WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a an increase in specific statistics. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also boosts a random substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless the item has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of weapon or armor. However, the item used to upgrade will be consumed forever and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment 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 couple of weeks.
The cost of upgrading will be based on the current item level of the gear being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item level upgrade will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased from item upgraders NPCs in a variety of currencies. They can also find them in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any weapon, tool or armor. The button will show the item's next upgrade level, if there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrading is based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests used. Once an item level upgrade - try what she says, has been upgraded to a certain amount it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Many locations have upgraders for their items in addition to the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases with the number of items being upgraded. It is also possible to be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades require a variety of means which is both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. When a player has an upgrade to a particular level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading further items to that level will cost less, even when they are part of an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is affixed to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain achievement milestones.
Crests
Players have several choices when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an important component of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only available for gear of a certain rank. Each rank comes with an upgrade path that is different. The simplest and simplest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, based on the type or gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through tasks at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities or doing dungeons or raids in all difficulty levels to obtain equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for gear in the endgame. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too complicated, but the system does introduce some modifications to the upgrade process. For example, once an item is at the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest level possible on all of their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another significant modification is that crests have one use, so it's important to use them properly. It is best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the highest-quality gear you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly true for items such as rings and trinkets that occupy multiple slots. The account-wide discount is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.