WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

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

Upgraded gear generally sees higher trade value regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variation (like Eth titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as important for those with lower requirements due to the requirement to roll a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader allows players to upgrade gear to a higher item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. However, the item used for the upgrade will be consumed forever and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.

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

Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item, however they'll always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest up to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar item will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapon, armor, tool and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from item upgrader NPCs in exchange for a variety of currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon, or armor. button, which will show an image of the item at its next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.

Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot for the item and the current level of the item. For example, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.

Item upgraders can be found in many places on the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and a possibility of getting a new recipe. The upgrade discount increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded. It is also possible to be increased by requiring players to complete specific achievements or quests.

Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no item upgrader available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades are acquired via various methods that are both an improvement but also a drawback.

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

The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is available across all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievements.

Crests

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

The first thing to be aware of is that crests can only be used to purchase equipment of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for upgrading. 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 earn crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an item upgrader, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and pathways.

Using these new currencies isn't that difficult, but the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, when a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible for all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.

It's also essential to use crests with care, since they only have one use. For instance, it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrade gear you have available and keep Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you plan on making. This is especially true for items like rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to benefit from the account-wide discount when all of the slots are filled with high-quality gear.