WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give you an increase in certain statistics. Each upgrade increases item level upgrade level by +3. Each upgrade also increases the random substatus.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the Item Level Upgrade will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enhancements.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and is accessible at any time to upgrade your gear. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
The cost of upgrading will vary based on the current item level of the gear being upgraded however, they will always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment from other sources. For example upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase tools, armor, weapon and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from item upgraders NPCs for various currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade items is able to be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will show the item's next level of upgrade, in the event that there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot for the item and the current level of the item. For instance weapons are more expensive than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. After an item upgrading has been upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currency types.
Upgraders for items can be found at many locations including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The upgrade discount increases with the number of items being upgraded. It is also possible to be boosted 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. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades are acquired via several methods, which is both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. After the player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This applies even if those items are from an entirely different set of gear.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
Players have a variety of options for upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an integral part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System, which was introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
First, you must be aware that Crests are only available to gear of a certain rank. Each rank has an upgrade path that is different. The simplest and simplest upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the most complicated may require as many as 20 crests depending on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing content at the appropriate level. This could mean engaging in outdoor activities or taking on dungeons and raids of all difficulty levels to obtain equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't that difficult however, the system will introduce a few changes to the overall 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 designed to allow players to upgrade their gear up to the highest level possible on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another important change is that crests have one usage, so it's important to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance, it's best to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests with the best equipment available, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you're planning to create. This is especially applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill several slots. The account-wide discount will only apply when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.