Why You Should Focus On Enhancing Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The item level upgrade Upgrader
Upgrades give you boosts in specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by 3. A random substat is also added to each upgrade.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless the item has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are less important for the latter because of the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be made on any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to the enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every several weeks.
The cost of upgrading will be based on the current level of the item being upgraded, but will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items which can be used to upgrade weapons and tools, armor and accessories. They can be bought by players through item upgrading upgrader NPCs in exchange for various currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon or armor. The button will display the preview of an item's next upgrade level, in the event that there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot for the item level upgrade and the current level of the item upgrader mod. For example weapons cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades give discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items in addition to the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting a new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded, and can be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader mod upgrader at start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead, the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades are acquired via various methods, which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. After the player has upgraded to a certain item level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This is true even if those items come from a different set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is available across all accounts. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also cut 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 options. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specific and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment that is of a particular rank, and that each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and easiest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade can require up to 20 crests, contingent on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by completing content of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons to obtain endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an upgrader, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and pathways.
Using these new currencies isn't too difficult, but the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. When a piece of equipment has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it no longer requires Flightstones. This is to allow players to get their equipment to the highest level possible on all their characters, rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
Another significant change is that crests only have one usage therefore it's essential to use them wisely. For instance, it's a good idea make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests with the best gear you have available and save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning on making. This is especially true for items like rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character which will only be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount if all slots are full of high-quality equipment.