WoW Upgrades - The Item Upgrader
Upgrades provide a guaranteed boost to specific stats. Each upgrade boosts the level of an item by 3. Each upgrade also increases a random substat.
The more modernized gear generally has a more value in trade, unless it has inherently low requirements (like the FB sorc's shield) or very high stat variation (like Eth titan weapons). Upgrades are less valuable for the latter due to the requirement to roll an exact version.
Recycle Points
The item upgrade r lets players upgrade their gear by transferring the currency to an NPC. Upgrades can be applied to any type of armor or weapon. The item used to upgrade the item will be consumed and can't be used again. Upgrades can 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 couple of weeks to keep your equipment up to date.

The cost of upgrading will vary based on the current item level of the gear being upgraded, but will always be cheaper than purchasing new equipment from other sources. For example, upgrading a Benthic chest to 385 levels will cost 20 recycle points while buying a similar item from another player will cost 105.
Valorstones
Upgrades are items that are used to improve the quality of weapons, tools, armor, and accessories. item upgrading can be bought by players from NPCs that sell upgrades to items in exchange for different currencies, and can also be found in random treasure lists. Once an upgrade has been purchased, it can be applied to any weapon or tool using an The button will display a preview of an item's next level of upgrade, when there are enough materials.
Upgrade costs differ based on the item slot, and the current item level. For instance weapons are more expensive than gloves, bracers or bracers. Each step costs 15 Flightstones and a few crests, with certain upgrades having a discount to reduce the cost of the Flightstones or crests used. Once an item is upgraded to a certain amount, it can be downgraded and sold to the upgrader at a lower cost.
A lot of locations offer upgraders for items, including the main Island and some outposts. The NPCs offer an upgrade coupon and the chance to obtain an entirely new recipe. The discount on upgrades increases according to the number of items that are being upgraded, and can be boosted by having players complete some specific achievements or quests.
Unlike Cromwell in Baldur's Gate II is no upgrader for items available in the beginning of Icewind Dale. The NPCs who are able to facilitate upgrades are only accessible through a variety means. This is both a benefit as well as a drawback.
In Season 3, the upgrade system has been altered a bit, with some new features added. When a player has an upgrade to a particular level for an item in an armor slot, upgrading additional items to that same item level will cost less, even when they belong to a different gear set.
The discount is applicable to all accounts. Similarly, the amount of Harbinger Crests required for upgrades is also cut and is not available until players reach certain achievement milestones.
Crests
Players have a variety of choices when it comes to upgrading their equipment in WoW. They can choose to use Flightstones, which are a general upgrade currency available to all players, or crests that are more specific and consumed during upgrades on specific levels of the item. Crests are a crucial part of the Dragonflight Gear Progression System introduced in version 10.1. They are available in four ranks.
The first thing to remember is that crests are only able to be used to purchase equipment of a particular rank, and every rank has different requirements for upgrading. The most basic and straightforward upgrade route costs 15 crests while the most complex requires as many as 20 crests, based on the type of gear that is being upgraded.
Players can obtain crests by completing content of the appropriate level, which involves walking around and performing outdoor activities to get lower-tier gear, raids or dungeons with all difficulty for items of higher tier or Mythic+ dungeons or heroic raid bosses to obtain endgame gear. Crests can be exchanged at an upgrader NPC, such as Cuzolth in Dornogal or Vaskarn in Valdrakken, for the appropriate upgrade paths and steps.
The new currency system isn't too difficult to use, but it will bring some changes to the process of upgrading. When a piece of equipment attains the highest level of upgrade for any rank (Explorer or Adventurer) it is no longer required to purchase Flightstones. This allows players to upgrade their gear to the highest possible ilvl on all of their characters instead of relying on seasonal loot.
It's also essential to use crests in a wise manner, as they only have one use. It is recommended to use your Whelpling-rank Crests on the highest-quality gear you can find and save Drake and Wyrm Crests for the next set of upgrades. This is especially relevant for rings and trinkets that take up multiple slots on the character, which will only be able to take advantage of the account-wide discount if all of the slots are filled with high-quality gear.