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 substat is also boosted alongside each upgrade.
Upgraded gear generally sees higher trade value, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variance (like eth titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as important for the latter due to the requirement to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade items their gear by offering 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 can't be used again. Upgrades can be applied to enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended to visit the upgrader at least once every couple of weeks to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item, however, they are always cheaper than purchasing new equipment. For example upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are useful items that can be used to level up weapons, tools, armor, and other accessories. They can be purchased by players from item upgraders NPCs for various currencies. They can also find them in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be applied to any weapon or tool using the help of button, which will display an image of the item when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the slot of the item upgrading and the current item level and the weapon's price is higher than bracers or gloves, for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests used. After an item Upgrader Kit has been upgraded to a certain level it is able to be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currency types.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items in addition to the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount and the chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The upgrade discount increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players complete certain achievements or complete quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no item upgrader available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades require various methods that are both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, a number of new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a certain level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level will cost less even when they are part of a different gear set.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
When upgrading gear in WoW, players have a couple of options. They can make use of Flightstones, which are a general upgrade currency that is available to everyone players, or crests that are more specialized and consumed during upgrades at specific levels of items. Crests are a crucial element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and simplest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complex upgrade requires up to 20 crests, contingent on the type of equipment being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by finishing tasks at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities, or by completing dungeons and raids in any difficulty to earn lower-level gear or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons with a heroic difficulty to obtain endgame gear. The crests can later 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 too difficult however, the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, once an item reaches the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade item their gear to the highest possible ilvl on all of their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests in a wise manner, as they only have one use. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the highest-quality gear that you can find and save Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is especially relevant for items like rings and trinkets that occupy several slots. The discount for the entire account is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.