WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give you boost in certain stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also boosts an unspecified substat.
The upgraded gear typically has a greater value for trade regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variance (like Eth titan weapons). Upgrades are less valuable for those with higher variance due to the requirement to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item Level upgrade but they will always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapon, armor, tool and accessory upgrades. They are purchased by players through NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for a variety of 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 with the help of button, which will show an image of the item at its next upgrade level in the event that the player has enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item and the 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 and a number of crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain amount, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Many locations have upgraders for their items, including the main Island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of obtaining an entirely new recipe. The upgrade discount increases with the number of items being upgraded. It is also possible to be increased by having players complete specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only accessible through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit and a disadvantage.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with some new features added. Once the player has upgraded to a certain item level upgrade level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This applies regardless of whether the items come from an entirely different set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is reduced also, but is only available when certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a variety of options. Flightstones are an item upgrading that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more special and are utilized during specific item upgrader mod level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.
First, you must be aware that crests are only available for gear that is of a particular rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, based on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses to obtain endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't too difficult, but the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, when a piece of equipment reaches the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This is to allow players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible for all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests with care, since they only have one use. For instance it's Best item upgrade to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you have available and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you're planning on making. This is especially relevant for items like trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The discount for the entire account will only be applicable if all slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.