WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the level of the item by +3. A random substat is also boosted alongside each upgrade items.
Upgraded gear is generally more useful, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable 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 providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. However, the item used for the upgrade will be consumed forever and can't be used again. Upgrades can be used to create enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your gear. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks.
The cost of upgrading will be based on the current level of the equipment being upgraded but they will always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to the level of 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 to upgrade tools, armor, weapon and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased from NPCs of item upgraders in a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any tool, weapon, or armor. button, which will show a preview of the item when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient materials.
The cost of upgrading is based on the item slot and the current Item level upgrade level and the weapon's price is higher than bracers or gloves, for instance. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Certain upgrades provide a discount on the Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Item upgraders can be found at many locations including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting an entirely new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded, and can be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no upgrader for items available at the start of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only available through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.
In Season 3, a number of new features were added to the upgrade system. Once an upgrade has been completed to a certain level of item for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This is even if those items come from an entirely different set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced too, but it is only available once certain milestones are reached.
Crests
When upgrading gear in WoW players have a variety of choices. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used on equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the most complicated can require as much as 20 crests depending on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through content at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities or completing dungeons and raids in any difficulty to earn equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, however it brings some modifications to the upgrade process. Once a piece of gear has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it will no longer require Flightstones. This change allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest level possible on all of their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests with care, since they are only used for one purpose. For instance it's best to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the best equipment available, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you plan on making. This is particularly true for items such as rings and trinkets that occupy several slots. The discount on the account will only apply when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.