The History Of Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you an increase in specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of the item by +3. Each upgrade also boosts the random substatus.
The more modernized gear generally has a more value in trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variance (like eth titan weapons). These types of gear get less value from upgrading due to the need to roll to get a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item upgrades will be consumed and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to Enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities and is accessible anytime to upgrade your equipment. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks.
The cost of upgrading will depend on the current level of the item being upgraded however, they will always be cheaper than purchasing new gear from other sources. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, while buying a similar item from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items which can be used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and other accessories. They can be bought by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for different currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon, or armor. button, which will show an image of the item upgrades at the next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the item slot, and the current item level. For example weapons cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of the Flightstones or the crests used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currencies.
Upgraders for items can be found in many places on the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and a chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items being upgraded, and can be increased by having players complete specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead, the NPCs that can be used to upgrade are acquired via a variety of means, which is both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
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 additional items to that same item level will be less expensive, even if they are part of another set of gear.
The discount is available to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players have reached certain achievement milestones.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW players have a couple of choices. Flightstones are an item level upgrade that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an integral component of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be spent on gear of a specific rank, and every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and simplest upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests based on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by working through content that is of the appropriate level, which means walking around and doing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses to obtain endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade items paths and steps.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it will bring some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, once a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is designed to allow players to upgrade their gear up to the highest ilvl possible for all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another significant change is that crests have one usage therefore it's essential to use them properly. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you can locate, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially relevant for trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character which can only be eligible to avail the account-wide discount when all of the slots are filled with top-quality gear.