WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item level upgrade by 3. Each upgrade also increases an unspecified substat.
The more modernized gear generally has a greater value for trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or very high stat variation (like Eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll to get a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. The Item Level upgrade used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enhancements.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your gear. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader every several weeks.
The cost of upgrading will vary based on the current level of the gear being upgraded however, they will always be less expensive than buying new gear from other sources. Upgrades like 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 purchase weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for different currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any weapon, tool or armor. The button will show the item upgrader kit's next upgrade level, if there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot of the item and the current level of the item. For example, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Certain upgrades provide a discount on the Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain level and is degraded, it can be sold and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of the two currencies.
Item upgraders can be found in a variety of locations including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and a possibility of getting the latest recipe. The discount on upgrades increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players complete certain achievements or 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 accessible via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit as well as an issue.
In Season 3, the upgrade system has been modified a bit, and some new features added. When a player has an upgrade to a specific level for an item upgrader kit in an armor slot, upgrading additional items to that same item level will cost less, even in the event that they are part of another set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
Players have several options for upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more special, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests can only be used on equipment of a particular rank, and that every rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and easiest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complex upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, contingent on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through content at the appropriate level. This could be by doing outdoor activities, or by completing dungeons and raids in all difficulties to get equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons with heroic difficulty to obtain endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an item upgrader like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and pathways.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, however it will bring some changes to the process of upgrading. For instance, once a piece of equipment reaches the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is designed to allow players to upgrade their gear up to the highest level possible on all their characters, rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
Another significant change is that crests have one use therefore it's essential to use them wisely. For instance it's best to utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests on the top equipment you have, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning to create. This is particularly applicable to trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to benefit from the account-wide discount when all of the slots are filled with high-quality gear.