WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a an increase in certain statistics. Each upgrade increases the
item upgrading level by +3. Each upgrade also boosts a random substat.
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). Upgrades are not as useful for the latter because of the requirement to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. However, the
item upgrades that is used to upgrade will remain in use for a long time and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to Enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks, to keep your equipment up to date.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the item level, however they'll always be cheaper than buying new equipment. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapons tools, armor, and accessories. They are purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for various currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any weapon, tool or armor. The button will show a preview of an item level upgrade,
this content,'s next upgrade level if there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the
item upgrades slot, and the current
item upgrades level. For example weapons cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain level it is able to be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currencies.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items in addition to the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount and the chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrading increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no item upgrader available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are available only through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit as well as an issue.
In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. After an upgrade has been completed to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This applies even if those items are from a different set of gear.
The discount is available to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW players have a couple of options. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an important part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
First, you must be aware that crests are only available for gear that is of a particular rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one can require as much as 20 crests depending on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. The crests can then be exchanged with an upgrader for the item like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and paths.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, however it does bring some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This change allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible level for all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable modification is that crests have one usage, so it's important to use them wisely. For instance it's a good idea to utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests with the
Best item upgrader gear you have available, and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to create. This is particularly relevant for rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character which can only be eligible to take advantage of the account-wide discount if all slots are filled with top-quality equipment.