WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades can give you an increase in certain stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by 3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.

The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless the item level upgrade is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (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 allows players to upgrade gear to a higher 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 also be applied to enchantments.

You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear current, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks.

The cost of upgrades will depend on the current item level of the item being upgraded however, they will always be less expensive than buying new gear from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that can be used for tools, armor, weapon and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners in a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any tool, weapon or armor. The button will show a preview of an item's next upgrade level, in the event that there are enough materials.

The cost of upgrading is based on the item slot and current item level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than bracers or gloves, for instance. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades give discounts on Flightstones. After an item level upgrade has been upgraded to a certain degree it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.

Upgraders for items can be found at many locations including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount and the chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases depending on the amount of items that are being upgraded, and can be increased by requiring players to complete specific achievements or quests.

Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are only accessible via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit as well as a disadvantage.

In Season 3, the upgrade system was modified a bit, and some new features added. After an upgrade has been completed to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item upgrade level will cost less. This is true even if the items come from another set of equipment.

The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is affixed to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievement.

Crests

When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW players have a few choices. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.

The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used on equipment of a particular rank, and that every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and easiest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade requires up to 20 crests, depending on the kind of equipment being upgraded.

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

The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, however it brings some modifications to the upgrade process. For example, once an item is at the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change lets players upgrade their gear to the highest possible level for all their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.

Another important change is that crests have one use therefore it's essential to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests with the Best item upgrade gear you have available and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you plan to create. This is especially applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The account-wide discount will only be applicable if all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.