WoW Upgrades - The item level upgrade Upgrader
Upgrades can give you an increase in certain statistics. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item level upgrade by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
Upgraded gear generally sees higher trade value, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or a very high stat variance (like the eth titan weapons). Upgrades are less useful for those with lower requirements due to the requirement to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapons. However, the item that is used to upgrade will remain in use for a long time and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities and is accessible anytime to upgrade your gear. To keep your gear up-to-date, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item upgrader kit however, they are always less expensive than purchasing new gear. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapon, armor, tool and accessory upgrades. Players can purchase them from NPCs of item upgraders in a variety of currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor using an button, which will show a preview of the item at its next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot of the item level upgrade (linked resource site) and the current level of the item. For instance weapons are more expensive than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currencies.
Many locations have upgraders for their items which include the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases depending on the amount of items being upgraded. It is also possible to be increased by requiring players to complete specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only accessible through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit and a drawback.
In Season 3, many new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once a player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This is true regardless of whether the items are from another set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is reduced also, but is only available once certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
Players have a variety of choices when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an integral element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests can only be spent on equipment of a particular rank, and that each rank has different requirements for upgrading. 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 finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of all difficulty for items of higher tier, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons to obtain endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too difficult however, the system will introduce a few modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, once an item reaches the highest upgrade level of 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 level possible on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests wisely, as they have only one purpose. It's best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the highest-quality gear you can find and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is especially relevant for rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to take advantage of the discount for all accounts when all slots are full of high-quality gear.