WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you boosts in certain statistics. item upgrading increases the level of an item by 3. A random additional substat is also boosted alongside each upgrade.
The more modernized gear generally has a greater value for trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variation (like eth titan weapons). Upgrades are less useful for those with lower requirements due to the requirement to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to 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 the enchantments.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and is accessible anytime to upgrade your equipment. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item but they will always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment. For example upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points while purchasing the same item from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade tools, armor, weapon and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased from NPCs of item upgraders for various currencies. They can also find them in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased, it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor using the help of button, which displays a preview of the item at its next upgrade level in the event that the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of the Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Upgraders for items are available in many places, including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and a chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases with the number of items being upgraded. It can also be increased 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. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are available only via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3 the upgrade system has been altered a bit, with numerous new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a specific item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading additional items to that level will cost less, even if they are part of another set of gear.
The discount is available to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is reduced too, but it is only available after certain milestones have been reached.
item upgrades have a variety of options for upgrading their equipment in WoW. They can make use of Flightstones, which are a general upgrade currency that is accessible to everyone, or crests, which are more specific and consumed during upgrades at specific item levels. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
First, you should know that Crests are only available to equipment with a certain rank. Each rank has distinct upgrade paths. The most basic and straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the most complex may require as many as 20 crests depending on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulties for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. These crests can then be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
Using these new currencies isn't too complicated however, the system will introduce a few 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 no longer requires Flightstones. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible on all of their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests with care, since they have only one purpose. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear that you can find, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially relevant for rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, which can only be eligible to benefit from the discount for all accounts when all slots are filled with top-quality equipment.
