14 Common Misconceptions About Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item upgrades by 3. A random substat is also increased with every 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 Eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader enables players to upgrade their gear to a higher item level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item level upgrade (stryhn-lowery.hubstack.net) will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can be used to create the enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear up-to-date, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every several weeks.
The cost of upgrading will depend on the current item level of the gear being upgraded but they will always be less expensive than buying new equipment from other sources. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to level up weapons tools, armor, and other accessories. They can be purchased by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for various currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any tool, weapon, or armor. button, which will display a preview of the item at the next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item and the current level of the item, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers for instance. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lower amount of the two currency types.
Many locations have upgraders for their items which include the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and the chance to get a brand new upgrade item recipe. The upgrade discount increases with the number of items being upgraded. It is also possible to be boosted by requiring players to complete specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader kit upgrader at start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are only available via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit and a disadvantage.
In Season 3 the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with numerous new features added. After the player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This applies even if the items come from an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players achieve certain achievement milestones.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a few choices. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only available for gear of a certain rank. Each rank has a different upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one can require as much as 20 crests, based on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through finishing tasks at the appropriate level. This could mean doing outdoor activities or completing dungeons and raids in all difficulty levels to obtain equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses for raids, or dungeons with a heroic difficulty for endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an item upgrader like Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and paths.
The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, however it will bring some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, once an item is at the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is intended to allow players to get their equipment to the highest possible ilvl for all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another notable modification is that crests have one use, so it's important to use them properly. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the top-quality equipment that you can find, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially applicable to 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 slots are full of high-quality equipment.