WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the item level by +3. A random additional substat is also increased with each upgrade.
The upgraded gear typically has a more value in trade regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or very high stat variation (like Eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll to get 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 weapon or armor. However, the item that is used to upgrade will remain in use for a long time and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enhancements.
You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.
The cost of upgrades will be based on the current item level of the gear being upgraded but they will always be cheaper than buying new gear from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item upgrade will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for various currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be used on any weapon or tool with the help of button, which displays a preview of the item at its next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the item slot, and the current level of the item. For instance, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades give discounts on Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain amount, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Upgraders for items can be found at many locations including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting an entirely new recipe. The discount for upgrading increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or complete quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no item upgrader available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that can be used to upgrade must be acquired through a variety of means that are 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 particular level of an Item Level Upgrade for a specific armor slot, upgrading further items to that same item level will be less expensive, even when they are part of an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is cut also, but is only available when certain milestones are reached.
Crests
Players have a number of options when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more special, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an integral part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that Crests are only available to gear with a certain rank. Each rank has distinct upgrade paths. The simplest and easiest upgrade costs 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 tasks at the appropriate level. This could mean doing outdoor activities, or by doing dungeons or raids in all difficulty levels to obtain equipment of lower tier or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons that have a high difficulty for gear in the endgame. These crests are then exchanged with an item upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and paths.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, however it does bring some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, once an item is at the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This is to allow players to upgrade their gear up to the highest possible ilvl for all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests in a wise manner, as they have only one purpose. It is Best item upgrade to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the top-quality equipment you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially true for items like rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to benefit from the account-wide discount when all slots are filled with high-quality equipment.