WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you boost in specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of the item by +3. A random additional substat is also added to each upgrade.
Upgraded gear generally sees greater value for trade regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or a very high stat variation (like the eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrade r allows players to upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. However, the item used for the upgrade will be consumed forever and can't be used again. Upgrades can be used to create Enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks.
The cost of upgrades will be based on the current level of the equipment being upgraded but they will always be less expensive than buying new gear from other sources. For example upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, purchasing a similar piece from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items that can be used to level up weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be purchased by players through NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor with a The button will show the preview of an item's next upgrade level in the event that there are enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item and the current level of the item as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers, for instance. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Item upgraders can be found in a variety of locations including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and the chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases with the number of items being upgraded. It is also possible to be boosted by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the start unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead, the NPCs that can be used to upgrade are acquired via a variety of means, which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, many new features have been 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 true regardless of whether the items are from an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
Players have several options when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. They can choose to use Flightstones, which are a general upgrade currency available to everyone players, or crests that are more specialized and consumed during upgrades at specific levels of the item. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment of a particular rank, and each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complicated can require as much as 20 crests, based on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing tasks at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities, or by doing dungeons or raids in any difficulty to earn lower-tier gear or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for gear in the endgame. The crests can then be exchanged with an upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and paths.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, but it brings some modifications to the upgrade process. Once a piece of gear has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This change lets players upgrade their gear to the highest level possible for all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests in a wise manner, as they have only one purpose. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment you can locate and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is particularly applicable to items like rings and trinkets that occupy multiple slots. The discount for the entire account will only apply when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.