WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the item level by +3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like Eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by transferring 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 used to create enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended to visit the upgrader every couple of weeks to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item however, they are always less expensive than purchasing new gear. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 levels 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 upgrade weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. Players can purchase them from item upgraders NPCs in a variety of currencies. They can also find them in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any weapon, tool or armor. The button will show the item's next level of upgrade, if there are enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item level upgrade and the current Best item upgrader level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of Flightstones or crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain level it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Item upgraders can be found in a variety of locations on the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon and a possibility of obtaining a new recipe. The discount for upgrades increases according to the number of items being upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items available at the start of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only accessible via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit and a drawback.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with numerous new features added. Once an upgrade item has been completed to a specific 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 equipment.
The discount applies to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW, players have a few options. Flightstones are an Best item upgrade that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used 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 four ranks.
First, you should know that Crests are only available to equipment that is that is of a particular rank. Each rank comes with distinct upgrade paths. The simplest and easiest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade can require up to 20 crests, depending on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons with all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. 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 new currency system isn't difficult to use, but it does bring some changes to the upgrade process. Once a piece of gear attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it will no longer require Flightstones. This change is designed to allow players to upgrade their gear up to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters, rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests wisely, as they are only used for one purpose. For instance it's a good idea utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests on the top equipment available and keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to make. This is especially applicable to items like trinkets and rings that take up multiple slots. The discount for the entire account will only be applicable if all slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.