WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give you an increase in certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of the item by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
The upgraded gear typically has a higher trade value, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variation (like eth titan weapons). Upgrades are less important for those with lower requirements due to the need to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item level upgrade upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. The item upgrader kit used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your equipment. To keep your gear current, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each several weeks.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item however, they are always cheaper than purchasing new equipment. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item upgrades will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. Players can purchase them from item upgraders NPCs for a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any weapon, tool or armor. The button will display the item's next upgrade level, in the event that there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot for the item and the current level of the item. For example weapons are more expensive than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade items cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Upgraders for items are available in many places, including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount and the chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items being upgraded. It can also be boosted by having players complete specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are available only via a variety of ways. This is both a positive and an issue.
In Season 3, many new features were added to the upgrade system. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a particular item upgrades level for a particular armor slot, upgrading further items to the same level will be less expensive, even if they belong to a different gear set.
The discount is available to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is reduced as well, but is only available once certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
Players have a variety of options for upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests can only be spent on gear of a specific rank, and that each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complicated can require as much as 20 crests depending on the type of equipment 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, raids or dungeons of all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, however it brings some changes to the process of upgrading. Once a piece of gear reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it no longer requires Flightstones. This is to allow players to get their gear up to the highest level possible on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one usage therefore it's essential to use them properly. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the Best item upgrader gear you can locate, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly relevant for items like rings and trinkets that occupy multiple slots. The discount for the entire account will only be applicable if all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.