What Freud Can Teach Us About Item Upgrade

WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item upgrader mod by 3. A random additional substat is also added to every upgrade.

The more modernized gear generally has a more value in trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or has a high stat variation (like the eth titan weapons). Upgrades are less important for those with higher variance because of the requirement to roll the perfect version.

Recycle Points

The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade gear to a higher item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can be applied to enchantments.

The upgrader can be found in all major cities, and is accessible at any time to upgrade your gear. To keep your gear current it is recommended you visit the upgrader every several weeks.

Upgrades will cost more, based on the item level, however, they are always cheaper than purchasing new gear. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar Best item upgrade will cost you 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are items that are used to level up weapons tools, armor, and other items. They are purchased by players from Item Level Upgrade upgrader NPCs in exchange for different currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased it can be applied to any weapon or tool using an button, which will show a preview of the item when it is upgraded if the player has sufficient materials.

The cost of upgrades varies based on the Best item upgrader slot and current item level, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers for example. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with some upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currencies.

Many locations offer item upgraders which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrades increases depending on the amount of items that are being upgraded. It is also possible to be boosted by having players complete specific achievements or quests.

Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade must be acquired through a variety of means that are both an improvement but also a drawback.

In Season 3 the upgrade system has been altered a bit, with several new features added. When a player has an upgrade to a specific item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading further items to that same item level will cost less, even if they are part of 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 needed for upgrades is reduced as well, but is only available after certain milestones have been reached.

Crests

Players have a variety of options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more special, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a crucial element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System, which was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.

First, you must be aware that the crests can only be purchased for equipment of a certain rank. Each rank has distinct upgrade paths. The simplest and simplest upgrade is 15 crests. The most complex upgrade can require up to 20 crests, based on the type or gear that is being upgraded.

Players can earn crests by working through content that is of the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons to obtain endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an upgrader for the item, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and routes.

The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, but it brings some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it will no longer require Flightstones. This change allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest possible level on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.

It's also important to use crests wisely, as they only have one use. For instance, it's a good idea make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrader equipment available and save Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you plan to create. This is particularly relevant for rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to benefit from the account-wide discount if all slots are filled with high-quality gear.