WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases item level by +3. A random additional substat is also boosted alongside each upgrade.

The upgraded gear typically has a more value in trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or a very high stat variation (like Eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect model.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of weapon or armor. However, the item used for the upgrade will remain in use for a long time and can't be used again. Upgrades can be applied to the enchantments.

You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each several weeks.

Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item however, they are always cheaper than purchasing new gear. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points purchasing a similar piece from a different player will cost 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items which can be used to level up weapons and tools, armor and other items. They can be purchased from NPCs of item upgrade upgraders for various currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any weapon, tool or armor. The button will show a preview of an item level upgrade's next upgrade level, when there are enough materials.

The cost of upgrades varies based on the slot of the item and the current item Level upgrade level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain level it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.

Many locations have upgraders for their items, including the main Island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount and a chance to get a brand new upgrade item recipe. The discount for upgrading 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 upgrader for items at the start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades are acquired via various methods, which is both an improvement but also a drawback.

In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. After an upgrade has been completed to a certain item level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This is regardless of whether the items come from an entirely different set of gear.

The discount is available to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievements.

Crests

Players have a number of options when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an important element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.

The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment of a particular rank, and that every rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade can require up to 20 crests, depending on the type or equipment that is being upgraded.

Players can earn crests by working through content at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities, or by doing dungeons or raids in all difficulty levels to obtain lower-tier gear or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons with heroic difficulty to obtain endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an item upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and pathways.

Utilizing these new currencies isn't too complicated, but the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. Once a piece of gear attains the highest level of upgrade item 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 significant change is that crests have one usage, so it's important to use them wisely. It's best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the top-quality equipment you can locate and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially relevant for trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character, that will be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount when all of the slots are filled with high-quality gear.