Indisputable Proof Of The Need For Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the level of the item by +3. Each upgrade also increases the random substatus.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a high variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as valuable for those with higher variance due to the need to roll an exact 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 type of weapon or armor. The Best item upgrader used to upgrade the item will be consumed 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. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the Best item upgrade level upgrade (Wifidb wrote), however, they are always cheaper than purchasing new equipment. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest up to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for various currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be used on any weapon or tool with an button, which displays a preview of the item at its next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item and current item level as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers for instance. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain level it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Item upgraders can be found at many locations including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon and a possibility of obtaining a new recipe. The upgrade discount increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players complete certain achievements or complete quests.
In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no item upgrader available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades are acquired via various methods which is both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, many new features were added to the upgrade system. After a player has earned an upgrade to a specific level of an item level upgrade for a specific armor slot, upgrading further items to the same level will be less expensive, even in the event that they are part of an entirely different set of gear.
The discount is available to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also reduced 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 an option that is accessible to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
First, you should know that crests are only available for equipment that is of a particular rank. Each rank has distinct upgrade item paths. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the most complicated requires as many as 20 crests depending on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing content at the appropriate level. This could mean engaging in outdoor activities or completing dungeons and raids in any difficulty to earn lower-level gear or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for gear in the endgame. These crests can then be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too complicated, but the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. For example, once an item reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest possible ilvl on all of their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another important modification is that crests have one use, so it's important to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance, it's a good idea use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the top gear you have available and then save Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you plan to create. This is especially relevant for trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount when all slots are full of high-quality equipment.