WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you boosts in specific stats. Each upgrade increases item level by +3. A random additional substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.
Upgraded gear generally sees greater value for trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or very high stat variation (like eth titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the necessity to roll to get a 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 weapon. The item used to upgrade the item upgrading is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to Enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities and is accessible at any time to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended to visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks, to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
The cost of upgrades will be based on the current level of the item being upgraded, but will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear from other sources. For instance, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapons, armor, tools, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from item upgraders NPCs for various currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any tool, weapon or armor. The button will display a preview of an item's next upgrade level, in the event that there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot for the item and the current item level. For example weapons cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Upgraders for items can be found in many places, including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting an entirely new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players complete certain 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 help with upgrades are acquired via various methods that are both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3 the upgrade system has been modified a bit, and some new features added. Once an upgrade has been completed to a certain item level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This is even if the items come from an entirely different set of gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
Players have a variety of options for upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item level upgrade that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and easiest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, depending on the type or equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, dungeons or raids of all difficulties for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. These crests can be exchanged with an item upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and routes.
Using these new currencies isn't too difficult however, the system will introduce a few modifications to the upgrade process. Once a piece of gear attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This change allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible on all of their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests in a wise manner, as they have only one purpose. For instance, it's best to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests with the Best item upgrade equipment available and save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you plan on making. This is especially true for items such as rings and trinkets that occupy several slots. The discount for the entire account is only applicable when all slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.