WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades can give you boost in specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of the item by +3. A random substat is also increased with every upgrade.

The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (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 item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be used to create enchantments.

You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear current it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each several weeks.

The cost of upgrading will depend on the current level of the equipment being upgraded but they will always be cheaper than buying new gear from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest 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 upgrade weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor with the help of button, which will show an item's preview at the next upgrade level in the event that the player has enough materials.

The upgrade cost depends on the item upgrade slot and current item upgrader mod level and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers for instance. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades give discounts on Flightstones. Once an item upgrader kit is upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of the two currency types.

Upgraders for items are available in many places including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade items coupon and a possibility of getting an entirely new recipe. The upgrade discount increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded. It can also be increased by requiring players to complete specific achievements or complete quests.

Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no upgrader for items available at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that can be used to upgrade are acquired via several methods that are both an improvement and a drawback.

In Season 3, a number of new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a certain level of an Item level Upgrade for a specific armor slot, upgrading further items to the same level will cost less, even if they are part of an entirely different set of gear.

The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced also, but is only available when certain milestones have been reached.

Crests

When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW players have a few options. Flightstones are an item 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 that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.

The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment of a particular rank, and each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade requires up to 20 crests, contingent on the type or equipment that is being upgraded.

Players can earn crests by completing content of the appropriate level, which means walking around and doing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons with all difficulty for items of higher tier, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons to obtain endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.

Using these new currencies isn't too complicated, but the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, once 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 is designed to allow players to get their equipment up to the highest level possible for all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.

Another notable modification is that crests have one purpose, so it's important to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance, it's a good idea utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests on the top equipment available, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you're planning to make. This is particularly relevant for items like rings and trinkets that occupy several slots. The account-wide discount will only apply when all slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.