The Most Convincing Proof That You Need Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you an increase in specific statistics. Each upgrade increases the level of the item by +3. A random extra substat is also boosted alongside each upgrade.
The more modernized gear generally has a greater value for trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or has a high stat variance (like Eth titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as useful for the latter due to the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader enables players to upgrade gear to a higher item level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. However, the item used to upgrade will be consumed for the duration of time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can be applied to enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear current it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the item level, however, they are always less expensive than purchasing new gear. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points purchasing a similar piece 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 from item upgraders NPCs for various currencies. They can also find them in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor using a The button will display the preview of an item's next level of upgrade, if there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot of the item and the current level of the item. For example, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade items costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests used. After an item upgrade has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items, including the main Island and some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting an entirely new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items being upgraded. It can also be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the start unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are only accessible via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit and a disadvantage.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was altered a bit, with some new features added. After a player has earned an upgrade to a particular level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading other items to that same item level will cost less, even if they belong to an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is reduced, and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is cut also, but is only available when certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
When upgrading gear in WoW players have a variety of options. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be spent on equipment of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complicated can require as much as 20 crests depending on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for gear that is used in the endgame. The crests can then be exchanged with an upgrader for the item, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and routes.
Using these new currencies isn't too complicated, but the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. For example, once an Item Level Upgrade is at 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 lets players upgrade their equipment to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests have one purpose, so it's important to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance, it's a good idea to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests with the best gear you have available and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning to make. This is especially relevant for rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character which can only be eligible to take advantage of the discount for all accounts when all slots are filled with high-quality gear.