WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases item level by +3. Each upgrade also increases the random substatus.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are less important for those with higher variance due to the requirement to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader enables players to upgrade gear to a higher item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be used to create enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks to keep your equipment up to date.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item however, they are always cheaper than purchasing new equipment. For example upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, purchasing a similar piece from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are useful items that are used to level up weapons, tools, armor, and other items. Players can purchase them from item upgraders NPCs for a variety of currencies. They can also find them in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any weapon, tool, or armor. button, which will display a preview of the item when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the item slot and current item level, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with certain upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currency types.
Item upgraders can be found in many places, including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon and the possibility of getting an entirely new recipe. The discount for upgrading increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items at the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are only available through a variety of methods. Resource is both a benefit as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3 the upgrade system was altered a bit, with several new features added. Once upgrade item has upgraded to a certain item level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This applies even if the items come from another set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
Players have a number of choices when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. They can use Flightstones, which are a common upgrade currency available to everyone, or crests, which are more specialized and consumed during upgrades at specific levels of the item. Crests are an important part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be spent on equipment of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and easiest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complex upgrade requires up to 20 crests, based on the type or gear being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulty for items of higher tier 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 to get the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
Using these new currencies isn't too difficult, but the system will introduce a few modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it will no longer require Flightstones. This change is intended to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest possible ilvl for all their characters rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests with care, since they are only used for one purpose. It is recommended to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment you can locate, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is particularly relevant for rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character, that will be able to benefit from the discount for all accounts when all slots are full of high-quality equipment.