WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the item level by +3. Resource is also increased with every upgrade.
The more modernized gear generally has a greater value for trade regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or very high stat variance (like Eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as important for the latter due to the need to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of armor or weapons. However, the item that is used for the upgrade will be consumed for the duration of time and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enhancements.
You can upgrade your gear at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended to visit the upgrader every few weeks to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.
The cost of upgrades will vary based on the current level of the equipment being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear from other sources. For example, upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from NPCs of item upgraders for a variety of currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any tool, weapon, or armor. The button will display a preview of an item's next level of upgrade, when there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot for the item and the current item level. For example weapons cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with certain upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of Flightstones or the crests used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Upgraders for items can be found in many places on the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrading increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players complete certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades must be acquired through several methods that are both an improvement and a drawback.
In Season 3, a number of new features were added to the upgrade system. After an upgrade has been completed to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This is even if those items are from another set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is available across all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW, players have a few options. They can make use of Flightstones which are a general upgrade currency available to all players, or crests that are more specialized and used to upgrade specific levels of the item. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1 and are available in 4 ranks.
First, you must be aware that crests are only available for equipment with a certain rank. Each rank has an upgrade path that is different. The simplest and simplest upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the more complex one may require as many as 20 crests depending on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or 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 routes and steps.
Using these new currencies isn't too difficult, but the system does introduce some modifications to the upgrade process. Once a piece of gear attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it will no longer require Flightstones. This is to allow players to get their equipment to the highest possible ilvl for all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another important change is that crests have one usage therefore it's essential to make use of them in a responsible manner. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the best gear that you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is especially applicable to trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which will only be able to avail the account-wide discount if all slots are full of high-quality equipment.