15 Reasons Not To Be Ignoring Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a an increase in specific statistics. Each upgrade increases the level of the item by +3. A random substat is also boosted alongside each upgrade.
The upgraded gear typically has a greater value for trade regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variance (like eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as useful for those with higher variance due to the need to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader kit upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be applied to enchantments.
The upgrader can be found in all major cities and can be accessed at any time to upgrade your gear. It is recommended to visit the upgrader at least once every few weeks to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
The cost of upgrades will be based on the current level of the item being upgraded but they will always be less expensive than buying new gear from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item upgrader mod will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase tools, armor, weapon and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased from item upgrade upgraders NPCs for a variety of currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any tool, weapon or armor. button, which will show an image of the item at its next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item level upgrade as well as the level of the weapon, which is more than gloves or bracers for example. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Certain upgrades provide a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item upgrading is upgraded to a certain level it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Upgraders for items are available at many locations including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount and a chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The discount for upgrading increases when more items are upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete certain achievements or complete quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II there is no upgrader for items at the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead, the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades must be acquired through several methods which is both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, the upgrade system has been modified a bit, and several new features added. When a player has an upgrade to a specific level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading further items to that level will cost less even if they belong to another set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is cut as well, but is only available when certain milestones are reached.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a few options. Flightstones are an item that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests can only be used on gear of a specific rank, and that every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and easiest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complex upgrade requires up to 20 crests, depending on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through completing content of the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons of all difficulties for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an item upgrading upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade routes and steps.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, however it will bring some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, 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 change is intended to allow players to upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters, rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests with care, since they only have one use. It's best to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the best gear you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is particularly true for items such as rings and trinkets that occupy multiple slots. The discount on the account is only applicable when all slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.