WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases item level by 3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside each upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like the eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as useful for those with higher variance due to the need to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader mod upgrader allows players to upgrade gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any kind of weapon or armor. The Item Upgrade used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities and is accessible anytime to upgrade your gear. It is recommended to visit the upgrader once every few weeks to keep your equipment up-to-date.
The cost of upgrading will be based on the current item level of the equipment being upgraded but they will always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment from other sources. For example upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapon, armor, tool and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from item upgrader NPCs in exchange for a variety of currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be used on any weapon or tool with a The button will show a preview of an item's next upgrade level, when there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot for the item and the current level of the item. For instance weapons are more expensive than bracers, or gloves. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with certain upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain level and is degraded, it can be sold and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of the two currency types.
Item upgraders can be found in a variety of locations, including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount as well as a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases with the number of items that are being upgraded. It can also be boosted by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no item level upgrade upgrader available at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades are acquired via a variety of means that are both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, many new features have been added to the upgrade system. After a player has upgraded to a specific level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This is regardless of whether the items come from an entirely different set of equipment.
The discount is available to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
When upgrading gear in WoW players have a variety of options. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specific, and are used during specific upgrades to the level of an item. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests can only be used to purchase equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complex upgrade requires up to 20 crests, based on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing content at the appropriate level. This could be done by engaging in outdoor activities or taking on dungeons and raids of any difficulty to earn lower-tier gear or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons with heroic difficulty to obtain endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an item upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and paths.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't too difficult, but the system introduces some changes to the overall upgrade process. When a piece has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it no longer requires Flightstones. This change is intended to allow players to get their equipment to the highest ilvl possible for all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one usage and it's crucial to use them properly. 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 particularly relevant for rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount if all slots are filled with top-quality gear.