So You've Bought Item Upgrade ... Now What?

WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader

Upgrades give you an increase in specific statistics. Each upgrade boosts the item level by +3. A random extra substat is also added to every upgrade items.

Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are not as valuable for those with higher variance due to the need to roll a perfect version.

Recycle Points

The item upgrade upgrader allows players to upgrade gear to a higher item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of weapon or armor. However, the item used for the upgrade will remain in use for a long time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create enchantments.

You can upgrade your equipment anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended you visit the upgrader each several weeks.

The cost of upgrades will depend on the current item level of the gear being upgraded however, they will always be cheaper than buying new gear from other sources. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points, purchasing a similar piece from another player will costs 105.

Valorstones

Upgrades are useful items which can be used to improve the quality of weapons and tools, armor and accessories. Players can purchase them from NPCs of item upgraders for a variety of currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any tool, weapon, or item level upgrade armor. button, which will display an item's preview at the next upgrade level if the player has sufficient materials.

Upgrade costs differ based on the slot for the item and the current level of the item. For example weapons cost more than bracers, or gloves. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain level, it can be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of the two currencies.

Upgraders for items can be found in many places, including the main island and 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 be increased by having players finish certain achievements or quests.

Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no upgrader for items available at the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only accessible via a variety of ways. This is both a positive and an issue.

In Season 3 the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with several new features added. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a particular level of an Item Level Upgrade for a specific armor slot, upgrading additional items to that same item level will cost less even when they are part of a different gear set.

The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is reduced as well, but is only available when certain milestones are reached.

Crests

When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW players have a variety of choices. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an important element of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.

The first thing to remember is that Crests are only available to equipment with a certain rank. Each rank comes with an upgrade path that is different. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the more complex one may require as many as 20 crests, based on the kind of gear being upgraded.

Players can earn crests through working through content that is of the appropriate level, whether that involves walking around and engaging in outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons to obtain endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an item upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade items steps and routes.

The use of these currencies isn't too difficult however, the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, once an item is at the highest upgrade level of any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change lets players upgrade their gear to the highest possible ilvl on all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.

Another significant change is that crests only have one usage, so it's important to use them wisely. For instance, it's a good idea to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the top equipment you have and keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next batch of upgrades you plan to create. This is particularly true for items like rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to benefit from the discount for all accounts when all slots are filled with high-quality gear.