WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you boost in specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item upgrades by 3. A random substat is also increased with every upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more useful, unless the item 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 need to roll to get a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade item gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be made on any type of armor or weapons. However, the item used for the upgrade item will be consumed for the duration of time and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enhancements.
You can upgrade item 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 several weeks.
The cost of upgrades will be based on the current item Level Upgrade level of the item being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than buying new equipment from other sources. Upgrades such as 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 functional items which can be used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and accessories. They can be purchased from NPCs of item upgraders for a variety of currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be applied to any weapon or tool using an button, which will show an image of the item at the next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the item slot and the current item level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers for example. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Certain upgrades provide discounts on Flightstones. After 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 both currency types.
Many locations offer item upgraders, including the main Island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of obtaining a new recipe. The discount for upgrading increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players complete certain achievements or quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade require several methods, which is both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a specific level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading additional items to the same level will cost less, even if they belong to another set of gear.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
Players have a variety of choices when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to remember is that Crests are only available to equipment that is of a certain rank. Each rank has an upgrade path that is different. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade item is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade requires up to 20 crests, based on the type or gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, however it does bring some changes to the process of upgrading. Once a piece of gear has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it will no longer require Flightstones. This change lets players upgrade their gear to the highest level possible for all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests wisely, as they only have one use. For instance it's a good idea to utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests on the best equipment you have and keep Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you're planning on making. This is particularly relevant for items like trinkets and rings that take up several slots. The discount on the account will only apply when all slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.