WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades will give you a boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also boosts a random substat.

The upgraded gear typically has a more value in trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or very high stat variance (like the eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as useful for the latter because of the requirement to roll an exact version.

Recycle Points

The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of armor or weapons. However, the item used for the upgrade will be consumed for the duration of time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can be used to create Enchantments.

The upgrader can be found in every major city, and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your equipment. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader every few weeks.

Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the Best item upgrader but they will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest up to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar Item Level Upgrade will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for various currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any weapon, tool or armor. The button will show a preview of an item's next level of upgrade, in the event that there are enough materials.

The cost of upgrading is based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade item costs 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with some upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of Flightstones or 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 price.

Upgraders for items are available at many locations including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and the possibility of obtaining the latest recipe. The upgrade discount increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.

Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the start unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead, the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades require a variety of means that are both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.

In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a specific level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading additional items to that same item upgrades level will cost less, even if they belong to an entirely different set of gear.

The discount is available to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is reduced also, but is only available when certain milestones have been reached.

Crests

When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW players have a couple of options. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.

The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be spent on equipment of a particular rank, and that every rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complex may require as many as 20 crests, based on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.

Players can earn crests by completing content of the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons with all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.

The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, but it does bring some changes to the process of upgrading. For instance, when an item upgrades is at the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This is to allow players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.

It's also essential to use crests with care, since they have only one purpose. For instance it's Best item upgrade to utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests on the top equipment available and save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to make. This is particularly relevant for trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to avail the account-wide discount if all slots are filled with top-quality gear.