What Freud Can Teach Us About Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give you an increase in certain stats. Each upgrade increases item upgrader mod level by 3. Each upgrade also increases the random substatus.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item has low requirements by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like eth Titan weapons). The latter are less valuable from upgrading due to the requirement to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader enables players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of weapon or armor. However, the Item Level Upgrade used to upgrade will be consumed for the duration of time and cannot be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to the 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 at least once every few weeks to keep your equipment up to date.
Upgrades will cost more depending on the level of the item upgrader mod however, they are always cheaper than purchasing new equipment. Upgrades such as upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost you 20 recycle points. Buying a similar item will cost you 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to upgrade weapons, armor, tools and accessory upgrades. They are purchased by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade is purchased it can be applied to any weapon, tool, or armor with the help of The button will display a preview of an item's next level of upgrade, if there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs vary depending on the slot for the item and the current item level. For instance, weapons will cost more than gloves, bracers, or bracers. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Certain upgrades provide a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain amount, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader for a lower price.
Upgraders for items can be found in a variety of locations including the main island and some outposts. The NPCs offer both an upgrade discount as well as a chance to get a brand new upgrade recipe. The discount on upgrades increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased by having players complete certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. The NPCs who can facilitate upgrades are only accessible via a variety of ways. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.
In Season 3, many new features have been added to the upgrade system. After an upgrade has been completed to a certain level of Best item upgrade for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level, will cost less. This is true even if the items come from an entirely different set of equipment.
The discount is available to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed for upgrades is reduced also, but is only available once certain milestones are achieved.
Crests
When upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a couple of options. Flightstones are a currency that is available to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more specialized, and are used during specific item upgrader mod level upgrades. Crests are the main component 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 can only be used on 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 complex upgrade can require up to 20 crests, depending on the type or gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through finishing content at the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons of all difficulties for higher-tier items, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses or dungeons for endgame gear. These crests can then be exchanged at an item upgrader NPC like Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade pathways and steps.
Using these new currencies isn't too difficult, but the system does introduce some modifications to the upgrade process. For instance, when an item reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer, Adventurer, Veteran, Champion, Hero, or Mythic) it won't need Flightstones to be upgraded. This change allows players to upgrade their equipment to the highest level possible on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also important to use crests in a wise manner, as they are only used for one purpose. It is recommended to put your Whelpling-rank Crests on the top-quality equipment you can locate and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next round of upgrades. This is especially true for items such as rings and trinkets that occupy multiple slots. The discount on the account is only applicable when all the slots on the character are filled with top-quality equipment.