WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give you boosts in specific statistics. 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 has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher item level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be made on any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to the enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader once every couple of 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 purchasing new equipment from other sources. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points while purchasing the same item from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are useful items that are used to upgrade weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be purchased by players from item upgrader NPCs in exchange for different currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, item upgrading is able to be used on any weapon, tool or armor. The button will display the preview of an item's next upgrade level when there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item. For instance, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of Flightstones or crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain level and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currencies.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and the chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrading increases when more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.
In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no upgrader for items in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that can be used to upgrade are acquired via several methods that are both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. Once an upgrade has been completed to a certain level of item 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 gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is account-wide. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
Players have several choices when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. They can choose to use Flightstones which are a common upgrade currency that is accessible to all, or crests, which are more specialized and are used to upgrade specific levels of the item. Crests are an important part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that Crests are only available to equipment of a certain rank. Each rank comes with an upgrade path that is different. The simplest and simplest upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests depending on the type of equipment being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't that difficult however, the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. When a piece of equipment has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it no longer requires Flightstones. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible level on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one purpose and it's crucial to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance, it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the top equipment available and save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you plan to make. This is particularly applicable to rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character which can only be eligible to take advantage of the account-wide discount if all of the slots are full of high-quality equipment.