WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by +3. A random additional substat is also added to each upgrade.

Upgraded gear generally sees more value in trade regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or a very high stat variation (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 by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be used to create Enchantments.

The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and can be accessed at any time to upgrade your gear. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.

The cost of upgrading will be based on the current level of the equipment being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment from other sources. For instance upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, while buying a similar item from another player will costs 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from item upgrader NPCs in exchange for various currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased, it can be used on any weapon or tool with the help of The button will show a preview of an item's next upgrade level, if there are enough materials.

The upgrade cost depends on the item slot and the current item level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers for instance. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. Once an item upgrading is upgraded to a certain degree and is degraded, it can be sold and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currencies.

A lot of locations offer upgraders for items, including the main Island and some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and the chance to obtain a new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items being upgraded. It is also possible to be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.

Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the start unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades require a variety of means which is both an improvement but also a drawback.

In Season 3, many new features were added to the upgrade system. After an upgrade has been completed to a specific level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This is regardless of whether the items come from an entirely different set of gear.

The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is cut also, but is only available after certain milestones are reached.

Crests

Players have several options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.

The first thing to note is that crests can only be used to purchase gear of a specific rank, and that each rank has its own requirements for upgrading. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complex upgrade can require up to 20 crests, contingent on the kind of gear being upgraded.

Players can earn crests by completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, 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. Crests can be exchanged at an Item Level Upgrade upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade item paths and steps.

The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it does bring some changes to the upgrade process. For example, once a piece of equipment 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 change is designed to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.

It's also essential to use crests in a wise manner, as they are only used for one purpose. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the highest-quality gear you can find and save Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is especially applicable to trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character that will be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount when all slots are filled with top-quality equipment.