WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also boosts an unspecified substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as important for the latter due to the need to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item 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 that is used for the upgrade items will be consumed for the duration of time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can be used to create Enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities, and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your equipment. To keep your gear current it is recommended you visit the upgrader each few weeks.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the item level, however they'll always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, purchasing a similar piece from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapons and tools, armor and accessories. They can be bought by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for different currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be applied to any weapon or tool using a button, which will show an image of the item at its next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the slot of the item and current item level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. Once an item upgrading is upgraded to a certain level, it can be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of the two currency types.
Many locations offer item upgraders in addition to the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrading increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are only available through a variety of methods. This is both a positive and a drawback.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was modified a bit, and some new features added. Once the player has upgraded to a specific level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This is true 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. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is cut as well, but is only available once certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW players have a variety of choices. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests can only be spent on equipment of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The most basic and straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the most complicated requires as many as 20 crests depending on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through finishing content at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities, or by taking on dungeons and raids of any difficulty to earn lower-level gear or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons that have a high difficulty for gear in the endgame. These crests are then exchanged with an upgrader for the item upgrader mod level upgrade [linked webpage], such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and pathways.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, but it brings some changes to the upgrade process. When a piece of equipment attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it no longer requires Flightstones. This change is intended to allow players to upgrade item their equipment to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests wisely, as they have only one purpose. It is best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you can find and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill several slots. The account-wide discount will only be applicable if all slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.