WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades will give you a boost in certain statistics. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also increases an unspecified substat.

Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless the item has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader enables players to upgrade gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to Enchantments.

The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be visited at any time to upgrade your gear. To keep your gear up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.

The cost of upgrades will depend on the current level of the equipment being upgraded however, they will always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment from other sources. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points while purchasing the same item from another player will costs 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items which can be used to upgrade weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be bought by players from item upgrader NPCs in exchange for different currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will display the preview of an item's next upgrade level in the event that there are enough materials.

Upgrade costs vary depending on the item slot, and the current Item level Upgrade level. For example, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. After an item upgrading has been upgraded to a certain level it is able to be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currencies.

A lot of locations offer upgraders for items in addition to the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and a chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases with the number of items being upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete specific achievements or complete quests.

Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the start unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are only accessible through a variety means. This is both a benefit as well as a disadvantage.

In Season 3, the upgrade system has been altered a bit, with some new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a specific level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading further items to that same item upgrading level will cost less even if they are part of another set of gear.

The discount is applicable to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievements.

Crests

Players have a variety of options for upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone who wants to upgrade items. Crests are more specific, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.

The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used on gear of a specific rank, and each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and easiest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade requires up to 20 crests, contingent on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.

Players can obtain crests by completing content of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons of any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. These crests are then exchanged with an upgrader for the item, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and paths.

Using these new currencies isn't that difficult, but the system does introduce some changes to the overall 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 won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is intended to allow players to upgrade their equipment to the highest ilvl possible for all their characters rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.

Another significant change is that crests only have one use, so it's important to use them properly. It is recommended to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment you can find and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is especially applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill several slots. The discount for the entire account is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.