Why You Should Concentrate On Improving Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a an increase in specific statistics. Each upgrade boosts the item level by +3. Each upgrade also boosts a random substat.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as useful for those with lower requirements because of the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any kind of armor or weapons. However, the item that is used to upgrade will be consumed forever and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities and is accessible at any time to upgrade your equipment. To keep your gear current it is recommended you visit the upgrader each few weeks.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item, but they will always be cheaper than buying new gear. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for weapons, armor, tools, and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor using an button, which will show an image of the item when it is upgraded in the event that the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot of the item and the current item level. For instance weapons are more expensive than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain degree it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Upgraders for items are available at many locations on the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade item coupon and the possibility of obtaining a new recipe. The upgrade discount increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items available at the start of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are available only through a variety of methods. This is both a positive and an issue.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with several new features added. After a player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item Level upgrade level, will cost less. This is true even if the items come from an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
Players have a variety of choices when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element 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 to purchase gear of a specific rank, and every rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and easiest upgrade item is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, based on the kind of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through tasks at the appropriate level. This could mean doing outdoor activities, or by doing dungeons or raids in all difficulty levels to obtain equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons that have a high difficulty for endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, however it brings some changes to the process of upgrading. When a piece of equipment attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it will no longer require Flightstones. This change allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest possible level on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests have one use therefore it's essential to use them wisely. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrader gear you can locate and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is particularly applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The discount for the entire account is only applicable when all slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.