9 Signs That You re The Item Upgrade Expert
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also boosts an unspecified substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless the item has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are less important for the latter due to the requirement to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. However, the item used for the upgrade will be consumed forever and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each several weeks.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item level Upgrade, but they will always be cheaper than buying new equipment. For instance, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapons, armor, tools, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from NPCs of item upgraders in a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any tool, weapon or armor. button, which displays a preview of the item upgrades at the next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the item slot, and the current level of the item. For instance weapons cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain degree, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Many locations have upgraders for their items which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon and a possibility of getting the latest recipe. The discount on upgrades increases as more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only available through a variety means. This is both a benefit as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was modified a bit, and several new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a certain level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading additional items to that same Best item upgrade level will be less expensive, even if they are part of a different gear set.
The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a couple of choices. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more special, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests can only be used on equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has its own requirements for upgrading. The simplest and easiest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade requires up to 20 crests, based on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, which means walking around and doing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't too difficult however, the system introduces some changes to the overall upgrade process. Once a piece of gear reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it no longer requires Flightstones. This allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible level on all of their characters rather than relying on seasonal loot.
Another important modification is that crests have one use and it's crucial to use them wisely. For instance, it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests with the Best item upgrader equipment available and save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning to create. This is especially relevant for rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character which will only be able to avail the discount for all accounts when all slots are filled with top-quality gear.