WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by 3. A random additional substat is also increased with every upgrade.

Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless the item upgrader kit has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect model.

Recycle Points

The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade gear to a higher item 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 will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.

You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear current it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each few weeks.

Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item but they will always be cheaper than buying new gear. For example upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points purchasing a similar piece from another player will costs 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are useful items that are used to level up weapons, tools, armor, and other items. They are purchased by players from NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for different currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor using the help of button, which displays an image of the item at its next upgrade level in the event that the player has enough materials.

The cost of upgrading varies based on the item slot, and the current item level. For instance weapons are more expensive than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain level it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.

Upgraders for items can be found at many locations, including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to get a brand 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 complete quests.

Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no upgrader for items available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades are acquired via a variety of means, which is both an improvement and a drawback.

In Season 3 the upgrade system has been tweaked a bit, with some new features added. Once a player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This is true regardless of whether the items are from another set of equipment.

The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is reduced as well, but is only available when certain milestones are reached.

Crests

When upgrading equipment in WoW players have a couple of options. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific Item level upgrade level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.

First, you must be aware that crests are only available for equipment that is of a particular rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade item process costs just 15 crests while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests based on the type of equipment being upgraded.

Players can earn crests through completing content of the appropriate level, which means walking around and doing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulty for items of higher tier, or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an item upgrading upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.

The new currency system isn't difficult to use, however it will bring some modifications to the upgrade process. Once a piece of gear has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This change lets players upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl on all of their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.

It's also essential to use crests in a wise manner, as they are only used for one purpose. For instance, it's a good idea utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests with the Best item upgrade equipment available, and then save Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you're planning to create. This is particularly true for items such as trinkets and rings that fill several slots. The account-wide discount will only apply when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality equipment.