WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of the item upgrade by +3. A random substat is also increased with every upgrade.
Upgraded gear generally sees greater value for trade as long as it meets low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variance (like Eth titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as important for those with higher variance due to the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item Upgrade upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to enchantments.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be visited anytime to upgrade your gear. To keep your gear current it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks.
The cost of upgrading will be based on the current level of the item upgrades being upgraded but they will always be less expensive than buying new equipment from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that are used to improve the quality of weapons, tools, armor, and other items. They are purchased by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be used on any weapon or tool using the help of button, which displays an image of the item when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item. For instance, weapons will cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Certain upgrades provide discounts on Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currencies.
Item upgraders can be found in a variety of locations, including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon as well as the chance to obtain an entirely new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases with the number of items being upgraded, and can be increased by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no item upgrader available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that can be used to upgrade require various methods, which is both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, many new features have been added to the upgrade system. After an upgrade has been completed to a certain item level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This is true even if those items come from a different set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade items is reduced too, but it is only available once certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
Players have a variety of options when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. They can choose to use Flightstones which are a general upgrade currency that is available to all players, or crests that are more specialized and are consumed during upgrades at specific item levels. Crests are a crucial component of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
First, you should know that Crests are only available to equipment that is of a particular rank. Each rank has a different upgrade path. The simplest and easiest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, depending on the kind of equipment being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing content at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities or completing dungeons and raids in all difficulties to get lower-tier gear or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons with heroic difficulty for endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an item upgrader like 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, when a piece of equipment reaches the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl on all of their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests in a wise manner, as they only have one use. For instance, it's best to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you have available and save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you're planning on making. This is especially applicable to items like rings and trinkets that occupy multiple slots. The discount for the entire account will only be applicable if all slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.