WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also increases an unspecified substat.

The more modernized gear generally has a higher trade value regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or very high stat variance (like eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any kind of armor or weapons. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.

The upgrader can be found in all major cities and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your gear. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks to ensure that your equipment is up to date.

Upgrades will cost more, based on the Item level upgrade level, but they will always be cheaper than buying new gear. For example upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item upgrading from another player will costs 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that can be used for weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any weapon, tool or armor. button, which will show a preview of the item at its next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.

The cost of upgrading is based on the item slot and the current item level, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain degree it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.

Many locations offer item upgraders which include the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to get a brand new upgrade items recipe. The discount for upgrades increases depending on the amount of items that are being upgraded, and can be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or complete quests.

In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no item upgrader available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only available via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit and a drawback.

In Season 3 the upgrade system has been modified a bit, and some new features added. Once a player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This is regardless of whether the items come from another set of equipment.

The discount applies to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players achieve certain achievement milestones.

Crests

Players have a number of options for upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specific, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.

First, you must be aware that the crests can only be purchased for gear of a certain rank. Each rank comes with distinct upgrade paths. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complex may require as many as 20 crests depending on the type of gear that is being upgraded.

Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of any difficulty for higher-tier items, or item level upgrade Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.

The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, however it brings some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, when a piece of equipment reaches the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it will no longer 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 important to use crests in a wise manner, as they are only used for one purpose. For instance, Item level upgrade it's best to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the top gear you have available and save Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you plan to make. This is especially 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 high-quality equipment.