WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you an increase in certain statistics. Each upgrade increases the level of an Item level Upgrade by 3. A random extra substat is also increased with every upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more useful, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are not as important for the latter because of the requirement to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to Enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities, and can be accessed at any time to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader at least once every couple of weeks to keep your equipment up-to-date.
The cost of upgrading will depend on the current item level of the gear being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items which can be used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be purchased through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for a variety of currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be applied to any weapon or tool using the help of The button will display the item's next level of upgrade, if there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the item slot and the current level of the item and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers for example. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades offer a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Upgraders for items are available in a variety of locations including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade items coupon and a chance to obtain the latest recipe. The upgrade discount increases according to the number of items being upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader 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, a number of new features have been added to the upgrade system. After a player has earned an upgrade to a specific level of an item upgrader kit for a specific armor slot, upgrading other items to that same item level will be less expensive, even when they are part of a different gear set.
The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players achieve certain achievement milestones.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a variety of choices. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item upgrade level upgrades. Crests are a crucial element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System, which was introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
First, you should know that Crests are only available to equipment of a certain rank. Each rank has distinct upgrade paths. The simplest and easiest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade can require up to 20 crests, contingent on the type or gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through working through content that is of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of all difficulties for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an upgrader like Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and paths.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't too complicated however, the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. For example, once an item is at the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest possible level for all their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.
Another important modification is that crests have one usage therefore it's essential to use them properly. It is Best item upgrade to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the highest-quality gear you can locate and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is especially true for items such as trinkets and rings that take up multiple slots. The discount for the entire account will only apply when all slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.