WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to specific stats. 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 higher trade value, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or very high stat variance (like Eth titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any kind of armor or weapons. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create the enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader once every few weeks to keep your equipment up to date.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item, but they will always be cheaper than buying new gear. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. If you purchase a similar item, it will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are useful items which can be used to improve the quality of weapons, tools, armor, and accessories. They can be purchased by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for different currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any tool, weapon, or armor. button, which will show an item's preview at its next upgrade level in the event that the player has enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item. For example weapons cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a number of crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of the Flightstones or crests used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
Upgraders for items can be found in many places including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon and the possibility of getting an entirely new recipe. The discount for upgrades increases depending on the amount of items being upgraded. It can also be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade require various methods that are both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3 the upgrade system has been tweaked a bit, with several new features added. Once an upgrade has been completed to a certain item level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This applies even if those items are from another set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is account-wide. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players reach certain achievement milestones.
Crests
Players have a variety of options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific upgrades to the level of an item. upgrade item are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system that was introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only able to be used on equipment of a particular rank, and each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one can require as much as 20 crests depending on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by completing content of the appropriate level, which means walking around and doing outdoor activities for lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with 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 item upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too difficult, but the system does introduce some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece of equipment has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it no longer requires Flightstones. This change is intended to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest ilvl possible for all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
Another significant modification is that crests have one use therefore it's essential to use them wisely. It is recommended to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment you can locate and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly 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 top-quality gear.