WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the item level by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrades upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of armor or weapons. However, the item level upgrade used to upgrade will remain in use for a long time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities and can be accessed at any time to upgrade your gear. To keep your gear current it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item, however, they are always less expensive than purchasing new equipment. For instance, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points while purchasing the same item from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. Players can purchase them from NPCs of item upgraders for a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will display a preview of an item's next upgrade level when there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot of the item and the current item level. For example weapons cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests that are used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain level and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currencies.
Many locations offer item upgraders, including the main Island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon and a possibility of obtaining an entirely new recipe. The upgrade discount increases depending on the amount of items that are being upgraded. It can also be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades must be acquired through various methods which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3 the upgrade system was modified a bit, and numerous new features added. Once an upgrade has been completed to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This is even if those items come from an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is cut as well, but is only available when certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
Players have a number of options for upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an integral component of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System, which was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only able to be spent on equipment of a particular rank, and every rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and easiest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade requires up to 20 crests, based on the kind of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing content at the appropriate level. This could mean engaging in outdoor activities or completing dungeons and raids in any difficulty to earn equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons that have a high difficulty for gear in the endgame. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrader mod upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, but it does bring some modifications to the upgrade process. Once a piece of gear has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it no longer requires Flightstones. This change allows players to upgrade item their gear to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests with care, since they have only one purpose. For instance, it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests with the Best item upgrade equipment available, and then save Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you plan on making. This is particularly true for items like trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character, which can only be eligible to benefit from the account-wide discount if all slots are full of high-quality equipment.