So You ve Bought Item Upgrade ... Now What
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you an increase in specific statistics. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. A random additional substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.
Upgraded gear generally sees greater value for trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or very high stat variance (like Eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as valuable for those with higher variance due to the requirement to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of armor or weapons. However, the item that is used for the upgrade will be consumed for the duration of time and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to Enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities and can be accessed at any time to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks, to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.
The cost of upgrades will vary based on the current level of the equipment being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest up to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. They are purchased by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for different currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any weapon, tool or armor. The button will display the preview of an item upgrades's next upgrade level, in the event that there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the item slot and the current level of the item and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers for instance. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with certain upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests used. Once an item upgrading is upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currencies.
Item upgraders can be found at many locations, including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases when more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no item upgrader available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that can be used to upgrade are acquired via several methods that are both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. After a player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This is true even if those items come from a different set of equipment.
The discount is available to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain achievement milestones.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW players have a couple of choices. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more special and are utilized during specific level upgrades for items. Crests are an integral element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used to purchase gear of a specific rank, and every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and simplest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, contingent on the type of equipment being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, which means walking around and doing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an item upgrader, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and paths.
The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, but it does bring some changes 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 upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
Another important change is that crests have one purpose and it's crucial to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance, it's Best item upgrade to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the best equipment you have and save Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you're planning to make. This is particularly applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The discount for the entire account is only applicable when all slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.