What s Holding Back This Item Upgrade Industry
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the item level by +3. Each upgrade also boosts an unspecified substat.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). These types of gear get 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 applied to any kind of armor or weapon. The item upgrader kit used to upgrade the Item Level Upgrade will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader once every few weeks to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
The cost of upgrades will be based on the current level of the item being upgraded but they will always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment from other sources. For instance upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, while buying a similar item from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items which can be used to upgrade weapons tools, armor, and other accessories. They can be purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for different currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade items is able to be used on any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will show a preview of an item's next upgrade level in the event that there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot of the item and the current item level. For example weapons are more expensive than bracers, or gloves. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades give a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Many locations offer item upgraders in addition to the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting a new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases depending on the amount of items being upgraded. It can also be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades must be acquired through several methods which is both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, the upgrade system has been modified a bit, and several new features added. Once 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 true regardless of whether the items come from an entirely different set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is reduced too, but it is only available when certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW players have a few options. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized 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 come in four ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be spent on gear of a specific rank, and that each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade requires up to 20 crests, based on the type or gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through finishing tasks at the appropriate level. This could mean engaging in outdoor activities or taking on dungeons and raids of any difficulty to earn lower-level gear or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons that have a high difficulty for gear in the endgame. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade item routes and steps.
The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, but it does bring some modifications to the upgrade items process. When a piece of equipment attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl for all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another significant modification is that crests have one usage, so it's important to make use of them in a responsible manner. It is recommended to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment that you can find, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is especially relevant for trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to benefit from the discount for all accounts when all slots are filled with high-quality gear.