WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades can give you boosts in specific statistics. Each upgrade increases item level by +3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside each upgrade.

Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect model.

Recycle Points

The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to the enchantments.

You can upgrade items your gear at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended to visit the upgrader once every few weeks to ensure that your equipment is up to date.

Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item but they will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item Level upgrade will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They are purchased by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for different currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will display a preview of an item upgrades's next upgrade level, if there are enough materials.

The cost of upgrading is based on the item slot and current item upgrader kit level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers, for instance. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of the two currencies.

Many locations offer item upgraders which include the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon and a possibility of obtaining an entirely new recipe. The upgrade discount increases with the number of items that are being upgraded, and can be increased by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.

Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead, the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades are acquired via several methods which is both an improvement and a drawback.

In Season 3, many new features were added to the upgrade items system. When a player has an upgrade to a particular item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading further items to the same level will cost less, even if they belong to an entirely different set of gear.

The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is cut as well, but is only available when certain milestones are achieved.

Crests

Players have several options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specialized and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an important component of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System, Item Level Upgrade which was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.

First, you must be aware that the crests can only be purchased for gear that is of a particular rank. Each rank has a different upgrade items path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the most complicated may require as many as 20 crests, based on the type of equipment being upgraded.

Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons to obtain endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an upgrader for the item, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and routes.

The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, but it brings some changes to the 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 change lets players upgrade their gear to the highest level possible on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.

It's also essential to use crests with care, since they are only used for one purpose. For instance, it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you have available, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning on making. This is especially true for items like trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character, which can only be eligible to avail the account-wide discount if all of the slots are filled with high-quality gear.