WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item upgrader mod by +3. A random extra substat is also added to every upgrade.
Upgraded gear generally sees higher trade value, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or very high stat variation (like Eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to the enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader once every few weeks, to keep your equipment up-to-date.
Upgrades can cost more based on the item level, however they'll always be cheaper than buying new equipment. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. They are purchased by players from NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for various currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any tool, weapon, or armor. button, which will display an image of the item when it is upgraded in the event that the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading is based on the item upgrade slot and the current level of the item, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades give a discount on the Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Item upgraders can be found at many locations including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items being upgraded, and can be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead, the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades must be acquired through various methods that are both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, many new features were added to the upgrade system. When a player has an upgrade to a certain level for an item level upgrade (https://posteezy.com/item-upgrade-explained-fewer-140-characters-2) in an armor slot, upgrading further items to the same level will cost less even if they are part of a different gear set.
The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is reduced as well, but is only available when certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a few choices. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more special and are used for specific item upgrader kit 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 note is that crests can only be used on equipment that is of a particular rank, and that each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the most complicated requires as many as 20 crests depending on the kind of gear 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 all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an item upgrader like Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and routes.
The use of these currencies isn't too complicated, but the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. When a piece reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest possible ilvl for all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another important change is that crests only have one usage therefore it's essential to use them wisely. For instance, it's a good idea make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests with the best gear you have available and keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you're planning to create. This is particularly true for items like trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to benefit from the discount for all accounts when all slots are filled with top-quality equipment.