15 Reasons To Not Be Ignoring Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a an increase in specific stats. Each upgrade increases the item level by +3. A random substat is also added to every upgrade.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item level upgrade, cool training, has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like the eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are less useful for the latter due to the requirement to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapon. However, the item upgrade that is used to upgrade will remain in use for a long time and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enhancements.
You can upgrade your equipment at any time 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 few weeks.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item, however they'll always be cheaper than buying new gear. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, purchasing a similar piece from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are useful items that can be used to upgrade weapons tools, armor, and accessories. Players can purchase them through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon, or armor. button, which will show an image of the item at the next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot for the item and the current level of the item. For instance weapons are more expensive than bracers, or gloves. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Certain upgrades provide discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items which include the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount as well as a chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The upgrade discount increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are only accessible through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was modified a bit, and several new features added. After an upgrade has been completed to a specific level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This is even if those items are from a different set of gear.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is reduced as well, but is only available once certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
Players have a variety of choices when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more special and are utilized during specific item upgrader mod level upgrades. Crests are an integral part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that the crests can only be purchased for equipment that is with a certain rank. Each rank has an upgrade path that is different. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade process costs just 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 earn crests through working through tasks at the appropriate level. This could mean doing outdoor activities or doing dungeons or raids in all difficulties to get lower-level gear or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons that have a high difficulty to obtain endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
Using these new currencies isn't too difficult however, the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, when an item is at the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is intended to allow players to get their gear up to the highest ilvl possible for all their characters rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one usage therefore it's essential to use them wisely. For instance it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the top gear you have available and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you're planning on making. This is especially applicable to rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount when all slots are filled with high-quality gear.