WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item level upgrade by 3. A random substat is also added to every upgrade.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are less valuable for the latter due to the requirement to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade gear to a higher item level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of armor or weapons. However, the item that is used to upgrade will remain in use for a long time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enhancements.
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 few weeks.
The cost of upgrading will depend on the current level of the equipment being upgraded, but will always be cheaper than buying new equipment from other sources. For instance upgrading a Benthic chest piece to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapons, armor, tools, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners in a variety of currencies. They can also find them in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased, it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor with an button, which displays an image of the item at the next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the Best item upgrade slot, and the current item level. For instance, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of Flightstones or crests used. After an item upgrading has been upgraded to a certain level it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Item upgraders can be found in a variety of locations, including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon and the possibility of obtaining the latest recipe. The upgrade discount increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players finish certain achievements or quests.
In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no upgrader for items in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are available only through a variety of methods. This is both a positive and an issue.
In Season 3, the upgrade system has been tweaked a bit, with some new features added. Once the player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This is true even if the items come from a different set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is cut as well, but is only available once certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW players have a couple of options. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specific and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.
The first thing to remember is that the crests can only be purchased for equipment of a certain rank. Each rank comes with distinct upgrade paths. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade requires up to 20 crests, depending on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through content that is of the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it brings some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece of equipment has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This is to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters, rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests have one use, so it's important to use them properly. For instance it's a good idea use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrader equipment you have and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to create. This is especially relevant for items like rings and trinkets that occupy multiple slots. The account-wide discount will only apply when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.