WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades can give you an increase in specific stats. Each upgrade increases item level by 3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside each upgrade.

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 less valuable for those with lower requirements due to the need to roll the perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader allows players to upgrade item their gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be used to create enchantments.

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

The cost of upgrading will vary based on the current item level of the equipment being upgraded, but will always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar item will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that are used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor item upgrader and accessories. They are purchased by players from item upgrader NPCs in exchange for various currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will display the preview of an item's next upgrade level in the event that there are enough materials.

The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item. For example weapons cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. After an item upgrade has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.

Item upgraders can be found at many locations on the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The upgrade discount increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.

Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no item upgrader available at the start of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are available only through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit as well as an issue.

In Season 3 the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with some new features added. After a player has upgraded to a specific level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This applies regardless of whether the items come from a different set of equipment.

The discount is applicable to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced too, but it is only available once certain milestones are reached.

Crests

Players have several choices when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. They can choose to use Flightstones that are a general upgrade currency that is accessible to everyone players, or crests that are more specialized and are used to upgrade specific levels of the item. Crests are an integral component of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.

The first thing to remember is that crests can only be spent on equipment of a particular rank, and that every rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the most complicated can require as much as 20 crests depending on the type of gear that is being upgraded.

Players can earn crests by working through tasks at the appropriate level. This could be by doing outdoor activities, or by taking on dungeons and raids of any difficulty to earn lower-tier gear or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for gear in the endgame. These crests can be exchanged with an item upgrader such as 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 introduces some changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, when an item reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is intended to allow players to get their equipment to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.

Another important change is that crests have one usage therefore it's essential to use them properly. For instance, it's Best item upgrade to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the best equipment you have and keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning on making. This is particularly relevant for rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, that will be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount if all of the slots are full of high-quality gear.