WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases item level by +3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.

Upgraded gear generally sees higher trade value, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or a very high stat variation (like Eth titan weapons). These types of gear get less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll to get a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. However, the item used for the upgrade will be consumed forever and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.

You can upgrade your gear at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks, to keep your equipment up to date.

Upgrades will cost more depending on the item level, however, they are always cheaper than buying new equipment. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar item will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are functional items which can be used to level up weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be purchased by players through NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for various currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon or armor. The button will show the preview of an item's next upgrade level if there are enough materials.

Upgrade costs differ based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item upgrade. For instance weapons are more expensive than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades offer a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item upgrader mod has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.

Many locations have upgraders for their items which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon and a chance to obtain an entirely new recipe. The upgrade discount increases according to the number of items being upgraded. It can also be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or complete quests.

Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the start unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead, the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades are acquired via several methods, which is both an improvement but also a drawback.

In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. After a player has earned an upgrade to a certain level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading additional items to that same item level will cost less even when they belong to a different gear set.

The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is available across all accounts. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievement.

Crests

When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW players have a few choices. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level Upgrade level upgrades. Crests are an important element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.

The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be spent on gear of a specific rank, and every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The most basic and straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complex requires as many as 20 crests, based on the type of gear being upgraded.

Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, which means walking around and doing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.

Utilizing these new currencies isn't too difficult however, the system will introduce a few modifications to the upgrade process. For example, once an item upgrader mod is at the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change lets players upgrade their equipment to the highest possible level 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 Best item upgrader to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the top gear you have available, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to make. This is particularly true for items such as trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The discount for the entire account will only be applicable if all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.