WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boosts in certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the item upgrading level by +3. Each upgrade also increases the random substatus.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are not as important for those with lower requirements because of the requirement to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item level Upgrade upgrader enables players to upgrade their gear to a higher item level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of weapon or armor. The item upgrader kit used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can 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. To keep your gear current it is recommended you visit the upgrader each few weeks.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item but they will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for weapons, armor, tools, and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for various currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any tool, weapon or armor. button, which will display an item's preview at its next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot of the item and the current level of the item. For instance, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Certain upgrades provide discounts on Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Upgraders for items are available in many places including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrading increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players complete certain achievements or complete quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only available through a variety means. This is both a positive and a disadvantage.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. After the player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This is true even if those items come from a different set of gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is reduced as well, but is only available once certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a variety of choices. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are used for specific item upgrade level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.
First, you should know that the crests can only be purchased for gear that is of a particular rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complex requires as many as 20 crests depending on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing tasks at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities or completing dungeons and raids in all difficulty levels to obtain lower-tier gear or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons that have a high difficulty for gear in the endgame. These crests can then be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't too difficult however, the system will introduce a few modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it no longer requires Flightstones. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl on all of their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests wisely, as they only have one use. It is best to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment you can locate, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is especially true for items like rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount when all of the slots are filled with high-quality equipment.