Are You Getting The Most Value You 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. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless the item has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. However, the item that is used to upgrade will be consumed forever and will not be able to 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 keep your gear current it is recommended you visit the upgrader each couple of weeks.
The cost of upgrading will depend on the current level of the Item Level Upgrade being upgraded but they will always be less expensive than buying new equipment from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest up to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items which can be used to upgrade weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be bought by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased, it can be used on any weapon or tool with an button, which will display a preview of the item at its next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item and the current item level and the weapon's price is higher than bracers or gloves, for instance. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests used. Once an item upgrade is upgraded to a certain level it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Many locations offer item upgraders in addition to the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The upgrade discount increases with the number of items that are being upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades must be acquired through a variety of means, which is both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3 the upgrade system has been altered a bit, with numerous new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a specific item upgrade level for a particular armor slot, upgrading further items to that same item level will cost less, even when they are part of an entirely different set of gear.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
Players have a variety of options when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more special, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system 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 that is of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and simplest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade requires up to 20 crests, depending on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses to obtain endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, however it brings some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This change allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest possible level for all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one use therefore it's essential to use them properly. For instance it's a good idea utilize all of your Whelpling rank crests with the Best item upgrader equipment available and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you're planning on making. This is particularly applicable to trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to avail the account-wide discount when all of the slots are full of high-quality equipment.