WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also increases the random substatus.
Upgraded gear generally sees greater value for trade as long as it meets low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variance (like eth titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as valuable for those with higher variance due to the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade gear to a higher item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. However, the item used for the upgrade will remain in use for a long time and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities, and can be accessed at any time to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader once every few weeks, to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item, however they'll always be less expensive than purchasing new gear. For instance upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items which can be used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and accessories. Players can purchase them from NPCs of item upgraders for a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once upgrade item has been purchased it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor using a button, which will show a preview of the item at the next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the item slot, and the current item level. For instance, weapons will cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currency types.
Upgraders for items can be found in a variety of locations, including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting a new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases with the number of items that are being upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only accessible via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit as well as an issue.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. Once a player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This is true regardless of whether the items come from a different set of equipment.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is reduced also, but is only available after certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
Players have a number of options for upgrading their equipment in WoW. They can make use of Flightstones, which are a common upgrade currency that is available to all, or crests, which are more specific and consumed during upgrades on specific levels of the item. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
First, you should know that Crests are only available to equipment that is with a certain rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The simplest and simplest upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the more complex one may require as many as 20 crests, based on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrade r NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't that difficult however, the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, when an item reaches the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change lets players upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible for all their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests in a wise manner, as they have only one purpose. It's best to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment you can locate and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is especially relevant for items like trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The account-wide discount is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.