WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades can give you boost in specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the item level by +3. A random additional substat is also added to every upgrade.

The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as useful for those with higher variance due to the requirement to roll the perfect version.

Recycle Points

The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.

The upgrader can be found 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 that you visit the upgrader every few weeks.

Upgrades can cost more based on the item level, however they'll always be cheaper than buying new equipment. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are functional items that can be used to level up weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be bought by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for different currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor using a button, which will show an item's preview at its next upgrade level in the event that the player has enough materials.

The cost of upgrading is based on the item slot and current item level and the weapon's price is higher than bracers or gloves, for instance. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of Flightstones or crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currency types.

Item upgraders can be found in many places on the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and a chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.

In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no item upgrader available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades require several methods, which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.

In Season 3 the upgrade system has been tweaked a bit, with some new features added. Once a player has upgraded to a specific level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This applies even if the items are from an entirely different set of gear.

The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is available across all accounts. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievements.


Crests

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

The first thing to remember is that crests are only available for gear that is of a particular rank. Each rank comes with a different upgrade path. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade can require up to 20 crests, based on the type or equipment being upgraded.

Players can earn crests by working through content that is of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons of all difficulty for items of higher tier, or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses to obtain endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.

The use of these currencies isn't too complicated, but the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. For example, once an item is at the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest possible level on all their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.

Another significant change is that crests have one purpose and it's crucial to make use of them in a responsible manner. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the top-quality equipment you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially relevant for rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character which will only be able to avail the account-wide discount if all of the slots are full of high-quality gear.