15 Reasons Not To Ignore Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item Level Upgrade by +3. A random extra substat is also added to each upgrade items.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like the eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are not as valuable for the latter because of the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader enables players to upgrade their gear to a higher item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. However, the item used to upgrade will be consumed forever and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your gear. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date, it is recommended that you visit the upgrader each few weeks.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item, however, they are always cheaper than buying new gear. For example upgrading a chest piece from Benthic to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points while purchasing the same item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapon, armor, tool, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased from NPCs of item upgrader mod upgraders for a variety of currencies. They are also available on random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be applied to any weapon or tool using a button, which displays an image of the item when it is upgraded in the event that the player has enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the item slot and the current item level and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers, for example. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades offering discounts to reduce the cost of the Flightstones or crests that are used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Many locations have upgraders for their items, including the main Island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide an upgrade discount and the chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players complete certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are only accessible through a variety of methods. This is both a benefit as well as an issue.
In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once 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 those items are from another set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required for upgrades is decreased, and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is cut as well, but is only available once certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
Players have a variety of options for upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are used for specific item level upgrade level upgrades. Crests are an integral component of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System, which was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only available for equipment that is of a particular rank. Each rank comes with distinct upgrade paths. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the most complicated requires as many as 20 crests based on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing content of the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. The crests can then be exchanged with an upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and pathways.
The use of these currencies isn't too difficult however, the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. Once a piece of gear has reached the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it will no longer require Flightstones. This is to allow players to get their equipment to the highest level possible on all their characters, rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests wisely, as they are only used for one purpose. For instance it's a good idea to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests with the Best item upgrade equipment you have and then save Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you're planning to create. This is particularly true for items such as rings and trinkets that occupy multiple slots. The account-wide discount is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.