How To Save Money On Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The item upgrader kit Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also boosts an unspecified substat.
The more modernized gear generally has a higher trade value regardless of whether it has low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or a very high stat variance (like the eth titan weapons). Upgrades are not as useful for those with higher variance due to the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader enables players to upgrade their gear to a higher item level Upgrade level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of weapon or armor. However, the item upgrading that is used to upgrade will remain in use for a long time and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.
You can upgrade your gear at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. To keep your gear current it is recommended you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks.
The cost of upgrading will vary based on the current item level of the equipment being upgraded but they will always be cheaper than buying new gear from other sources. For instance upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item from a different player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used for weapons, armor, tools, and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through item upgrades upgrader NPCs in exchange for different currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon, or armor. The button will show a preview of an item's next upgrade level, when there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot of the item and the current item level. For example weapons are more expensive than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a certain number of crests. Certain upgrades provide discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain level and is degraded, it can be sold and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currencies.
Many locations offer item upgraders which include the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade coupon as well as the chance to obtain a new recipe. The discount for upgrades increases with the number of items that are being upgraded. It can also be increased by having players complete some specific achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades are acquired via several methods that are both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. After a player has earned an upgrade to a certain level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading additional items to that same item upgrade level will cost less, even if they are part of another set of gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced as well, but is only available when certain milestones are reached.
Crests
Players have a variety of options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone who wants to upgrade. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests can only be used to purchase 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, based on the type of equipment that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by working through content that is of the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with any difficulty for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses to obtain endgame gear. These crests are then exchanged with an item upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and routes.
The new currency system isn't complicated to use, but it does bring some changes to the upgrade process. For example, 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 allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible for all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another significant change is that crests have one use, so it's important to use them properly. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment you can find, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly applicable to trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character that will be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount if all of the slots are full of high-quality equipment.