WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by 3. A random substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.
The upgraded gear typically has a higher trade value, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or a very high stat variation (like eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as valuable for those with lower requirements because of the requirement to roll the 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 kind of armor or weapons. However, the item upgrader mod that is used to upgrade will be consumed forever and can't be used again. Upgrades can be applied to Enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear current it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item, however, they are always cheaper than buying new gear. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapons, tools, armor, and other items. They can be purchased through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners in a variety of currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be applied to any weapon or tool with an button, which displays an image of the item when it is upgraded in the event that the player has enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot for the item and the current level of the item. For example, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades offer a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain amount, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon and a possibility of obtaining the latest recipe. The discount on upgrades increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only accessible through a variety means. This is both a benefit as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, a number of new features were added to the upgrade system. After a player has earned an upgrade to a specific level of an item level upgrade for a specific armor slot, upgrading other items to that same item level will be less expensive, even if they are part of an entirely different set of gear.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced too, but it is only available after certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
Players have a number of options for upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an Item Level Upgrade that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are utilized during 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 be aware of is that crests can only be used on gear of a specific rank, and each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and simplest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade can require up to 20 crests, contingent on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an item upgrades upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too difficult, but the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, when an item is at the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade item their equipment to the highest level possible on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one purpose therefore it's essential to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance it's Best item upgrade to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the top gear you have available and keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to make. This is especially relevant for trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to benefit from the account-wide discount when all of the slots are filled with top-quality equipment.