WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade item also boosts a random substat.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the Best item upgrade is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be used to create enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks.
The cost of upgrading will be based on the current item level of the gear being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment from other sources. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item upgrading from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are useful items that are used to upgrade weapons and tools, armor and accessories. They are purchased by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for various currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor. button, which will display an item's preview at its next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot for the item and the current item level upgrade level. For instance weapons cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade item costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of Flightstones or crests that are used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Many locations have upgraders for their items in addition to the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and the possibility of getting the latest recipe. The discount for upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded, and can be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the start unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades are acquired via several methods, which is both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was altered a bit, with some new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a specific level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading other items to that level will be less expensive, even when they belong to another set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is account-wide. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players achieve certain achievement milestones.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW players have a variety of options. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specific, and are used during specific item level upgrade level upgrades. Crests are an important part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests can only be used on equipment of a particular rank, and every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and simplest upgrade route costs 15 crests while the most complicated may require as many as 20 crests depending on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing content of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
The new currency system isn't complicated 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 is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests wisely, as they have only one purpose. For instance, it's a good idea make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the top equipment available, and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning to create. This is especially 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 gear.