WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

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

Upgraded gear generally sees more value in trade regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or has a high stat variation (like eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as valuable for the latter due to the requirement to roll the 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 kind of armor or weapon. However, the item that is used for the upgrade will remain in use for a long time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can be applied to enchantments.

The upgrader can be found in all major cities and is accessible at any time to upgrade your equipment. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.

The cost of upgrading will depend on the current level of the gear being upgraded however, they will always be less expensive than buying new equipment from other sources. For example, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, while buying a similar item from another player will cost 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are functional items that can be used to level up weapons tools, armor, and other accessories. They can be purchased by players from item upgraders NPCs for various currencies. They can also find them in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will show the preview of an item upgrade's next upgrade level, if there are enough materials.

The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item level upgrade - read this - and the current level of the item upgrading and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Certain upgrades provide discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currencies.

Upgraders for items are available at many locations including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of obtaining a new recipe. The discount for upgrading increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.

Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade are acquired via several methods, which is both an improvement and a drawback.

In Season 3 the upgrade system was altered a bit, with several new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a particular level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading further items to the same level will cost less even in the event that they belong to a different gear set.

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 required for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievements.

Crests

When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a few choices. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more special and are utilized during specific item upgrading level upgrades. Crests are an integral part 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 used to purchase equipment that is of a particular rank, and that each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complicated may require as many as 20 crests, based on the type of gear that is being upgraded.

Players can earn crests through completing content at the appropriate level. This could mean doing outdoor activities or doing dungeons or raids in all difficulties to get lower-tier gear or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons with heroic difficulty to obtain endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.

The new currency system isn't difficult to use, but it will bring some changes to the process of upgrading. For example, once an item is at the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This is to allow players to upgrade their gear up to the highest ilvl possible for all their characters rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.

It's also important to use crests with care, since they have only one purpose. It is best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the highest-quality gear you can locate and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is especially applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The account-wide discount will only apply when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality equipment.