11 Ways To Completely Revamp Your Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the level of the item by +3. A random additional substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more useful, unless the item has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as important for those with higher variance due to the requirement to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item level Upgrade upgrader enables players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be made on any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to the enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.
The cost of upgrading will be based on the current level of the item upgrading being upgraded however, they will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear from other sources. For example upgrading a Benthic chest piece to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for a variety of currencies. They can also find them in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade items is purchased, it can be used on any weapon or tool using a button, which displays an item's preview at the next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading is based on the slot of the item and the current item level and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades give a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of both 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 the chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The upgrade discount increases according to the number of items being upgraded, and can be boosted by having players complete specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are available only via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit as well as an issue.
In Season 3, many new features were added to the upgrade system. After a player has upgraded to a certain item upgrader mod level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This applies regardless of whether the items are from another set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is cut as well, but is only available after certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
Players have a variety of options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade item. Crests are more specific, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come 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 that each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, based on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing tasks at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities, or by doing dungeons or raids in all difficulties to get lower-level gear or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons with heroic difficulty to obtain endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too complicated however, the system introduces some changes to the overall upgrade process. Once a piece of gear has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it will no longer require Flightstones. This is to allow players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible for all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another important modification is that crests have one use, so it's important to use them properly. For instance it's a good idea to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests with the best equipment you have and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning to create. This is especially applicable to items like trinkets and rings that take up several slots. The discount on the account will only apply when all slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.