Are You Getting The Most Value From Your Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item Level upgrade by 3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade item the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enhancements.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks.
The cost of upgrading will be based on the current level of the equipment being upgraded but they will always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest up to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. They are purchased by players through NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for various currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be applied to any weapon or tool using an button, which will show an image of the item at its next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the item slot, and the current item level. For instance weapons cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with some upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of Flightstones or crests used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain degree, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases according to the number of items being upgraded. It can also be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only available through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit and an issue.
In Season 3, many new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once the player has upgraded 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 are from an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain achievement milestones.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW, players have a couple of choices. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests can only be used on gear of a specific rank, and that each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one can require as much as 20 crests based on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an item upgrades upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, however it will bring some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it no longer requires Flightstones. This change allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest level possible for all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable modification is that crests have one use and it's crucial to use them wisely. It's best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear that you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is especially true for items like trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which can only be eligible to benefit from the discount for all accounts when all of the slots are filled with high-quality equipment.