WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades can give you boosts in specific statistics. Each upgrade increases the level of the item by +3. A random extra substat is also increased with every upgrade.

Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless the item has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (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 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 type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade items the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enhancements.

You can upgrade your equipment at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks.

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

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapon, armor, tool and accessory upgrades. Players can purchase them from NPCs of item upgraders for a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any weapon, tool or armor. The button will display a preview of an item level upgrade's next level of upgrade, if there are enough materials.

Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot for the item and the current level of the Item Level Upgrade. For instance weapons are more expensive than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades give discounts on Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain level and is degraded, it can be sold and sold back to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currency types.

Upgraders for items can be found in a variety of locations on the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount and the chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrading increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.

Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are only available through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit and a drawback.

In Season 3, a number of new features have been added to the upgrade system. When a player has an upgrade to a particular item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading other items to that level will be less expensive, even when they are part of another set of gear.

The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is decreased, 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 achieve certain milestones in their achievements.

Crests

Players have a variety of options when it comes to upgrading their gear 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 a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.

The first thing to remember is that Crests are only available to equipment that is that is of a particular rank. Each rank has a different upgrade path. The simplest and simplest upgrade route costs 15 crests while the most complicated requires as many as 20 crests, based on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.

Players can obtain crests by working through content that is of the appropriate level, which means walking around and doing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an upgrader for the item such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and paths.

Using these new currencies isn't too difficult, but the system does introduce some modifications to the upgrade process. Once a piece of gear reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it no longer requires Flightstones. This change allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible on all of their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.

Another notable modification is that crests have one use and it's crucial to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance, it's a good idea make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the best equipment available and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning to create. This is particularly relevant for trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount if all of the slots are filled with top-quality gear.