WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you boosts in specific stats. Each upgrade item increases the level of the item by +3. A random extra substat is also increased with each upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are not as useful for the latter due to the need to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be made on any type of armor or weapons. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can be used to create Enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in every major city, and can be visited at any time to upgrade your gear. It is recommended to visit the upgrader every few weeks to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item but they will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest up to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades to item level upgrade (visit the following page) owners for various currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor with the help of The button will show the preview of an item's next upgrade level when there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrading is based on the slot of the item and current item level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades give discounts on Flightstones. After 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 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 upgrade discount increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades are acquired via various methods, which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3 the upgrade system has been modified a bit, and numerous new features added. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a certain level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading further items to that same item level will be less expensive, even in the event that they are part of another set of gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. 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 equipment in WoW, players have a couple of choices. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment that is of a particular rank, and that every rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade requires up to 20 crests, depending on the kind of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through content that is of 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+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses to obtain endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an item upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and routes.
The use of these currencies isn't too complicated, but the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, when an item is at the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change lets players upgrade their gear to the highest possible level on all of 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 Best item upgrader to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests with the best gear you have available and save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning to make. This is especially applicable to 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 top-quality gear.