WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases item level by 3. Each upgrade items also increases a random substat.

The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless the item has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the requirement to roll to get a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader enables 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. However, the item that is used to upgrade will be consumed forever and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be used to create enchantments.

You can upgrade your gear at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended to visit the upgrader every few weeks, to keep your equipment up to date.

The cost of upgrades will depend on the current level of the gear being upgraded however, they will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear from other sources. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, while buying a similar item from a different player will cost 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase tools, armor, weapon and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for different currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased, it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor using the help of button, which will show a preview of the item when it is upgraded when the player has enough materials.

The cost of upgrades varies based on the item slot and current item level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lower amount of the two currencies.

Many locations have upgraders for their items in addition to the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon and the possibility of getting a new recipe. The upgrade items discount increases when more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.

Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades are acquired via a variety of means, which is both an improvement but also a drawback.

In Season 3 the upgrade system has been tweaked a bit, with numerous new features added. When a player has an upgrade to a particular level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level will cost less even if they belong to a different gear set.

The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is available across all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain achievement milestones.

Crests

When upgrading gear in WoW, players have a couple of options. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized and are utilized during specific item level upgrade (recommended site) level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.

The first thing to remember is that crests can only be spent on gear of a specific rank, and each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complex may require as many as 20 crests based on the type of gear that is being upgraded.

Players can obtain crests by completing content of the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons with all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.

The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it does bring some changes to the upgrade process. When a piece reaches 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 possible ilvl on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.

It's also important to use crests wisely, as they are only used for one purpose. For instance it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrader gear you have available, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you plan to make. This is particularly applicable to trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character, that will be able to avail the account-wide discount when all slots are filled with high-quality gear.