WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you an increase in specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the item level by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item upgrades is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). These types of gear get less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of weapon or armor. The item upgrade used to upgrade item the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enhancements.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader at least once every couple of weeks to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the item level, however, they are always cheaper than buying new gear. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, while buying a similar item from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items that can be used to level up weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be purchased by players through NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor with an button, which displays an Best item upgrader's preview when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot of the Item Level Upgrade and the current level of the item. For instance weapons cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades offer a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Upgraders for items are available at many locations on the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon and the possibility of getting an entirely new recipe. The upgrade discount increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead, the NPCs that can be used to upgrade must be acquired through several methods which is both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once a 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 even if those items are from another set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is account-wide. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
Players have a variety of options 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 during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be spent on gear of a specific rank, and each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the most complicated may require as many as 20 crests based on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons of all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't that difficult, but the system introduces some changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, once an item reaches 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 their equipment to the highest possible level on all their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests wisely, as they are only used for one purpose. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the highest-quality gear you can locate and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly applicable to trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character, which can only be eligible to take advantage of the account-wide discount if all of the slots are filled with high-quality gear.