WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of the item upgrading by +3. Each upgrade also boosts an unspecified substat.

The more modernized gear generally has a greater value for trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or very high stat variance (like Eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as important for those with lower requirements due to the need to roll the perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any kind of weapon or armor. However, the item used for the upgrade will be consumed for the duration of time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create the enchantments.

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

The cost of upgrading will depend on the current item upgrader kit level of the item being upgraded however, they will always be less expensive than buying new equipment from other sources. For instance upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to 385 levels 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 purchase weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players through NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for different currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any tool, weapon, or armor. The button will display a preview of an item upgrader mod's next upgrade level, if there are enough materials.

Upgrade costs differ based on the slot for the item and the current level of the item upgrader kit. For example weapons cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of the Flightstones or the crests used. After an item level upgrade has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currency types.

Upgraders for items can be found at many locations, including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon as well as the chance to obtain the latest recipe. The discount on upgrades increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players complete certain achievements or complete quests.

Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items at the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades must be acquired through a variety of means that are both an improvement but also a drawback.

In Season 3, the upgrade system was altered a bit, with numerous new features added. When a player has an upgrade to a specific level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading other items to that same item level will cost less even when they belong to a different gear set.

The discount is available to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is reduced also, but is only available when certain milestones are achieved.

Crests

When upgrading equipment in WoW players have a variety of options. They can use Flightstones, which are a general upgrade currency available to all players, or crests, which are more specialized and are used to upgrade specific levels of items. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.

The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be spent on equipment that is of a particular rank, and that every rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, depending on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.

Players can earn crests by completing tasks at the appropriate level. This could be by engaging in outdoor activities or doing dungeons or raids in any difficulty to earn lower-tier gear or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons with heroic difficulty for endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an item upgrader, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and pathways.

Using these new currencies isn't that difficult, but the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. When a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it will no longer require Flightstones. This is to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest level possible on all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.

Another important modification is that crests have one use therefore it's essential to use them properly. It's best to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the best gear you can locate, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The discount on the account is only applicable when all slots on the character are filled with high-quality equipment.