20 Resources That Will Make You More Efficient With Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade item boosts the level of an item by 3. A random additional substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are less useful for the latter due to the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher item level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. The item upgrades used to upgrade the item will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to the 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 several weeks.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item, however they'll always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are useful items that can be used to level up weapons and tools, armor and other items. They can be purchased by players from NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for different currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor. The button will show the item level upgrade's next upgrade level if there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot of the item and the current item level. For instance, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain level, it can be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currencies.
Upgraders for items are available in many places including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount as well as a chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases according to the number of items being upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete specific achievements or quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no upgrader for items available at the start of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade require various methods that are both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, a number of new features were added to the upgrade system. After a player has upgraded to a specific level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This applies even if the items are from an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a variety of choices. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specific, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an integral component 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 crests are only able to be used on equipment of a particular rank, and that each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and easiest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade can require up to 20 crests, contingent on the type or equipment being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing content of the appropriate level, which means walking around and doing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulties for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too difficult, but the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade item process. For example, once a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This is to allow players to upgrade their gear up to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
It's also crucial to choose crests in a wise manner, as they have only one purpose. It is best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the highest-quality gear you can locate and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is particularly applicable to rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character that will be able to avail the account-wide discount if all slots are filled with top-quality equipment.