Five Killer Quora Answers On Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases item level by +3. Each upgrade also increases an unspecified substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as valuable for those with higher variance due to the need to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapons. However, the item upgrade used to upgrade will remain in use for a long time and can't be used again. Upgrades can be applied to Enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended to visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks, to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the level of the item but they will always be cheaper than buying new gear. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points purchasing a similar piece from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. They can be bought by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be used on any weapon or tool with the help of The button will display a preview of an item's next level of upgrade, in the event that there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrading is 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 plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. Once an item level upgrade is upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Item upgraders can be found at many locations, including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete specific achievements or quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no item upgrader available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades must be acquired through several methods that are both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3 the upgrade system has been altered a bit, with some new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a certain level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading additional items to that level will cost less, even when they belong to another set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a couple of options. They can use Flightstones that are a common upgrade currency that is available to everyone players, or crests that are more specific and used to upgrade specific levels of the item upgrader kit. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment of a particular rank, and that each rank has its own requirements for upgrading. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade can require up to 20 crests, contingent on the type or gear that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by working through content that is of the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. The crests can then be exchanged with an Item upgrade upgrader like Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and pathways.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, however it brings some changes to the process of upgrading. For instance, when an item is at the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This allows players to upgrade items their equipment to the highest possible level for all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another significant change is that crests have one usage, so it's important to use them wisely. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the highest-quality gear you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is especially relevant for items like trinkets and rings that take up several slots. The discount for the entire account is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.