WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by +3. A random additional substat is also added to every upgrade.

The upgraded gear typically has a more value in trade as long as it meets low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or a very high stat variance (like eth titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect model.

Recycle Points

The Item Level upgrade upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. However, the item used for the upgrade will be consumed forever and can't be used again. Upgrades can be applied to enchantments.

The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and can be visited anytime 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 upgrading will be based on the current item level of the gear being upgraded, but will always be cheaper than buying new gear from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are useful items that are used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and accessories. They can be bought by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for various currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon, or armor. The button will show the item level upgrade's next level of upgrade, when there are enough materials.

The upgrade cost depends on the item slot and the current level of the item upgrading, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades give a discount on the Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currency types.

Item upgraders can be found in a variety of locations on the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and the chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The upgrade discount increases according to the number of items being upgraded. It is also possible to be increased by having players complete specific achievements or quests.

Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are only available via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.

In Season 3, the upgrade system has been altered a bit, with several new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a particular item upgrades level for a particular armor slot, upgrading additional items to the same level will cost less even in the event that they belong to another set of gear.

The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is account-wide. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievement.

Crests

Players have a number of options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are used for 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.

The first thing to be aware of is that crests can only be used on gear of a specific rank, and that each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade path 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 tasks at the appropriate level. This could be by doing outdoor activities, or by taking on dungeons and raids of all difficulties to get equipment of lower tier or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an upgrader for the item upgrader mod like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and routes.

The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it brings some changes to the process of upgrading. When a piece attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it will no longer require Flightstones. This is to allow players to get their equipment to the highest possible ilvl for all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.

It's also essential to use crests wisely, as they only have one use. It's best to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment that you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is particularly relevant for rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character which will only be able to avail the account-wide discount when all slots are filled with top-quality gear.