WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a an increase in specific stats. Each upgrade increases item level by 3. Each upgrade also boosts a random substat.
Upgraded gear generally sees greater value for trade regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or very high stat variation (like eth titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as important for the latter because of the requirement to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. However, the item used to upgrade will be consumed for the duration of time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can be used to create the enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and can be visited anytime to upgrade your equipment. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader each several weeks.
The cost of upgrades will be based on the current level of the item being upgraded but they will always be less expensive than buying new gear from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players from NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for different currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any tool, weapon, or armor. The button will show a preview of an item's next upgrade level, when there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot of the
item upgrades and the current level of the item. For instance weapons are more expensive than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currencies.
Item upgraders can be found in many places, including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon as well as the chance to obtain an entirely new recipe. The upgrade discount 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, there is no item level upgrade (
published on click4r.com) upgrader available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades require a variety of means which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3 the upgrade system was altered a bit, with numerous new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a specific item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading additional items to the same level will cost less even in the event that they are part of a different gear set.
The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is reduced as well, but is only available when certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
When upgrading gear in WoW players have a couple of choices. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be used on equipment that is of a particular rank, and that every rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and most straightforward
upgrade items path costs 15 crests, while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests, based on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulty for items of higher tier, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate
upgrade items pathways and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too difficult however, the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. For example, once a piece of equipment reaches the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is designed to allow players to upgrade their equipment to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one purpose, so it's important to use them properly. It's
Best item upgrade to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the top-quality equipment you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly relevant for items like rings and trinkets that occupy several slots. The discount for the entire account will only be applicable if all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.