with an upgrade path that is different. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests depending on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by finishing tasks at the appropriate level. This could mean doing outdoor activities or doing dungeons or raids in all difficulty levels to obtain equipment of lower tier or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for gear in the endgame. These crests can then be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too complicated however, the system introduces some changes to the overall upgrade process. Once a piece of gear has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it no longer requires Flightstones. This change is intended to allow players to upgrade their equipment to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests have one use, so it's important to use them wisely. It's Best item upgrader to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the best gear you can locate and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is particularly relevant for items like trinkets and rings that fill several slots. The discount for the entire account is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.