15 Reasons Why You Shouldn t Ignore Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by +3. A random additional substat is also increased with each upgrade.
Upgraded gear generally sees higher trade value as long as it meets low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variance (like Eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The Item level upgrade upgrader allows players to upgrade gear to a higher item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be used to create enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities and is accessible anytime to upgrade your gear. 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 depend on the current level of the gear being upgraded, but will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items which can be used to upgrade weapons, tools, armor, and accessories. They can be purchased by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for different currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will display a preview of an item's next upgrade level, when there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the item slot, and the current level of the item. For instance weapons are more expensive than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain level, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Upgraders for items are available at many locations including 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 with the number of items that are being upgraded, and can be increased by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no item level upgrade upgrader available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only accessible through a variety of methods. This is both a positive and a drawback.
In Season 3, the upgrade item system has been modified a bit, and some new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a specific item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading additional items to that same item level will cost less, even if they are part of a different gear set.
The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
Players have a number of choices when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specialized and are utilized during specific item upgrader kit level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment that is of a particular rank, and every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one can require as much as 20 crests depending on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through content that is of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons to obtain endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't that difficult, but the system does introduce some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This change allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible level for all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests wisely, as they are only used for one purpose. It is best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrade gear that you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly relevant for trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to avail the discount for all accounts when all of the slots are full of high-quality equipment.