14 Common Misconceptions About Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give you boosts in specific statistics. Each upgrade increases the level of an item upgrades by +3. A random extra substat is also added to each upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as useful for those with lower requirements 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 made on any type of weapon or armor. However, the item used for the upgrade will be consumed for the duration of time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enhancements.
The upgrader can be found in every major city, and is accessible at any time to upgrade your gear. To keep your gear current it is recommended you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item level upgrade (http://taikwu.com.tw/dsz/Home.php?mod=space&uid=792799) but they will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest up to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items which can be used to level up weapons, tools, armor, and other items. They can be purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for various currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will show the item's next upgrade level, if there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the slot for the item and the current level of the item upgrade. For instance weapons are more expensive than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain degree it is able to 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 provide both an upgrade discount and a chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players complete certain achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only available via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, many new features were added to the upgrade system. After the player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This is true regardless of whether the items come from another set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is account-wide. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
Players have a variety of choices when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be spent on gear of a specific rank, and every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complicated may require as many as 20 crests based on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by working through content that is of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. These crests can be exchanged with an upgrader like Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and routes.
The use of these currencies isn't too difficult, but the system does introduce some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, once an item is at the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is designed to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest level possible for all their characters rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests have one use therefore it's essential to use them properly. For instance it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrade equipment available and keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning to make. This is particularly relevant for rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character which can only be eligible to take advantage of the discount for all accounts when all of the slots are full of high-quality equipment.