WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a an increase in certain statistics. Each upgrade increases item level by 3. Each upgrade also increases an unspecified substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like the eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are not as important for those with lower requirements due to the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrade r lets players upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. However, the item that is used for the upgrade will be consumed for the duration of time and can't be used again. Upgrades can be applied to Enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended to visit the upgrader once every few 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 they will always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment from other sources. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. item upgrading can be purchased through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners 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. button, which displays an item's preview when it is upgraded in the event that the player has enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot for the item and the current item level. For example weapons cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades give discounts on Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain level and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lower amount of the two currencies.
Upgraders for items can be found at many locations including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and a chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases when more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the start unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades require a variety of means that are both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, the upgrade system has been tweaked a bit, with numerous new features added. After a player has upgraded to a certain item level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This applies regardless of whether the items come from another set of equipment.
The discount is available to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is reduced also, but is only available when certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a couple of choices. They can make use of Flightstones that are a common upgrade currency that is available to all players, or crests that are more specialized and are consumed during upgrades at specific item levels. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that the crests can only be purchased for gear of a certain rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the most complex may require as many as 20 crests based on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through working through content that is of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't that difficult, but the system will introduce a few modifications to the upgrade process. For example, once an item 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 is to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest ilvl possible for all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests in a wise manner, as they have only one purpose. It's best to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment you can locate, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly applicable to items like trinkets and rings that take up multiple slots. The account-wide discount will only be applicable if all slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.