WoW Upgrades - The
Item level upgrade Upgrader
Upgrades give you an increase in specific statistics. Each
upgrade item increases the level of an item by 3. A random additional substat is also increased with each upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the necessity to roll to get a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of weapon or armor. The item used to
upgrade items the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and is accessible anytime to upgrade your equipment. To keep your gear current it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item however, they are always cheaper than buying new equipment. For example, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points, while buying a similar
item upgrader kit from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items which can be used to upgrade weapons and tools, armor and accessories. They can be purchased by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any tool, weapon or armor. button, which will show an image of the item at the next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot of the item and the current item level. For instance weapons cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currency types.
Upgraders for items are available in many places on the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount as well as a chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded. It is also possible to be increased by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.
In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items at the start of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only available via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.
In Season 3, a number of new features have been 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 true even if the items come from a different set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is reduced too, but it is only available when certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
Players have several options for 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 remember is that the crests can only be purchased for equipment with a certain rank. Each rank has an upgrade path that is different. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests depending on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through tasks at the appropriate level. This could mean engaging in outdoor activities or taking on dungeons and raids of all difficulty levels to obtain lower-level gear or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons with a 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.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, however it does bring some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, when an item reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible level on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests in a wise manner, as they only have one use. It is best to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the highest-quality gear that you can find, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The account-wide discount will only be applicable if all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.
