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WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.
The upgraded gear typically has a higher trade value, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or very high stat variation (like Eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as valuable for the latter due to the need to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The Item level upgrade upgrader enables players to upgrade gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enhancements.
You can upgrade your equipment at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended to visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks, to keep your equipment up-to-date.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the item level upgrade level, however they'll always be cheaper than buying new equipment. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are useful items which can be used to level up weapons, tools, armor, and other items. They can be purchased through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for various currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor with a button, which displays an image of the item at its next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the slot of the item level upgrade and the current level of the item as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers for example. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currencies.
Item upgraders can be found in a variety of locations including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded, and can be increased by having players complete specific achievements or quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no upgrader for items available at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades are acquired via a variety of means that are both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3 the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with some new features added. Once an upgrade has been completed to a certain item upgrades level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This applies regardless of whether the items are from another set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade items is cut also, but is only available once certain milestones are reached.
Crests
Players have a variety 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 during specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be used on equipment of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the most complex requires as many as 20 crests, based on the type of equipment being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for gear that is used in the endgame. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
Using these new currencies isn't too complicated however, the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. When a piece attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it will no longer require Flightstones. This change is designed to allow players to upgrade their gear up to the highest level possible on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests in a wise manner, as they are only used for one purpose. It is best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially applicable to rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character which can only be eligible to take advantage of the discount for all accounts when all of the slots are full of high-quality gear.