WoW Upgrades - The Item Level upgrade Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost in certain statistics. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also boosts a random substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be made on any type of weapon or armor. However, the item used to upgrade will be consumed forever and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enhancements.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities and can be visited anytime to upgrade your gear. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the item level, but they will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points, purchasing a similar piece from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that are used to level up weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be purchased through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for various currencies. They are also available on 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 upgrade level, in the event that there are enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the item slot and current Best item upgrader level and the weapon's price is higher than bracers or gloves, for instance. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Upgraders for items are available at many locations, including 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 for upgrades increases according to the number of items being upgraded. It is also possible to be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are only available via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, the upgrade system has been altered a bit, with numerous new features added. Once the player has upgraded to a certain item upgrade level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This applies even if those items are from a different set of equipment.
The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is reduced as well, but is only available when certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
Players have a variety of options for upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be spent on equipment of a particular rank, and that each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade item process costs just 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 finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses to obtain endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an item upgrader like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and paths.
Utilizing 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 gear up to the highest level possible on all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests wisely, as they have only one purpose. For instance, it's a good idea use all of your Whelpling-rank crests with the Best item upgrade equipment available, and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to make. This is especially true for items like trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which can only be eligible to avail the account-wide discount when all of the slots are filled with top-quality equipment.