WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give you boosts in certain statistics. Each upgrade boosts the level of the item by +3. Each upgrade also increases the random substatus.
The upgraded gear typically has a greater value for trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or a very high stat variation (like Eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as useful for the latter because of the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader enables players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to the enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and can be visited anytime to upgrade your gear. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader every few weeks.
The cost of upgrades will vary based on the current level of the equipment being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. Players can purchase them from item upgraders NPCs for various currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased, it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor with a button, which will show a preview of the item when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the item slot and the current item level upgrade level and the weapon's price is higher than bracers or gloves, for instance. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currency types.
Many locations have upgraders for their items which include the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases with the number of items being upgraded. It can also be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead, the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades require a variety of means that are both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, many new features were added to the upgrade system. When a player has an upgrade to a specific level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading further items to that same item upgrades level will be less expensive, even when they belong to a different gear set.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is cut also, but is only available after certain milestones are reached.
Crests
Players have a variety of choices when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used on equipment that is of a particular rank, and every rank has different requirements for its upgrade item path. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade can require up to 20 crests, depending on the type of equipment being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing content of the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an upgrader like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and pathways.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it will bring some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, when an item is at the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change lets players upgrade their gear to the highest possible ilvl on all of their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another significant change is that crests only have one purpose and it's crucial to use them properly. For instance it's Best item upgrade to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrader gear you have available and then save Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you're planning to create. This is particularly true for items like trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to avail the discount for all accounts when all slots are filled with top-quality gear.