What You Should Be Focusing On Improving Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by +3. A random substat is also boosted alongside each upgrade.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the requirement to roll to get a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item 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. However, the item used to upgrade will remain in use for a long time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enhancements.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your equipment. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each several weeks.
The cost of upgrading will vary based on the current item Level upgrade level of the gear being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than buying new gear from other sources. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points purchasing a similar piece from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items that are used to upgrade weapons, tools, armor, and other accessories. They can be purchased by players from item upgraders NPCs in a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor with a The button will display the item upgrader mod's next upgrade level if there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item. For instance weapons are more expensive than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of Flightstones or crests that are used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain degree and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currency types.
Many locations have upgraders for their items which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and the possibility of obtaining the latest recipe. The upgrade discount increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players complete certain achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade must be acquired through several methods, which is both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, many new features have been added to the upgrade system. After a player has upgraded to a certain item upgrade level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This is true even if those items come from a different set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is available across all accounts. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW players have a few choices. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system 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 each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the more complex one may require as many as 20 crests, based on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by finishing content 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 Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons that have a high difficulty for endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
Using these new currencies isn't that difficult however, the system introduces some changes to the overall upgrade process. For example, once an item reaches the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl on all of their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests in a wise manner, as they only have one use. For instance it's best to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrade equipment available, and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to make. This is particularly true for items like rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character, that will be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount if all of the slots are filled with top-quality gear.