WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the level of the item by +3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.
The more modernized gear generally has a higher trade value, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variance (like the eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and can be visited at any time to upgrade your gear. It is recommended to visit the upgrader every few weeks to keep your equipment up-to-date.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item, however they'll always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment. For example upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points, while buying a similar item upgrade from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from item upgrader NPCs in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. button, which will display an item's preview at its next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item. For example weapons are more expensive than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades offer a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Many locations have upgraders for their items in addition to the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon as well as the chance to obtain the latest recipe. The discount on upgrades increases when more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or complete quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade require several methods, which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with some new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a particular level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading other items to that level will be less expensive, even in the event that they are part of an entirely different set of gear.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is cut as well, but is only available after certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a variety of choices. Flightstones are an item level upgrade Level upgrade item (Valetinowiki.Racing) that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
First, you must be aware that Crests are only available to equipment that is of a particular rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the most complex requires as many as 20 crests based on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through working through content at the appropriate level. This could mean engaging in outdoor activities or doing dungeons or raids in all difficulties to get equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for gear in the endgame. 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 that difficult however, the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, once a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This is to allow players to get their equipment up to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another significant modification is that crests have one purpose, so it's important to use them properly. It's best to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the best gear you can find and save Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly applicable to items like rings and trinkets that occupy several slots. The account-wide discount will only apply when all slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.