How To Save Money On Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give you boost in specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item upgrader kit by 3. Each upgrade also increases an unspecified substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like Eth Titan weapons). Upgrades aren't as important for those with higher variance due to the need to roll the perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader enables players to upgrade gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. However, the item used for the upgrade will be consumed forever and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be used to create the enchantments.
The upgrader is located in all major cities and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your gear. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader every few weeks, to keep your equipment up-to-date.
The cost of upgrades will be based on the current item level of the item being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than purchasing new equipment from other sources. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. A similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items which can be used to upgrade weapons tools, armor, and other items. They can be purchased by players from NPCs of item upgraders in a variety of currencies. They can also find them in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be used on any tool, weapon, or armor. The button will display a preview of an item's next level of upgrade, if there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the item upgrader mod slot and current item upgrade level and the weapon's price is higher than gloves or bracers, for instance. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a variety of crests, with some upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of Flightstones or crests used. Once an item upgrades is upgraded to a certain level it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Item upgraders can be found at many locations including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and a possibility of getting a new recipe. The upgrade discount increases when more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players complete certain achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are available only through a variety of methods. This is both a positive and an issue.
In Season 3, the upgrade system was tweaked a bit, with several new features added. After an upgrade has been completed to a certain item Level upgrade level for an armor slot upgrading other items to the same item level, will cost less. This applies regardless of whether the items come from an entirely different set of gear.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is reduced as well, but is only available after certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading gear in WoW players have a couple of options. Flightstones are a currency that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more special and are used for specific item level upgrades. Crests are an essential part of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment of a particular rank, and that every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The easiest and most straightforward upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade requires up to 20 crests, based on the kind of gear being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by completing content of the appropriate level, whether that means walking around and doing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, dungeons or raids of all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons to obtain endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to get the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't too complicated however, the system introduces some modifications to the upgrade process. When a piece reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This change is intended to allow players to upgrade their gear up to the highest level possible on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another important modification is that crests have one use therefore it's essential to use them wisely. For instance it's best to make use of all your Whelpling-rank crests on the best equipment available, and then save Drake and Wyrm crests to use for the next set of upgrades you're planning to create. This is especially true for items like rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character, that will be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount if all of the slots are filled with top-quality equipment.