WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boosts in specific statistics. Each upgrade increases the item level by +3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.
The upgraded gear typically has a more value in trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or a very high stat variation (like the eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll to get a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader enables players to upgrade their gear to a higher item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. However, the item level upgrade (read this blog post from kay-koefoed.blogbright.net) that is used to upgrade will be consumed forever and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to the enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities, and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your gear. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks, to keep your equipment up to date.
The cost of upgrading will depend on the current level of the equipment being upgraded however, they will always be cheaper than buying new gear from other sources. For example upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to level up weapons tools, armor, and other accessories. They can be purchased from NPCs of item upgraders for various currencies. They can also find them in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased, it can be used on any weapon or tool with a The button will display a preview of an item's next upgrade level, in the event that there are enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item and current item level and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers, for example. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item upgrade has been upgraded to a certain level and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currency types.
Upgraders for items can be found in a variety of locations including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and a chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The upgrade discount increases when more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.
In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no item upgrader available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades are acquired via several methods that are both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, a number of new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once the player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item upgrading level, will cost less. This is true even if the items come from a different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is available across all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
Players have a number of choices when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specific, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that the crests can only be purchased for gear of a certain rank. Each rank comes with an upgrade path that is different. The simplest and simplest upgrade item costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, based on the type or gear being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by completing content of the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of all difficulty for items of higher tier, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an upgrader for the item like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and pathways.
The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, however it will bring some changes to the process of upgrading. 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 need Flightstones to be upgraded. This change lets players upgrade their gear to the highest possible level on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests have one usage and it's crucial to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance it's Best item upgrader to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the top equipment you have, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you plan to create. This is particularly applicable to rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, that will be able to benefit from the account-wide discount when all slots are filled with top-quality gear.