WoW Upgrades - The item upgrade Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also increases the random substatus.
Upgraded gear generally sees more value in trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or a very high stat variation (like Eth titan weapons). These types of gear get less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an 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 can't be used again. Upgrades can be applied to the enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities and can be visited at any time to upgrade your gear. It is recommended to visit the upgrader once every couple of weeks to keep your equipment up to date.
The cost of upgrading will vary based on the current level of the equipment being upgraded, but will always be cheaper than buying new equipment from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that are used to improve the quality of weapons, tools, armor, and accessories. They can be purchased by players from item upgrader NPCs in exchange for various currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any weapon, tool or armor. button, which will display an image of the item upgrader kit when it is upgraded when the player has enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot for the item and the current level of the item. For example, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Certain upgrades provide discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currencies.
Upgraders for items are available at many locations on the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and the chance to obtain an entirely new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases with the number of items that are being upgraded, and can be increased by having players complete specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are available only via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. After the player has upgraded to a specific level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This is even if those items are from a different set of gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced as well, but is only available when certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
When upgrading gear in WoW players have a variety of options. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special, and are used during specific item upgrade level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
First, you must be aware that crests are only available for gear of a certain rank. Each rank comes with distinct upgrade paths. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the most complex requires as many as 20 crests, based on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing content of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an upgrader for the item level upgrade; written by Posteezy, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and pathways.
Using these new currencies isn't that difficult, but the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. 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 is designed to allow players to get their equipment up to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests wisely, as they are only used for one purpose. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the top-quality equipment that you can find and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially relevant for items like trinkets and rings that fill several slots. The discount on the account will only apply when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality equipment.