WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you boosts in certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of the item by +3. A random substat is also increased with each upgrade.
The upgraded gear typically has a greater value for trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or a very high stat variance (like Eth titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher Item Level Upgrade level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of armor or weapons. The item used to upgrade the item upgrading is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item however they'll always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment. For example upgrading a Benthic chest piece to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item level upgrade from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. button, which will show an image of the item at the next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot for the item and the current item level. For instance weapons cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currency types.
Many locations have upgraders for their items, including the main Island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and the chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases according to the number of items being upgraded, and can be increased by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that can be used to upgrade must be acquired through various methods which is both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, the upgrade system has been tweaked a bit, with some new features added. After an upgrade has been completed to a certain level of item for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same Best item upgrader level will cost less. This applies even if those items come from an entirely different set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced as well, but is only available after certain milestones are reached.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW, players have a couple of options. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are a crucial element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System, which was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only available for equipment that is of a certain rank. Each rank has an upgrade path that is different. The most basic and straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complex can require as much as 20 crests depending on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, dungeons or raids of all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an upgrader for the item, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and routes.
The use of these currencies isn't that difficult however, the system introduces some modifications to the upgrade process. Once a piece of gear reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it no longer requires Flightstones. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible for all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests with care, since they are only used for one purpose. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the highest-quality gear you can find, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially applicable to rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, that will be able to avail the account-wide discount when all slots are filled with high-quality equipment.