WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the item level by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
The more modernized gear generally has a greater value for trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or a very high stat variance (like the eth titan weapons). Upgrades are less important for those with lower requirements due to the need to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. However, the item used to upgrade will be consumed for the duration of time and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the
item upgrades, but they will always be cheaper than buying new equipment. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapon, armor, tool and accessory upgrades. Players can purchase them through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for various currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor with an button, which will show an item's preview at its next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot for the item and the current item level. For instance weapons are more expensive than bracers, or gloves. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades offer a discount on the Flightstones. Once an
item upgrades has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currency types.
Many locations offer item level upgrade (
Marvelvsdc writes) upgraders in addition to the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and the chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrading increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.
In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no upgrader for items available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades must be acquired through various methods which is both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was modified a bit, and numerous new features added. When a player has an upgrade to a specific level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading other items to that same item level will be less expensive, even if they are part of a different gear set.
The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
When upgrading gear in WoW, players have a variety of choices. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an integral element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only available for equipment of a certain rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The simplest and simplest upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complicated can require as much as 20 crests based on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons of any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. These crests can then be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't that difficult however, the system introduces some changes to the overall upgrade process. Once a piece of gear attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This is to allow players to upgrade their gear up to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one use, so it's important to use them properly. It is
Best item upgrader to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you can find and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially applicable to items like trinkets and rings that take up several slots. The discount for the entire account will only apply when all slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.
