WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades will give you a an increase in certain statistics. Each upgrade increases the level of an item level upgrade by 3. Each upgrade also boosts a random substat.

Upgraded gear generally sees greater value for 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 are less valuable from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrader enables players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by providing 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 be applied to enchantments.

The upgrader is located in all major cities, and is accessible at any time to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended to visit the upgrader every few weeks, to keep your equipment up-to-date.

Upgrades can cost more based on the item level, however, they are always cheaper than buying new gear. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest up to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items which can be used to upgrade weapons, tools, armor, and other accessories. They can be bought by players from NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for various currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be used on any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will display the preview of an item upgrader kit's next level of upgrade, when there are enough materials.

The cost of upgrading is based on the slot of the item and the current item level upgrade level, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests that are used. After an item upgrader kit has been upgraded to a certain amount and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currencies.

Many locations have upgraders for their items in addition to the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon and the chance to obtain an entirely new recipe. The upgrade discount increases with the number of items being upgraded. It is also possible to be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.

Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items at the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade require several methods which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.

In Season 3, a number of new features were added to the upgrade system. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a particular item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level will cost less, even when they belong to a different gear set.

The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is available across all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievements.

Crests

Players have a variety of options for upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade item. Crests are more specific and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.

The first thing to remember is that crests are only able to be spent on equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and easiest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complex upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, based on the type or gear being upgraded.

Players can earn crests through working through content that is of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for gear that is used in the endgame. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.

The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, however it does bring some changes to the upgrade process. For instance, when an item is at the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is designed to allow players to get their equipment up to the highest ilvl possible for all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.

It's also important to use crests wisely, as they have only one purpose. For instance, it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests with the best equipment you have, and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you're planning to make. This is particularly applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill multiple slots. The discount for the entire account is only applicable when all slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.