WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also boosts an unspecified substat.

Upgraded gear generally sees greater value for trade regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or very high stat variance (like the eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any kind of weapon or armor. However, the item level upgrade used to upgrade will remain in use for a long time and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enhancements.

The upgrader can be found in every major city, and can be visited at any time to upgrade your gear. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader at least once every couple of weeks to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.

Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item but they will always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment. For instance upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points, while buying a similar item from another player will cost 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are functional items that are used to level up weapons, tools, armor, and other items. They can be purchased through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners in a variety of currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any tool, weapon or armor. button, which will show an item level Upgrade's preview when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient materials.

The cost of upgrading is based on the slot of the item 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 costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain level it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.

Many locations offer item upgraders in addition to 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 for upgrades increases with the number of items being upgraded. It is also possible to be increased by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.

Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only available through a variety means. This is both a positive and an issue.

In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a specific item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading further items to the same level will cost less even if 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. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievements.

Crests

Players have several options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specialized and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.

The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be spent on gear of a specific rank, and that every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complex upgrade items can require up to 20 crests, contingent on the type of gear that is being upgraded.

Players can earn crests by finishing tasks at the appropriate level. This could be done by engaging in outdoor activities or completing dungeons and raids in all difficulty levels to obtain lower-level gear or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.

Utilizing these new currencies isn't too complicated, but the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. When a piece of equipment has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it will no longer require Flightstones. This change is designed to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.

Another important modification is that crests have one usage and it's crucial to use them properly. It is best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you can locate, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is especially applicable to 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.