WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost in certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade items also increases the random substatus.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like eth Titan weapons). These types of gear get less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher item upgrader kit level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. However, the item that is used to upgrade will be consumed forever and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enhancements.
The upgrader can be found in every major city, and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
The cost of upgrades will depend on the current item Level upgrade level of the equipment being upgraded, but will always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment from other sources. For example upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, while buying a similar item from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items that can be used to upgrade weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be bought by players from NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for different currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon, 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 the current level of the item as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers for example. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with certain upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of the Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain level, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Upgraders for items are available at many locations on the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon as well as the chance to obtain an entirely new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items being upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete specific achievements or quests.
In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items available at the start of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only available via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit and an issue.
In Season 3, a number of new features were added to the upgrade system. After an upgrade has been completed to a certain item upgrades level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This is true even if those items come from another set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is available across all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW players have a few choices. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are utilized during specific item upgrade level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests can only be used to purchase equipment that is of a particular rank, and that each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and simplest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complex upgrade requires 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, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too difficult, but the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. When a piece attains 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 upgrade their equipment up to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests with care, since they are only used for one purpose. For instance it's a good idea use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrade equipment you have and save Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you're planning to make. This is particularly applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The account-wide discount is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.