WoW Upgrades - The item upgrading level upgrade (helpful site) Upgrader

Upgrades give you an increase in specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by +3. A random extra substat is also added to every upgrade.

Upgraded gear generally sees higher trade value, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or a very high stat variation (like the eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as useful for those with lower requirements due to the requirement to roll a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of armor or weapons. However, the item used to upgrade will remain in use for a long time and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enhancements.

The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and is accessible at any time to upgrade your gear. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks, to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.

Upgrades can cost more based on the item level, however they'll always be cheaper than buying new gear. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar item will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapon, armor, tool and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from NPCs of item upgraders in a variety of currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor with an button, which displays an item's preview at its next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.

Upgrade costs differ based on the item slot, and the current item level. For example, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of the Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item upgrader kit has been upgraded to a certain level it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.

A lot of locations offer upgraders for items in addition to the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and the chance to obtain a new recipe. The upgrade discount increases with the number of items being upgraded. It can also be boosted by having players complete specific achievements or quests.

Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no item upgrader available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only accessible through a variety means. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.

In Season 3 the upgrade system has been modified a bit, and some new features added. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a specific level for an item upgrader mod in an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level will cost less even in the event that they are part of a different gear set.

The discount is applicable to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is reduced also, but is only available after certain milestones have been reached.

Crests

When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a variety of choices. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are utilized during specific item upgrading level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.

The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used on equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complicated requires as many as 20 crests, based on the kind of gear being upgraded.

Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, dungeons or raids of any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons to obtain endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an upgrader for the item like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and routes.

Utilizing these new currencies isn't too difficult, but the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. Once a piece of gear attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This is to allow players to get their gear up to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.

Another significant modification is that crests have one use, so it's important to use them wisely. For instance, it's best to 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 to create. This is especially true for items such as trinkets and rings that take up multiple slots. The account-wide discount will only apply when all slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.