WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the item level by +3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like eth Titan weapons). These types of gear get less value from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to the 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 once every few weeks to keep your equipment up to date.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the item level, but they will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for tools, armor, weapon and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from item upgraders NPCs for various currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be applied to any weapon or tool using a button, which displays an image of the item at the next upgrade level in the event that the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading is based on the slot of the item and current item level and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers for example. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades give a discount on the Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currency types.
Many locations have upgraders for their items in addition to the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting an entirely new recipe. The discount for upgrading increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades must be acquired through various methods that are both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In item upgrades was tweaked a bit, with some new features added. When a player has an upgrade to a specific level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level will cost less even if they are part of a different gear set.
The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain achievement milestones.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a variety of choices. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more special and are utilized during specific level upgrades for items. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
First, you should know that crests are only available for gear with a certain rank. Each rank comes with an upgrade path that is different. The most basic and straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the most complex requires as many as 20 crests, based on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing tasks at the appropriate level. This could be done by engaging in outdoor activities or taking on dungeons and raids of all difficulties to get equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons that have a high difficulty to obtain endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, however it brings some changes to the process of upgrading. For instance, when 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 get their equipment up to the highest level possible on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another significant change is that crests have one usage therefore it's essential to use them properly. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you can locate, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is especially applicable to items like trinkets and rings that take up several slots. The account-wide discount will only be applicable if all slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.