WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you an increase in specific statistics. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item upgrader mod (mikkelsen-bunn-3.federatedjournals.com) by 3. Each upgrade also boosts a random substat.
The more modernized gear generally has a greater value for trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or very high stat variation (like the eth titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as useful for those with higher variance due to the requirement to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapon. However, the item upgrades that is used for the upgrade will be consumed forever and can't 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 every few weeks to keep your equipment up to date.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item however, they are always cheaper than buying new equipment. For instance, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items that can be used to upgrade weapons and tools, armor and accessories. They can be purchased by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for different currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will display the preview of an item's next level of upgrade, if there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the item upgrader kit slot and the current item level and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers for example. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Certain upgrades provide 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 cost.
Many locations have upgraders for their items in addition to the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon and a possibility of getting an entirely new recipe. The upgrade discount increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the start unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are available only through a variety means. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. After an upgrade has been completed to a specific level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This applies even if those items are from an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is account-wide. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW players have a variety of choices. They can make use of Flightstones which are a general upgrade currency that is available to everyone players, or crests that are more specialized and consumed during upgrades at specific levels of the item. Crests are an important element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System, which was introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that Crests are only available to equipment of a certain rank. Each rank comes with an upgrade path that is different. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade can require up to 20 crests, depending on the type or gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons of all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an item upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and paths.
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 no longer requires Flightstones. This change is intended to allow players to get their equipment to the highest level possible for all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests with care, since they are only used for one purpose. For instance, it's a good idea to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests with the Best item upgrader gear you have available and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to make. This is especially applicable to rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character which will only be able to benefit from the account-wide discount if all of the slots are filled with top-quality equipment.