WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the item level by +3. Each upgrade also increases the random substatus.

The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless the item has low requirements 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 requirement to roll to get a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of armor or weapons. The item upgrades used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to the enchantments.

The upgrader is located in all major cities and is accessible anytime to upgrade your gear. To keep your gear current it is recommended you visit the upgrader every several weeks.

Upgrades will cost more, based on the item level, however they'll always be less expensive than purchasing new gear. For example upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points while purchasing the same Item level upgrade from another player will cost 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for different currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be applied to any weapon or tool with a The button will display the preview of an item's next upgrade level if there are enough materials.

The cost of upgrades varies based on the item slot and the current level of the item as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests used. Once an item upgrade has been upgraded to a certain level it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.

Upgraders for items are available in a variety of locations including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and the chance to obtain the latest recipe. The discount for upgrades increases with the number of items that are being upgraded. It can also be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or complete quests.

In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no item upgrader available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only accessible through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.

In Season 3 the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with several new features added. When a player has an upgrade to a particular item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading additional items to the same level will cost less even when they belong to an entirely different set of gear.

The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is reduced also, but is only available after certain milestones are achieved.

Crests

Players have a number of choices when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specific, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.

The first thing to remember is that the crests can only be purchased for gear that is of a particular rank. Each rank has an upgrade path that is different. The simplest and easiest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade can require up to 20 crests, depending on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.

Players can earn crests through working through content that is of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.

The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, but it brings some changes to the upgrade process. When a piece of equipment attains 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 up to the highest ilvl possible for all their characters rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.

It's also crucial to choose crests wisely, as they are only used for one purpose. For instance, it's a good idea use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrade equipment available and then save Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you plan to make. This is especially true for items such as trinkets and rings that take up multiple slots. The account-wide discount is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.