Why You Should Focus On Enhancing Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a an increase in certain stats. Each upgrade increases item upgrade level by +3. A random extra substat is also added to each upgrade.
Upgraded gear generally sees more value in trade as long as it meets low requirements (like the FB shield of the sorc) or very high stat variance (like the eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as valuable for those with higher variance because of the requirement to roll 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 weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item is discarded and cannot be used again. Upgrades can be used to create enchantments.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be visited at any time to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader once every few weeks to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.
The cost of upgrades will depend on the current level of the equipment being upgraded however, they will always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment from other sources. For instance upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points purchasing a similar piece from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are useful items that can be used to level up weapons tools, armor, and accessories. Players can purchase them through NPCs who sell upgrades to item owners for a variety of currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased, it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor using the help of The button will show the item's next upgrade level, if there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrading varies based on the item slot, and the current item level. For instance, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Certain upgrades provide a discount on the Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain degree it is able to be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currencies.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items which include the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of getting the latest recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded, and can be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are available only via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3, a number of new features were added to the upgrade system. When a player has an upgrade to a specific item level Upgrade level for a particular armor slot, upgrading additional items to that level will cost less, even in the event that they belong to an entirely different set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is available across all accounts. In the same way, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players achieve certain milestones in their achievements.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW players have a couple of choices. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more specific and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests can only be spent on equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests depending on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through content that is of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, however it does bring some changes to the upgrade process. For example, once a piece of equipment reaches the highest level of upgrading for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change is designed to allow players to get their equipment up to the highest possible ilvl for all their characters rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one purpose and it's crucial to use them properly. For instance it's a good idea to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests with the Best item upgrade equipment you have and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to make. This is especially true for items such as trinkets and rings that take up several slots. The account-wide discount is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality equipment.