WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give you an increase in certain statistics. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also boosts an unspecified substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like eth Titan weapons). These types of gear get less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll to get a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. However, the item that is used for the upgrade will remain in use for a long time and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks, to keep your equipment up-to-date.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the item level, however, they are always less expensive than purchasing new gear. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, purchasing a similar piece from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor. button, which will display an item's preview at the next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot of the item level upgrade and the current item level. For example, weapons will cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain degree it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Upgraders for items can be found in many places on the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide 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. It is also possible to be boosted by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader mod upgrader at start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are available only through a variety means. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.
In Season 3, a number of new features have been added to the upgrade system. After the player has upgraded to a specific level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This is true regardless of whether the items are from another set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is reduced also, but is only available when certain milestones are reached.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a couple of options. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are utilized during specific item upgrade level upgrades. Crests are a key element 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 Crests are only available to equipment of a certain rank. Each rank has distinct upgrade paths. The simplest and simplest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade could require as much as 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 involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for gear that is used in the endgame. The crests can then be exchanged with an upgrader for the item, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and routes.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it does bring some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece of equipment has reached the highest level of upgrade item for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it no longer requires Flightstones. This change lets players upgrade their equipment to the highest possible level on all of their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests with care, since they are only used for one purpose. It is best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the top-quality equipment you can locate and save 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 avail the account-wide discount if all slots are full of high-quality equipment.