14 Misconceptions Commonly Held About Item Upgrade

WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades can give you boost in specific stats. Each upgrade increases item level by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item has a low requirement by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like Eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the need to roll for a perfect version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader lets players upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied on any type of weapon or armor. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to enchantments.
The upgrader is located in every major city, and can be accessed anytime to upgrade your equipment. It is recommended to visit the upgrader every couple of weeks to ensure that your equipment is up to date.
Upgrades will cost more, based on the item level, but they will always be cheaper than buying new gear. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest piece to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points while purchasing the same item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapon, armor, tool and accessory upgrades. Players can purchase them from item upgraders NPCs for various currencies. They can also find them on random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade is able to be applied to any tool, weapon, or armor. The button will display a preview of an item's next upgrade level in the event that there are enough materials.
The cost of upgrades varies based on the item slot and the current level of the item, with weapons costing more than gloves or bracers, for instance. Each upgrade cost 15 Flightstones plus a specific number of crests. Some upgrades offer a discount on the Flightstones. Once an item is upgraded to a certain degree it can be re-downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
Many locations have upgraders for their items which include the main island and a few outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade discount and the chance to acquire a new upgrade recipe. The upgrade discount increases with the number of items that are being upgraded, and can be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or complete quests.
Icewind Dale does not have an item upgrader at beginning, unlike Cromwell from Baldur's Gate II. The NPCs that can assist with upgrades are only accessible through a variety means. This is both a positive and an issue.
In Season 3, several new features have been added to the upgrade system. Once a player has upgraded to a certain level of item for an armor slot, upgrading other items to the same level will cost less. This is regardless of whether the items come from another set of equipment.
The amount of Valorstones needed to upgrade is reduced and the discount is account-wide. The amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is reduced as well, but is only available when certain milestones are reached.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW players have a few choices. Flightstones are an option that is accessible to everyone for upgrading. Crests are more special, and are used during specific item level upgrades. Crests are an integral part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System that was introduced in version 10.1. They come in four ranks.
The first thing to note is that crests are only able to be spent on equipment that is of a particular rank, and every rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the more complex one requires as many as 20 crests depending on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through working through content that is of the appropriate level, which means walking around and doing outdoor activities for gear of lower tiers, raids or dungeons of all difficulty for items of higher tier, or Mythic+ heroic raid bosses and dungeons for endgame gear. These crests can be exchanged with an upgrader for the item, such as Cuzolth or Vaskarn in Valdrakken for the appropriate upgrade steps and paths.
Utilizing these new currencies isn't too complicated however, the system does introduce some changes to the overall upgrade process. Once a piece of gear reaches the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer), it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This change lets players upgrade their gear to the highest possible level for all their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests with care, since they only have one use. For instance, it's a good idea to use all of your Whelpling-rank crests on the best equipment available and then keep Drake and Wyrm crests for the next round of upgrades you plan to create. This is particularly true for items like trinkets and rings that occupy multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to benefit from the account-wide discount if all slots are filled with top-quality gear.