20 Fun Facts About Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to certain stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
The upgraded gear typically has a higher trade value, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or very high stat variation (like eth titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as useful for the latter due to the need to roll a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by offering the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can be used to create Enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear anytime by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader at least once every couple of weeks to keep your equipment up to date.
The cost of upgrades will depend on the current item upgrader mod level of the item being upgraded, but will always be cheaper than buying new equipment from other sources. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, while purchasing the same item from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade tools, armor, weapon, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased, it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor with the help of button, which will show an item's preview when it is upgraded when the player has enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item and current item upgrade level, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers for example. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades offering discounts to lower the cost of the Flightstones or the crests used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Many locations offer Item Level Upgrade upgraders which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon and the possibility of obtaining an entirely new recipe. The upgrade discount increases depending on the amount of items that are being upgraded. It is also possible to be boosted by having players complete specific achievements or quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II, there is no item upgrader available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. Instead the NPCs that can be used to upgrade are acquired via several methods which is both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was altered a bit, with numerous new features added. Once a player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item upgrader kit level, will cost less. This is true even if the items come from an entirely different set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
Players have several options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are a crucial component of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests can only be spent on equipment that is of a particular rank, and that each rank has its own requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests based on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by finishing content at the appropriate level. This could be by doing outdoor activities, or by doing dungeons or raids in all difficulty levels to obtain lower-tier gear or Mythic+ raid bosses or dungeons that have a high difficulty to obtain endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
The use of these currencies isn't too complicated however, the system introduces some changes to the overall upgrade process. Once a piece of gear attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it no longer requires Flightstones. This change is designed to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest level possible on all their characters instead of relying only on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests wisely, as they have only one purpose. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the best gear that you can find and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is especially applicable to rings and trinkets that take up 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 equipment.