The Most Convincing Proof That You Need Item Upgrade
WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades give a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade increases the level of an item by +3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
The upgraded gear is usually more useful, unless the item is not required by nature (like FB sorc shields) or has a large variance in stats (like the eth Titan weapons). The latter see less value from upgrading due to the necessity to roll for a perfect model.
Recycle Points
The item upgrader allows players to upgrade their gear to a higher level by supplying the appropriate currency to the NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any kind of armor or weapon. However, the item used for the upgrade will be consumed forever and will not be able to be used again. Upgrades can also be applied to the enchantments.
You can upgrade your equipment at any time by visiting the upgrader in any major city. It is recommended that you visit the upgrader at least once every couple of weeks to keep your equipment up-to-date.
The cost of upgrades will be based on the current item level of the equipment being upgraded, but will always be less expensive than buying new gear from other sources. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 ilvl will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that can be used to purchase weapons, armor, tools, and accessory upgrades. item upgrading can be bought by players through item upgrader NPCs in exchange for a variety of currencies, and can be found in random treasure lists. Once purchased, an upgrade can be applied to any weapon, tool or armor. The button will show 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 current item level and the weapon's price is higher than bracers or gloves, for example. Each step costs 15 Flightstones plus a set number of crests. Some upgrades give discounts on Flightstones. After an item has been upgraded to a certain level, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower price.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items, including the main Island and some outposts. The NPCs provide both an upgrade coupon and a possibility of obtaining the latest recipe. The upgrade discount increases when 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. Instead the NPCs that are available to help with upgrades require a variety of means that are both an improvement as well as a disadvantage.
In Season 3 the upgrade system has been modified a bit, and some new features added. Once a player obtains an upgrade to a specific level of an item for a specific armor slot, upgrading further items to that level will be less expensive, even in the event that they belong to another set of gear.
The discount applies to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests required to upgrade is also reduced and is not available until players reach certain milestones in their achievement.
Crests
When it comes to upgrading equipment in WoW, players have a variety of options. They can use Flightstones that are a common upgrade currency available to all players, or crests, which are more specialized and used to upgrade specific levels of the item. Crests are the main component of the Dragonflight gear progression system introduced in 10.1, and come in 4 ranks.

The first thing to remember is that crests are only able to be spent on gear of a specific rank, and that every rank has different requirements for its upgrade path. The simplest and most straightforward upgrade path costs 15 crests, while the most complex requires as many as 20 crests depending on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can earn crests through working through tasks at the appropriate level. This could be done by doing outdoor activities, or by doing dungeons or raids in all difficulty levels to obtain lower-level gear or Mythicbosses of raids or dungeons with heroic difficulty to obtain endgame gear. The crests can later be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, like Cuzolth in Dornogal, or Vaskarn in Valdrakken to obtain the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
The new currency system isn't difficult to use, but it will bring some changes to the upgrade process. For instance, when an item is at the highest level of upgrading 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.
Another significant change is that crests only have one purpose and it's crucial to use them wisely. It's best to use your Whelpling-rank crests on the best gear you can find, and keep Drake and Wyrm Crests to be used for the next set of upgrades. This is particularly true for items such as trinkets and rings that fill several slots. The discount on the account is only applicable when all slots on the character are filled with top-quality gear.