WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give you boost in specific statistics. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. A random additional substat is also increased with every upgrade.
The more modernized gear generally has a more value in 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 are not as valuable for those with higher variance due to the need to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapons. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be used to create Enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities and is accessible anytime to upgrade your gear. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader every several weeks.
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. For example upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are useful items that are used to level up weapons tools, armor, and accessories. They can be purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased, it can be used on any weapon or tool using an button, which displays a preview of the item when it is upgraded when the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading is based on the item slot and the current item level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Certain upgrades provide discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain level it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
item upgrading for items can be found in many places on the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon and the possibility of getting an entirely new recipe. The discount for upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded. It is also possible to be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades must be acquired through a variety of means, which is both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3 the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with several new features added. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a specific level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading further items to that level will cost less even in the event that they belong to an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is cut as well, but is only available when certain milestones are reached.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW players have a couple of options. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an integral element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System, which was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
First, you should know that the crests can only be purchased for equipment of a certain rank. Each rank comes with an upgrade path that is different. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests, based on the type of gear 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 for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons of all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too complicated however, the system introduces some 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 won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible on all of their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests have one purpose, so it's important to use them wisely. It is best to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment that you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly true for items such as trinkets and rings that fill several slots. The account-wide discount is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.