The core issue is that deciding which piece of gear to upgrade is often dictated by pure randomness, specifically Great Vault rewards and raid drops. Forcing players to hoard crests to avoid wasting them on a slot that might be replaced is neither fun nor skill-based.
I suggest introducing a way to downgrade an item to reclaim spent crests. To keep the seasonal cap balanced, the total reclaimable crests would be calculated as your total seasonal earnings minus your current unspent balance. This would remove the hesitation to upgrade gear early in the season, as players would know they can recover those resources if a better option drops later.
What do you think?
