WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boosts in certain statistics. Each upgrade increases the level of the item by +3. Each upgrade also increases the random substatus.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to the enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities, and can be visited at any time to upgrade your gear. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each several weeks.
The cost of upgrading will be based on the current level of the item being upgraded but they will always be cheaper than buying new gear from other sources. For instance, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for various currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any tool, weapon, or armor. The button will show the preview of an item's next upgrade level when there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the item slot, and the current item level. For upgrade item are more expensive than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades offer a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain degree it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Upgraders for items can be found in a variety of locations including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount and the chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded, and can be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at start unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are available only through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit and an issue.
In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once an upgrade has been completed to a certain item level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This is even if the items come from another set of gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a couple of options. They can make use of Flightstones that are a common upgrade currency available to all players, or crests that are more specialized and consumed during upgrades on specific levels of items. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests can only be spent on equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade can require up to 20 crests, based on the type or gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing tasks at the appropriate level. This could mean engaging in outdoor activities or taking on dungeons and raids of all difficulty levels to obtain lower-tier gear or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons with heroic difficulty for endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
Using these new currencies isn't too difficult, but the system does introduce some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, when an item reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is designed to allow players to get their equipment up to the highest level possible on all their characters, rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests have one purpose and it's crucial to use them properly. For instance, it's a good idea utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests on the top gear you have available and save Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you're planning on making. This is especially relevant for 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 gear.