WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases item Level upgrade level by +3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.
The upgraded gear typically has a greater value for trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or very high stat variance (like Eth titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the requirement to roll to get a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of armor or weapons. However, the item that is used to upgrade will be consumed forever and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be used to create Enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear current it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.
The cost of upgrading will depend on the current item level of the item being upgraded but they will always be cheaper than buying new equipment from other sources. For example, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, purchasing a similar piece from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and other items. They are purchased by players through item upgrade upgrader NPCs in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon or armor. The button will show the item's next level of upgrade, if there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item, with weapons costing more than bracers or gloves, for example. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of the Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item upgrades has been upgraded to a certain level and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currencies.
Item upgraders can be found in many places, including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and the possibility of obtaining the latest recipe. The discount on upgrades increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades require a variety of means which is both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3 the upgrade system has been modified a bit, and some new features added. After a player has upgraded to a specific level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This is even if those items are from an entirely different set of gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced also, but is only available once certain milestones are reached.
Crests
Players have a variety of choices when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests can only be used to purchase equipment of a particular rank, and that each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and simplest upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the most complicated may require as many as 20 crests based on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by completing content of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an item upgrader like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to upgrade the item level upgrade in the proper steps and routes.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it brings some changes to the upgrade process. For instance, when an item is at the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible level on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests in a wise manner, as they only have one use. It's best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you can find and save Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly relevant for items like trinkets and rings that take up several slots. The account-wide discount is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.