What Freud Can Teach Us About Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades will give you a boost to certain stats. Each upgrade increases item level by 3. A random substat is also increased with each upgrade.
Upgraded gear is generally more valuable, unless it is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or a high stat variance (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The upgrader for items allows players to upgrade gear to a higher item level by providing the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can be used to create Enchantments.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be visited anytime to upgrade your gear. To ensure that your equipment is up-to-date it is recommended that you visit the upgrader every couple of weeks.
Upgrades can cost more based on the level of the item upgrader kit but they will always be less expensive than purchasing new gear. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar Item Level Upgrade from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are functional items which can be used to level up weapons and tools, armor and other items. They can be bought by players through NPCs who sell upgrades for items in exchange for different currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any tool, weapon, or armor. button, which displays an item upgrades's preview at the next upgrade level when the player has enough materials.
The upgrade cost depends on the slot of the item upgrader kit and the current item level, with weapons costing more than bracers or gloves, for instance. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with some upgrades having a discount to lower the cost of the Flightstones or crests used. After an item has been upgraded to a certain amount it is able to be degraded and returned to the upgrader for a lesser amount of both currencies.
Upgraders for items are available in many places including the main island, as well as a few outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade items coupon and a possibility of getting a new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases as more items are upgraded. It can be increased if players complete certain achievements or quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at the start, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's gate II. Instead, the NPCs that are available to facilitate upgrades require a variety of means which is both an improvement but also a drawback.
In Season 3, many new features were added to the upgrade system. When a player has an upgrade to a specific level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level will cost less, even if they belong to another set of gear.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. The amount of Harbinger Crests needed to upgrade is reduced as well, but is only available once certain milestones have been reached.
Crests
Players have a variety of options when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. Flightstones are an item that is available to all players for upgrading. Crests are more specific and are utilized during specific item level upgrades. Crests are a key element of the Dragonflight gear progression system, which was introduced in 10.1 and are available in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be used on equipment that is of a particular rank, and each rank has different requirements for upgrading. The simplest and easiest upgrade costs 15 crests. The most complicated upgrade could require as much as 20 crests, contingent on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through working through tasks at the appropriate level. This could be by doing outdoor activities or completing dungeons and raids in any difficulty to earn equipment of lower tier or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons that have a high difficulty for endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an upgrader such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn, in Valdrakken to upgrade the item in the proper steps and paths.
Using these new currencies isn't that difficult, but the system will introduce a few changes to the overall upgrade process. For instance, when an item reaches 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 is designed to allow players to get their equipment up to the highest ilvl possible on all their characters, instead of relying on seasonal loot.
Another notable change is that crests have one purpose and it's crucial to use them wisely. It is Best item upgrade to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the best gear that you can find, and save Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is especially 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 slots are filled with high-quality gear.