WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases item level by 3. A random substat is also increased with every upgrade.
The upgraded gear typically has a more value in trade as long as it meets low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variation (like the eth titan weapons). These types of gear get less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can be used to create Enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in every major city, and can be visited anytime to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks to keep your equipment up-to-date.
The cost of upgrading will depend on the current level of the equipment being upgraded but they will always be cheaper than buying new gear from other sources. For instance, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, while buying a similar item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items that can be used to upgrade weapons tools, armor, and accessories. They can be bought by players from item upgrader NPCs in exchange for various currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon or armor. The button will show the preview of an item's next level of upgrade, in the event that there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot for the item and the current item level. For instance weapons cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain degree it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Item upgraders can be found at many locations including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of obtaining an entirely new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players finish certain achievements or quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no item upgrader available at the start of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only available via a variety of ways. This is both a positive and an issue.
In Season 3, the upgrade system has been tweaked a bit, with some new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a specific level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading further items to that level will cost less, even if they belong to a different gear set.
The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is reduced too, but it is only available once certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW players have a few choices. They can make use of Flightstones that are a common upgrade currency available to all, or crests, which are more specialized and are consumed during upgrades on specific item levels. Crests are an important component of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System, which was introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that Crests are only available to equipment of a certain rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward 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 by completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for gear that is used in the endgame. These crests can be exchanged with an item upgrader, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and pathways.
Using these new currencies isn't too complicated however, the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. For example, once an item reaches the highest level of upgrade items for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is designed to allow players to upgrade their gear up to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another significant modification 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 available, and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to create. This is particularly relevant for trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to benefit from the account-wide discount when all slots are filled with high-quality equipment.