WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to specific stats. upgrade item by +3. A random additional substat is also added to every upgrade.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as important for those with higher variance due to the requirement to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapon. However, the item used for the upgrade will be consumed forever and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and can be visited at any time to upgrade your gear. It is recommended to visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks to keep your equipment up-to-date.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item however they'll always be cheaper than buying new gear. For instance upgrading a Benthic chest piece to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapon, armor, tool and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased from NPCs of item upgraders in a variety of currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any weapon, tool or armor. button, which will show an image of the item when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient materials.
The cost of upgrading is based on the item slot and the current level of the item, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades offer a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currencies.
Upgraders for items can be found in many places, including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon as well as the chance to obtain the latest recipe. The discount for upgrades increases with the number of items that are being upgraded. It is also possible to be increased by requiring players to complete specific achievements or complete quests.
In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only available through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit as well as an issue.
In Season 3, many new features have been added to the upgrade system. After a player has earned an upgrade to a particular item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading further items to the same level will be less expensive, even in the event that they are part of an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is reduced also, but is only available after certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW players have a few choices. They can choose to use Flightstones that are a general upgrade currency that is accessible to everyone players, or crests that are more specialized and used to upgrade specific item levels. Crests are an important part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests can only be used on equipment that is of a particular rank, and that each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complex requires as many as 20 crests, based on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through finishing content at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities, or by completing dungeons and raids in all difficulty levels to obtain lower-tier gear or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't too complicated however, the system introduces some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This change is designed to allow players to get their equipment to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests in a wise manner, as they only have one use. For instance it's a good idea to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you have available and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you plan on making. This is particularly applicable to items like trinkets and rings that take up several slots. The discount for the entire account will only apply when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.