20 Things You Should Know About Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are not as important for the latter due to the requirement to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their 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 can't be used again. Upgrades can be applied to the enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities, and is accessible anytime to upgrade your equipment. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each several weeks.
The cost of upgrading will vary based on the current level of the Item Level Upgrade being upgraded however, they will always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items which can be used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. Players can purchase them through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor using a button, which will display an image of the item when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the item slot and current item level, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers, for instance. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain level, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Upgraders for items can be found in many places on the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and the chance to obtain an entirely new recipe. The upgrade discount increases depending on the amount of items being upgraded, and can be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no item upgrader available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are only accessible through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.
In Season 3, a number of new features were added to the upgrade system. After a player has earned an upgrade to a certain level of an item upgrader mod for a specific armor slot, upgrading additional items to that level will be less expensive, even when they belong to an entirely different set of gear.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
Players have a number of options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used on equipment that is of a particular rank, and that each rank has its own requirements for upgrading. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade items process costs just 15 crests while the most complex can require as much as 20 crests depending on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through working through content at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities, or by completing dungeons and raids in all difficulty levels to obtain lower-level gear or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, however it brings some changes to the process of upgrading. When a piece has reached 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 on all of their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable modification is that crests have one use, so it's important to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance, it's best to utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests with the Best item upgrade equipment you have, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you plan on making. This is particularly relevant for items like rings and trinkets that occupy several slots. The account-wide discount is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.