20 Fun Infographics About Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
Upgraded gear is generally more useful, unless the item has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades are not as important for those with lower requirements due to the need to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrading upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of weapon or armor. The item upgrading 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 at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks to ensure that your equipment is up-to-date.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the item level, however they'll always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment. For instance, upgrading a Benthic chest to ilvl 385 will cost 20 recycle points, purchasing a similar piece from another player will costs 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. They can be purchased by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for different currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon, or armor. The button will display the item's next level of upgrade, when there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the slot of the item and the current level of the item. For instance weapons cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades give discounts on Flightstones. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lower amount of both currencies.
Upgraders for items can be found in many places, including the main island as well as some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon as well as the possibility of obtaining a new recipe. The upgrade discount increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items available at the start of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are available only via a variety of ways. This is both a positive and an issue.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with numerous new features added. After the player has upgraded to a specific level for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same item level will cost less. This applies even if those items come from an entirely different set of gear.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players have reached certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a few options. Flightstones are an Item Level Upgrade that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.
The first thing to be aware of is that crests are only able to be used to purchase gear of a specific rank, and each rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade item path costs 15 crests, while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests, based on the kind of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through working through content that is of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, dungeons or raids of any difficulty for higher-tier items or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses for gear that is used in the endgame. Crests can be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
Using these new currencies isn't that difficult, but the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. For example, once an item is at the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic), it will no longer require Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest level possible for all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another important change is that crests only have one use therefore it's essential to make use of them in a responsible manner. For instance it's a good idea to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the Best item upgrader equipment available and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan on making. This is especially applicable to items like trinkets and rings that fill several slots. The account-wide discount will only apply when all the slots on the character are filled with high-quality gear.