WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. A random extra substat is also added to every upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are less valuable for those with lower requirements because of the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks, to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item upgrader kit, 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 items that can be used to upgrade weapons, tools, armor, and other items. They can be bought by players through NPCs that sell upgrades to items 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. button, which displays an item's preview at its next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item and the current level of the item and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of Flightstones or crests that are used. After an item upgrader kit has been upgraded to a certain level it is able to be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of the two currency types.
Upgraders for items can be found in many places including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and a chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases according to the number of items being upgraded, and can be increased by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead, the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades must be acquired through various methods, which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3 the upgrade items system has been modified a bit, and several new features added. Once the player has upgraded to a certain item level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item upgrading level, will cost less. This applies even if those items are from an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is cut too, but it is only available after certain milestones are reached.
Crests
Players have several options for upgrading their equipment in WoW. They can use Flightstones which are a general upgrade currency that is accessible to everyone players, or crests, which are more specialized and are consumed during upgrades at specific levels of items. Crests are a crucial component of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that the crests can only be purchased for gear of a certain rank. Each rank comes with an upgrade path that is different. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the most complicated may require as many as 20 crests based on the type of equipment being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulties for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, but it will bring some changes to the process of upgrading. Once a piece of gear reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it will no longer require Flightstones. This change lets players upgrade their gear to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters rather than relying 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 to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests with the best equipment you have and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to make. This is particularly applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The account-wide discount will only be applicable if all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality equipment.