WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also increases the random substatus.
The more modernized gear generally has a higher trade value as long as it meets low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or a very 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 lets players upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. 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 applied to enhancements.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and is accessible at any time to upgrade item your gear. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item level upgrade, but they will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear. For example, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase tools, armor, weapon and accessory upgrades. Players can purchase them through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for various currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor with a button, which displays an item's preview when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the item slot and current item level and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Certain upgrades provide a discount on the Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Upgraders for items are available at many locations, including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrading increases when more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no item upgrader available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are only accessible via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit and a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a specific level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading other items to that level will be less expensive, even when they are part of a different gear set.
The discount is available to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain achievement milestones.
Crests
Players have a variety of choices when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are used for specific item Level upgrade level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that the crests can only be purchased for gear that is of a particular rank. Each rank has a different upgrade path. The simplest and simplest upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the most complicated requires as many as 20 crests depending on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through content that is of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses to obtain endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an item upgrader mod upgrader, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and pathways.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it brings some changes to the process of upgrading. For instance, once an item is at 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 allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests with care, since they only have one use. For instance it's best to utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests on the top equipment available, and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning to create. This is especially true for items like trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to take advantage of the discount for all accounts when all slots are full of high-quality gear.