WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you boosts in certain statistics. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are not as important for those with lower requirements because of the requirement to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrade r allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any kind of armor or weapons. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to the enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment 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 few weeks.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item, but they will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest up to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items that can be used to level up weapons tools, armor, and accessories. They can be bought by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be used on any weapon or tool with an button, which will show an item's preview when it is upgraded in the event that the player has enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item and current item level and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with some upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Many locations have upgraders for their items which include the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon and the possibility of getting a new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded. It is also possible to be increased by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items available at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades 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. Once a player has upgraded to a specific level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This is regardless of whether the items come from a different set of gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW players have a few options. They can choose to use Flightstones that are a common upgrade currency that is available to everyone players, or crests, which are more specific and used to upgrade specific levels of the item. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be used on equipment of a particular rank, and that each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and easiest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade can require up to 20 crests, based on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses to obtain endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, however it brings some changes to the upgrade process. When a piece of equipment 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 on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another significant modification is that crests have one use and it's crucial to use them wisely. For instance, it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests with the best equipment available and save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you plan to create. This is especially true for items such as trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The discount on the account is only applicable when all slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.