WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you boost in specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by +3. A random additional substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally 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). Upgrades are not as valuable for those with higher variance due to the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an 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 also be used to create the enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and is accessible at any time to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended that you 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 less expensive than purchasing new equipment. 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 functional items which can be used to improve the quality of weapons tools, armor, and other accessories. They can be purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for various currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be applied to any weapon or tool with the help of The button will display the preview of an item's next upgrade items level in the event that there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the item slot and the current level of the item, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers, for instance. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain degree, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items which include the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of obtaining a new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade must be acquired through a variety of means, which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, a number of new features were added to the upgrade system. After a player has earned an upgrade to a particular level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading other items to that same item level will cost less, even when they are part of an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is reduced too, but it is only available when certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
Players have a variety of options for upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrade level upgrades. Crests are a crucial element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System, which was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only able to be used on gear of a specific rank, and that each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests depending on the type of equipment being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing content of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulties for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons 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 items the item upgrader kit in the proper steps and pathways.
The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, but it does bring some changes to the upgrade process. For example, once a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests in a wise manner, as they only have one use. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you can find and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly relevant for rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character that will be able to benefit from the account-wide discount when all of the slots are filled with high-quality equipment.