WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also boosts an unspecified substat.
Upgraded gear generally sees greater value for trade regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or a very high stat variation (like the eth titan weapons). These types of gear get less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade items their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities and is accessible anytime to upgrade your equipment. To keep your gear up-to-date, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every several weeks.
The cost of upgrading will be based on the current item level of the equipment being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than buying new gear from other sources. For instance upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for different currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor with a button, which displays a preview of the item when it is upgraded in the event that the player has enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot for the item upgrades and the current level of the item. For instance weapons cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades offer a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item upgrades is upgraded to a certain level it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Many locations offer item upgraders which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and the 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 there is no upgrader for items at the start of Icewind Dale. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are available only through a variety means. This is both a positive and an issue.
In Season 3, a number of new features have been added to the upgrade system. After a player has upgraded to a certain item level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This is even if the items are from an entirely different set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is available across all accounts. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain achievement milestones.
Crests
Players have several options for upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specific, and are used during specific item upgrader mod level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
First, you should know that the crests can only be purchased for equipment that is of a certain rank. Each rank has distinct upgrade paths. 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 through working through content that is of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, but it brings some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, when an item level upgrade, describes it, reaches 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 is designed to allow players to upgrade their gear up to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests with care, since they are only used for one purpose. For instance it's Best item upgrade to utilize all of 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're planning to make. This is particularly true for items such as trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The discount for the entire account is only applicable when all slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.