WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boosts in specific statistics. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also increases the random substatus.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless the item upgrader kit is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll for 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 type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can be applied to the enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear 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 several weeks.
The cost of upgrades will be based on the current item level of the gear being upgraded but they will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. They are purchased by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon or armor. button, which will display a preview of the item upgrader kit when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot for the item and the current level of the item. For instance weapons cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain degree and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currency types.
Upgraders for items are available at many locations, including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and the chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The upgrade discount increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players complete certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead, the NPCs that can be used to upgrade are acquired via various methods, which is both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, a number of new features have been added to the upgrade system. When a player has an upgrade to a particular level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading other items to that same Item level upgrade level will cost less even if they are part of an entirely different set of gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a couple of choices. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item upgrader mod 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 note is that crests are only able to be used on gear of a specific rank, and every rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and easiest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade can require up to 20 crests, based on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through finishing content at the appropriate level. This could be by doing outdoor activities, or by doing dungeons or raids in any difficulty to earn lower-tier gear or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons that have a high difficulty to obtain endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too difficult however, the system introduces some changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, once a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change lets players upgrade their equipment to the highest possible level on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another significant change is that crests have one purpose and it's crucial to use them wisely. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the highest-quality gear you can locate and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is especially relevant for trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount when all of the slots are full of high-quality equipment.