WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases item upgrader mod level by 3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.
Upgraded gear generally sees greater value for trade as long as it meets low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or a very high stat variance (like the eth titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader enables players to upgrade their gear to a higher item level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. However, the item used to upgrade will be consumed forever and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enhancements.
You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended to visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks, to keep your equipment up to date.
The cost of upgrades will vary based on the current item level of the equipment being upgraded however, they will always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment from other sources. For example, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points while purchasing the same item from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from item upgrader NPCs in exchange for different currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any tool, weapon, or armor. The button will show the item's next upgrade level when there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot for the item and the current level of the item upgrade. For instance, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Certain upgrades provide discounts on Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Many locations have upgraders for their items which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The upgrade discount increases with the number of items being upgraded. It is also possible to be increased by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no item upgrader available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades must be acquired through several methods, which is both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a certain item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading additional items to that same item level will be less expensive, even if they belong to a different gear set.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is reduced also, but is only available when certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
Players have a variety of choices when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special and are utilized during specific Best item upgrade 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 can only be used on equipment of a particular rank, and that each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The most basic and straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the most complex requires as many as 20 crests, based on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing tasks at the appropriate level. This could be by engaging in outdoor activities or doing dungeons or raids in all difficulties to get lower-tier gear or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons with a heroic difficulty to obtain endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to upgrade the Item Level Upgrade in the proper steps and paths.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it does bring some changes 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 won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This is to allow players to upgrade their gear up 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 are only used for one purpose. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the highest-quality gear that you can find and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly applicable to rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount when all of the slots are filled with high-quality equipment.