WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases item level by 3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher item level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind 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 equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item, however they'll always be cheaper than buying new equipment. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. If item upgrades purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased from item upgraders NPCs in a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any tool, weapon, or armor. The button will display the item's next upgrade level when there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item. For instance weapons are more expensive than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of the two currency types.
Many locations offer item upgraders which include the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases with the number of items being upgraded, and can be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at start unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade require a variety of means that are both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a specific level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading additional items to that level will cost less even if they are part of another set of gear.
The discount is available to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a couple of choices. They can make use of Flightstones that are a general upgrade currency that is available to all players, or crests, which are more specific and consumed during upgrades on specific levels of items. Crests are a crucial component of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests can only be used to purchase equipment that is of a particular rank, and that each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and simplest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade requires up to 20 crests, depending on the type or equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through tasks at the appropriate level. This could be done by engaging in outdoor activities or doing dungeons or raids in all difficulty levels to obtain equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons with heroic difficulty for gear in the endgame. These crests can be exchanged with an upgrader like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and routes.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't that difficult, but the system does introduce some modifications to the upgrade process. For example, once an item reaches the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible on all of their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests in a wise manner, as they only have one use. For instance it's a good idea use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the top equipment you have and save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning to create. This is especially true for items like 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 high-quality gear.