WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades can give you boosts in specific statistics. Each upgrade boosts the level of the item by +3. A random additional substat is also added to each upgrade.

Upgraded gear is generally more useful, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like the eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as important for those with higher variance due to the need to roll a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader allows players to upgrade gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapons. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enhancements.

The upgrader is located in all major cities, and is accessible at any time to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks to keep your equipment up to date.

Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item upgrade, however, they are always less expensive than purchasing new equipment. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to 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 can be bought by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased, it can be applied to any weapon or tool using a button, which displays an image of the item upgrades when it is upgraded when the player has enough materials.

Upgrade costs vary depending on the item slot, and the current item level. For example weapons are more expensive than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.

Many locations have upgraders for their items, including the main Island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount and the chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases depending on the amount of items being upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete some specific achievements or quests.

Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades are acquired via a variety of means, which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.

In Season 3, the upgrade system was altered a bit, with numerous new features added. After an upgrade has been completed to a certain level of Item Level Upgrade for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This is regardless of whether the items come from another set of equipment.

The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain achievement milestones.

Crests

When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW players have a couple of choices. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.

The first thing to remember is that crests are only able to be spent on equipment of a particular rank, and that each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the most complex can require as much as 20 crests depending on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.

Players can earn crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulty for items of higher tier, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrades upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.

Using these new currencies isn't too difficult, but the system will introduce a few modifications to the upgrade item process. When a piece reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This change lets players upgrade their equipment to the highest possible level for all their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.

It's also essential to use crests with care, since they have only one purpose. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment you can find, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly true for items like trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character that will be able to benefit from the discount for all accounts when all of the slots are full of high-quality equipment.