WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
Upgraded gear is generally more useful, unless the item upgrader mod is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like eth Titan weapons). These types of gear get less value from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item level Upgrade upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. However, the item that is used to upgrade will be consumed forever and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to the enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks.
The cost of upgrading will depend on the current level of the equipment being upgraded however, they will always be cheaper than buying new equipment from other sources. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, while buying a similar item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are useful items which can be used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and other items. They can be purchased through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor with an button, which will display an item upgrader kit's preview when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient 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 plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades offer a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount and is degraded, it can be sold and sold back to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currencies.
Many locations have upgraders for their items, including the main Island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and the chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrading increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players finish certain achievements or quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades are acquired via several methods, which is both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. After a player has earned an upgrade to a specific level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading further items to that level will be less expensive, even in the event that they are part of another set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade item is reduced also, but is only available after certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
When upgrading gear in WoW, players have a couple of choices. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specific and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an important element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only available for equipment that is of a certain rank. Each rank comes with an upgrade path that is different. The simplest and simplest upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests, based on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through finishing tasks at the appropriate level. This could be by doing outdoor activities, or by completing dungeons and raids in all difficulty levels to obtain equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for gear in the endgame. These crests can be exchanged with an item upgrader, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and paths.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it does bring some changes to the process of upgrading. Once a piece of gear has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This change allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.
Another significant change is that crests only have one use and it's crucial to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance, it's a good idea to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests with the best gear you have available, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you're planning to make. This is particularly relevant for rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character which can only be eligible to avail the account-wide discount when all slots are filled with high-quality gear.