WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as useful for those with lower requirements due to the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader mod upgrader allows players to upgrade gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be used to create enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each few weeks.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item, however, they are always less expensive than purchasing new equipment. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar Best item upgrade will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade tools, armor, weapon and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players from item upgrader NPCs in exchange for various currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor with a button, which will show an Item upgrade (google.bt)'s preview at the next upgrade level in the event that the player has enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the item slot, and the current item level. For example, weapons will cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades give 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.
Item upgraders can be found at many locations on the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to obtain a new upgrade item recipe. The discount on upgrades increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players finish certain achievements or quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no item upgrader available at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade must be acquired through a variety of means that are both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. Once the player has upgraded to a certain item level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This applies even if those items come from a different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced as well, but is only available when certain milestones are reached.
Crests
When upgrading gear in WoW players have a variety of options. They can choose to use Flightstones that are a common upgrade currency that is accessible to everyone players, or crests, which are more specialized and used to upgrade specific item levels. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only available for equipment that is that is of a particular rank. Each rank comes with an upgrade path that is different. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade can require up to 20 crests, depending on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, which means walking around and doing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an item upgrader, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and paths.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, however it does bring some changes to the upgrade process. For instance, when an item reaches the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This is to allow players to get their gear up to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests in a wise manner, as they are only used for one purpose. For instance, it's a good idea utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests on the Best item upgrader gear you have available and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you're planning to create. This is particularly relevant for items like rings and trinkets that occupy multiple slots. The discount for the entire account is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.