WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.
Upgraded gear generally sees more value in trade as long as it meets low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or very high stat variance (like eth titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. However, the item that is used to upgrade will be consumed forever and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can be applied to Enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended to visit the upgrader once every couple of weeks to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.
The cost of upgrading will depend on the current item level of the gear being upgraded however, they will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear from other sources. For instance, 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 useful items that can be used to level up weapons tools, armor, and accessories. They can be bought by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for different currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, item upgrades can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will show the item's next level of upgrade, if there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the item slot, and the current item level. For instance, weapons will cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with some upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items in addition to the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting an entirely new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases depending on the amount of items being upgraded, and can be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are available only through a variety means. This is both a benefit and a disadvantage.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. Once an upgrade has been completed to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This is true even if the items come from another set of gear.
The discount is available to all accounts. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced 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 an option that is accessible to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be used on gear of a specific rank, and every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, based on the kind of equipment being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by finishing tasks at the appropriate level. This could mean engaging in outdoor activities or taking on dungeons and raids of any difficulty to earn equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons with a heroic difficulty to obtain endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and pathways.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, but it brings some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, when an item is at the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl for all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests with care, since they have only one purpose. For instance it's best to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the best equipment available, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you plan on making. This is especially relevant for items like trinkets and rings that take up several slots. The discount on the account will only apply when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality equipment.