WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like the eth Titan weapons). These types of gear get less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create the enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and is accessible anytime to upgrade your gear. To keep your gear current it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every several weeks.
The cost of upgrades will be based on the current item level of the equipment being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than buying new equipment from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items that are used to level up weapons tools, armor, and accessories. They can be bought by players from item upgrader NPCs in exchange for various currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor with an button, which displays an image of the item at the next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the item slot and current item level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than bracers or gloves, for example. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of the Flightstones or crests used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Item upgraders can be found in a variety of locations, including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead, the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades must be acquired through a variety of means that are both an improvement and a drawback.
In item upgrades , a number of new features have been added to the upgrade system. When a player has an upgrade to a certain item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading further items to that level will be less expensive, even if they are part of another set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is available across all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
Players have a number of options for upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are utilized during specific level upgrades for items. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used on equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, based on the kind of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing tasks at the appropriate level. This could mean doing outdoor activities, or by taking on dungeons and raids of any difficulty to earn lower-level gear or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, however it brings some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, when a piece of equipment reaches the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This is to allow players to get their equipment to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests wisely, as they are only used for one purpose. For instance, it's best to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests with the best equipment available and keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you plan to make. This is particularly applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The account-wide discount is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality equipment.