WoW Upgrades - The item upgrading Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases item level by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are not as valuable for those with lower requirements due to the requirement to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The Item Level Upgrade upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapons. However, the item used for the upgrade will remain in use for a long time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can be applied to the enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item however, they are always less expensive than purchasing new equipment. For example upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for weapon, armor, tool and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased from NPCs of item upgraders 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 using an button, which will show an image of the item upgrades when it is upgraded when the player has enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the item slot, and the current level of the item. For instance weapons cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Many locations have upgraders for their items, including the main Island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases depending on the amount of items that are being upgraded, and can be boosted by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no upgrader for items at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade must be acquired through a variety of means that are both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3 the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with numerous new features added. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a certain level for an item upgrading in an armor slot, upgrading other items to that same item level will be less expensive, even if they are part of a different gear set.
The discount applies to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain achievement milestones.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW players have a variety of choices. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and simplest upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complicated may require as many as 20 crests based on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses to obtain endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an item upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and routes.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't too difficult, but the system introduces some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, once a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is designed to allow players to get their equipment to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another important modification is that crests have one purpose therefore it's essential to make use of them in a responsible manner. It's best to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the best gear you can find and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially relevant for rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character which can only be eligible to take advantage of the discount for all accounts when all slots are filled with high-quality equipment.