Five Things Everybody Does Wrong About Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The item Level Upgrade Upgrader
Upgrades can give you boost in specific statistics. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item upgrades by 3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside each upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more useful, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. However, the item used to upgrade will be consumed for the duration of time and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enhancements.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be visited at any time to upgrade your gear. It is recommended that you 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 gear being upgraded however, they will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear from other sources. Upgrades like upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for tools, armor, weapon and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for different currencies, and may also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any tool, weapon or armor. The button will display the preview of an item level upgrade's next upgrade level, in the event that there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot for the item and the current item level. For example, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades offer discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain level, it can be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of the two currencies.
Many locations offer item upgraders, including the main Island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to obtain a new upgrade recipe. The upgrade discount increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players finish certain achievements or quests.
Contrary to Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are only accessible through a variety means. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features were added to the upgrade system. After a player has upgraded to a certain item level 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 gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is reduced too, but it is only available after certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
Players have a variety of options when it comes to upgrading their gear in WoW. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item upgrader kit level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment that is of a particular rank, and that each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade is 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade requires up to 20 crests, based on the kind of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by finishing content at the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of all difficulties for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for gear that is used in the endgame. These crests can then be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't too difficult, but the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. When a piece attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This change is intended to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters, instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one purpose and it's crucial to use them properly. It is recommended to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment you can find, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is particularly true for items like rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, which can only be eligible to benefit from the discount for all accounts when all of the slots are filled with high-quality gear.