WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of the item by +3. A random substat is also boosted alongside each upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are not as useful for the latter due to the need to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be made on any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item upgrades will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be used to create enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities and can be visited at any time to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended to visit the upgrader every couple of weeks to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item, however, they are always cheaper than buying new equipment. For instance, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for various currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be used on any weapon or tool using the help of button, which will show a preview of the item when it is upgraded when the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading is based on the item slot and current item level, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers for example. Each upgrade items cost 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Certain upgrades provide a discount on the Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currencies.
Item upgraders can be found in many places on the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting a new recipe. The discount for upgrading increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players finish certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at start unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead, the NPCs that can be used to upgrade require a variety of means that are both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, the upgrade system has been tweaked a bit, with some new features added. After the player has upgraded to a certain Item Level Upgrade level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This is regardless of whether the items are from another set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is cut as well, but is only available when certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
Players have a number of options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are used for 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.
First, you should know that the crests can only be purchased for equipment that is that is of a particular rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the most complex can require as much as 20 crests, based on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons to obtain endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an upgrader like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade item steps and routes.
The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, however it brings some changes to the process of upgrading. When a piece attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it no longer requires Flightstones. This is to allow players to get their equipment up to the highest possible ilvl for all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests wisely, as they are only used for one purpose. For instance, it's Best item upgrader to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the best equipment available and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to create. This is particularly true for items such as trinkets and rings that fill several slots. The discount on the account will only apply when all slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.