WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a an increase in certain statistics. Each upgrade boosts the level of an
item upgrading by 3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like Eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll to get a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapon. However, the item that is used to upgrade will be consumed forever and can't be used again. Upgrades can be used to create the enchantments.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be visited anytime to upgrade your gear. To keep your gear current it is recommended you visit the upgrader each few weeks.
The cost of upgrading will vary based on the current
item level upgrade level of the gear being upgraded but they will always be less expensive than buying new gear from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest up to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for weapon, armor, tool and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players through
item upgrader NPCs in exchange for various currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any weapon, tool or armor. The button will show a preview of an item's next upgrade level, in the event that there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot for the item and the current item level. For instance weapons are more expensive than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Upgraders for items are available in many places, including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting the latest recipe. The discount on upgrades increases when more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.
In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items at the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are available only through a variety means. This is both a benefit and a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. 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 be less expensive, even if they belong to a different gear set.
The discount applies to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
Players have a number of options for upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specific, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a crucial component of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
First, you should know that the crests can only be purchased for gear with a certain rank. Each rank comes with an
upgrade items path that is different. The simplest and most straightforward
upgrade items process costs just 15 crests while the more complex one can require as much as 20 crests based on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by working through content that is of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulty for items of higher tier, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too complicated, but the system introduces some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece of equipment has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it no longer requires Flightstones. This allows players to
upgrade item their equipment to the highest level possible on all of their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one purpose therefore it's essential to make use of them in a responsible manner. It's best to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the best gear you can locate and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly true for items such as 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 high-quality gear.