WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give you boosts in certain statistics. Each upgrade boosts the item level by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapons. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item, but they will always be cheaper than buying new gear. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that are used to improve the quality of weapons tools, armor, and other items. They can be purchased from item upgraders NPCs for a variety of currencies. They can also find them in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be applied to any weapon or tool using a button, which will show a preview of the item level upgrade - wikimapia.org - at the next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the item slot and current item upgrade level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than bracers or gloves, for instance. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades give a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currencies.
Many locations offer item upgraders which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of obtaining a new recipe. The upgrade discount increases with the number of items that are being upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades must be acquired through several methods which is both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, many 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 even if the items are from a different set of gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is reduced also, but is only available when certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
Players have several options when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that the crests can only be purchased for equipment that is of a certain rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The simplest and simplest upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests based on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, dungeons or raids of any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too difficult, but the system introduces some modifications to the upgrade process. Once a piece of gear reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it will no longer require Flightstones. This change allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest possible level on all of their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another important change is that crests have one use therefore it's essential to use them properly. For instance, it's a good idea utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests with the Best item upgrade gear you have available and keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you're planning to create. This is especially relevant for 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 slots are full of high-quality gear.