WoW Upgrades - The
item upgrade Upgrader
Upgrades can give you boosts in specific stats. Each upgrade increases
item upgrading level by 3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside every upgrade.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the
item upgrader mod has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like the eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as valuable for those with higher variance due to the requirement to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapons. However, the item used to upgrade will be consumed for the duration of time and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be visited anytime to upgrade your gear. To keep your gear current it is recommended you visit the upgrader each several weeks.
The cost of upgrading will depend on the current level of the equipment being upgraded but they will always be cheaper than buying new equipment from other sources. For instance upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase tools, armor, weapon and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from item upgraders NPCs for various currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased, it can be used on any weapon or tool using an button, which displays an item level upgrade;
simply click Thoughtlanes,'s preview at the next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item and the current item level, with weapons costing more than bracers or gloves, for instance. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Certain upgrades provide a discount on the Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currencies.
Many locations have upgraders for their items which include the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases when more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.
In contrast to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no upgrader for items in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are only accessible through a variety of methods. This is both a positive and an issue.
In Season 3, many new features have been added to the upgrade system. After a player has earned an upgrade to a particular item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading other items to that level will cost less even if they are part of another set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is affixed to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
Players have several choices when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specialized and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests can only be spent on equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complex upgrade can require up to 20 crests, based on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an upgrader, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and routes.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, but it will bring some changes to the process of upgrading. Once a piece of gear attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it no longer requires Flightstones. This is to allow players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another important change is that crests have one usage, so it's important to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance, it's a good idea make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the top equipment available and save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to create. This is especially relevant for items like rings and trinkets that occupy multiple slots. The account-wide discount will only apply when all slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.