WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

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

The upgraded gear typically 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 aren't as valuable for those with lower requirements due to the requirement to roll an exact version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapons. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to enchantments.

The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be visited anytime to upgrade your gear. It is recommended to visit the upgrader once every few weeks, to keep your equipment up to date.

Upgrades can cost more based on the item level, but they will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear. For instance upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from another player will costs 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are functional items that are used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for various currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any tool, weapon or armor. button, which displays an item upgrade's preview at the next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.

The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot for the item and the current level of the item. For example weapons are more expensive than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades give discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.

Many locations offer Item Level Upgrade upgraders in addition to the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and the chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases depending on the amount of items that are being upgraded. It is also possible to be increased by having players complete some specific achievements or quests.

Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are only available through a variety of methods. This is both a positive and a disadvantage.

In Season 3, several new features were 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 are from a different set of equipment.

The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain achievement milestones.

Crests

Players have a variety of options when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.

The first thing to remember is that the crests can only be purchased for equipment of a certain rank. Each rank has an upgrade path that is different. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complex upgrade requires up to 20 crests, based on the kind of gear being upgraded.

Players can earn crests through finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an upgrader, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and pathways.

The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it brings some modifications to the upgrade process. For example, once an item is at the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This change lets players upgrade their gear to the highest possible ilvl on all of their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.

Another important modification is that crests have one purpose therefore it's essential to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance it's a good idea to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests with the Best item upgrade equipment you have and keep Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you're planning on making. This is particularly relevant for items like trinkets and rings that take up multiple slots. The discount on the account will only apply when all slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.