WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you boosts in certain statistics. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by +3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.
Upgraded gear generally sees higher trade value as long as it meets low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or has a high stat variance (like eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item level Upgrade upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of armor or weapons. However, the item used to upgrade will remain in use for a long time and will not be able to 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 that you visit the upgrader every several weeks.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item, but they will always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are useful items that can be used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be purchased by players from NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for various currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any tool, weapon or armor. button, which displays an item's preview at its next upgrade level in the event that the player has enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the item slot and the current level of the item and the weapon's price is higher than bracers or gloves, for instance. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Certain upgrades provide a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain level, it can be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currency types.
Upgraders for items are available in a variety of locations including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon and the chance to obtain the latest recipe. The upgrade discount increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players finish certain achievements or 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 must be acquired through a variety of means, which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. Once a player has upgraded to a certain level of item upgrader mod for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This applies even if those items come from a different set of equipment.
The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced also, but is only available after certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
Players have a number of options for upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more special, and are used during specific item upgrade level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only available for equipment that is that is of a particular rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The simplest and simplest upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the more complex one may require as many as 20 crests depending on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing content at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities or doing dungeons or raids in any difficulty to earn lower-tier gear or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons with heroic difficulty for endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an item level upgrade upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't that difficult, but the system introduces some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, once a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl for all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests with care, since they have only one purpose. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you can find and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly true for items like rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character, that will be able to benefit from the account-wide discount if all of the slots are full of high-quality equipment.