Buzzwords De-Buzzed: 10 Other Ways Of Saying Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases the item upgrading level by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more valuable, unless it is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like Eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll to get a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by giving the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item upgrades will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can be applied to enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment anytime 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 depending on the level of the item level upgrade, however, they are always less expensive than purchasing new equipment. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest up to the level of ilvl385 will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to improve the quality of weapons, tools, armor, and accessories. They are purchased by players from NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for different currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be used on any weapon, tool, or armor using the help of The button will display the item's next upgrade level when there are enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the Best item upgrade and the current level of the item, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers, for example. Each upgrade costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of Flightstones or crests used. Once an item has been upgraded to a certain amount, it can be degraded and sold back to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currency types.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items, including the main Island and a few outposts. The NPCs offer both 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 finish certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an upgrader for items at the beginning unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are only available via a variety of ways. This is both a positive and a disadvantage.
In Season 3 the upgrade system was altered a bit, with some new features added. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a certain item level for a particular armor slot, upgrading other items to that level will cost less, even when they belong to another set of gear.
The amount of Valorstones required to upgrade is reduced and the discount is affixed to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is cut as well, but is only available once certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
Players have several choices when it comes to 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 upgrades. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
First, you should know that the crests can only be purchased for gear with a certain rank. Each rank comes with distinct upgrade paths. The most basic and straightforward upgrade process costs just 15 crests while the more complex one can require as much as 20 crests based on the type of gear being upgraded.
Players can earn crests by completing content at the appropriate level. This could be by doing outdoor activities, or by taking on dungeons and raids of all difficulty levels to obtain lower-tier gear or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons that have a high difficulty for endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an Item level upgrade upgrader, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and routes.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't that difficult however, the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, when 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 change is intended to allow players to upgrade their equipment up to the highest level possible on all their characters, rather than relying solely on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests only have one usage therefore it's essential to make use of them in a responsible manner. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the highest-quality gear that you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially true for items like rings and trinkets that fill multiple slots on the character, that will be able to avail the discount for all accounts when all of the slots are filled with high-quality equipment.