WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also boosts an unspecified substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). These types of gear get less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enhancements.
You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks to keep your equipment up-to-date.
The cost of upgrades will depend on the current item 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 up to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapons, armor, tools, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from item upgraders NPCs in a variety of currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any tool, weapon or armor. The button will show the item's next upgrade level in the event that there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the item slot, and the current item level. For example, weapons will cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with certain upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of the Flightstones or the crests used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain level, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Upgraders for items can be found at many locations including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and the chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrading increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players finish certain achievements or quests.
In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no item upgrade r available at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that can be used to upgrade require a variety of means, which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with numerous new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a particular item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading additional items to that level will cost less, even if they are part of an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced too, but it is only available once certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW players have a few choices. They can use Flightstones, which are a common upgrade currency that is accessible to all, or crests, which are more specialized and are consumed during upgrades at specific levels of items. Crests are an integral part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests can only be used to purchase equipment that is of a particular rank, and that every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade requires up to 20 crests, based on the kind of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through working through content that is of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulties for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and paths.
The use of these currencies isn't that difficult however, the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. Once a piece of gear has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it will no longer require Flightstones. This is to allow players to get their equipment up to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests in a wise manner, as they only have one use. For instance it's a good idea to utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests on the best equipment available and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you plan on making. This is particularly relevant for items like rings and trinkets that occupy multiple slots. The account-wide discount is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality equipment.