The 10 Scariest Things About Item Upgrading

World of Warcraft Upgrades and item upgrading (from the Longisland blog)

Upgrades increase the value of certain numeric stats on weapons, armor and rings. Upgrades also boost bonuses like crit chance and PvE Damage.

For example an item with the upgrade template that ends in % will suffer an attack damage of 3% each time it is upgraded (relative to its previous value).

Item upgrading costs crests and the current level of the item. The cost increases as the item level increases.

Components

upgrade item components are items that can be inserted into weapons, armor, and trinkets to give an extra stat boost or effect while they're in use. They can be acquired through crafting, buying from vendors trading or looting. Some upgrades can also be accompanied by special cosmetic effects.

Upgrade components can only be applied to equipment that has a slot. The item must be upgraded to blue level before the component can be applied. Upgrade components, unlike other modifications, can only be applied only once. They are not able to be replaced or applied several times. Infusions and Enrichments are a kind of upgrade component that can be used to upgrade non-amulet legendary or ascended equipment, as well in some items that aren't ascended. Infusions and enrichments can be retrieved by salvaging ascended gear or completing an elite task in the Prophecies, Factions and Nightfall campaigns.

A suffix or prefix can be added to an upgrade, changing the name of the item it is used on (for example 'Canthan Armor Insignia,' is changed to Canthan Armor Minor Vigor). Certain upgrades boost an item's Mark Level or Rarity, which allows players to create stronger versions of that equipment with the smallest amount of Upgrade Crystals than are required to reach the same level of upgrade through normal methods.

A 'boost upgrade' can alter the defense or attack properties of a weapon, or armor. These upgrades are available to be crafted from the Portative Forging Station once the player has completed the cutscene and defeats the Crazed Mechanic. They can also be dropped by enemies when upgrading other gear or purchasing them from the cash shop for 500 upgrade crystals.

The player is able to have up to five boost upgrades at one time. Each upgrade increases the chance that a higher-level version of the item will appear at the time of the next reset. This gives the player an incentive to keep upgrading their gear even if they're not sure of how much it will increase after a future reset.

The process of upgrading an item could be costly, and it is possible that the item will become obsolete, or even break, when the upgrade is unsuccessful. Upgrade Crystals and assist powder are also destroyed when the upgrade fails. This is mitigated by the availability of cash shop items that can increase or even eliminate the possibility of failure, and some upgrades that offer an additional benefit when they are inserted into an item.

Glyphs

Glyphs can be used to improve the Paragon Board by placing them in sockets with special functions. Glyphs increase the effectiveness of all nodes in the area around them, including pre-existing affixes on equipment. Glyphs are upgraded in various ways, and we suggest getting them to level 15 whenever you can.

You will often find in the endgame that putting Glyphs is the best method to upgrade your gear. They are the only upgrade component that can be upgraded directly to level 15, and they provide a large boost to your power and radius on the Paragon Board, enabling you to get higher nodes faster.

Most of the upgrades in the game can be replaced but Glyphs are the only upgrade component that can be removed and put back in place without any restrictions. Only legendary equipment can be salvaged and rebuilt using the aid of a Black Lion Salvage Kit.

The value of each Glyph is displayed when you select it in your inventory. You can replace it with a Glyph that is the same or higher rank to boost the value of the Glyph.

You can find Glyphs in the Black Lion Trading Post, as part of an Gem Store purchase or bundle with certain gathering tools that are unlimited-use as well as through Faction Crypt raids. Each Faction Crypt has the chance of dropping one of the numerous Glyphs as well as also a few rare Glyphs that can be found in the form of drops from any of the four Faction Crypts.

Once you have obtained the desired Glyphs you will require them to be placed on your gear. Each Glyph will grant a distinct bonus that boosts the stats of a specific set of nodes that are within a radius of the Glyph. This will either be +40 for one of your primary stats or +25 for two of your secondary stats depending on the Glyph.

Glyphs boost all nodes that are connected to them, so it is best to put Glyphs in key places on the Graph. This will maximize the impact. Druids, for instance, should place their Glyphs close to their primary damage nodes. They might also want to consider placing them near their most critical damage nodes.

Leveling

The item upgrading system allows players to increase the performance of certain items by placing upgraded components in them. This is commonly known as "upping". Each upgradeable item has an amount that determines the final stats. Upgraded items can be leveled until they reach a maximum level of ilvl 385. Each item level requires different components, and the cost of upgrading increase with each level.

Certain upgrades require an ingredient to be activated. This ingredient is obtained from finishing Upgrade Recipes. These recipes can be purchased from NPCs or found on the upgrade tab of crafting tables. Each Upgrade Recipe that is completed earns a number of Technology Points. These points can be used to leveling up an item. When enough points have been earned, you will be able to claim the upgrade and receive its additional bonuses.

When an item is upgraded by a player it is replaced with a new item of the same type. The same armor can be transformed into a weapon or a shield when upgraded. The new item will also have a unique bonus. This could be a drawback because it can cause the item to become more expensive if you don't need it.

Upgrades to items can be rerolled, provided that the player has enough tokens in order to do this. This causes the item to be exchanged for a new one, which will have a level 1 base and a different set of bonuses. This is a good option for some items, but it shouldn't be performed frequently, since it can use up a lot of resources.

Certain upgrades can boost their value and allow players to modify their gear. One example is Dolphin's Gift, which gives an increase in power when a player repeatedly enters and exits water (or is able to swim like dolphins). It is possible to upgrade it several times, each time increasing the max roll by 10 points. This item is highly useful in PvP. A perfectly rolled version can be worth up to 50x the value of a non-upgraded counterpart.

Requirements

Item upgrading allows players to upgrade the level of their equippable equipment--armor, weapons, and trinkets above ilvl 385--by providing the appropriate items and currency to an item upgrader NPC. Upgrading armor set pieces will also boost the defense base of that piece, while upgrading weapon items will increase the damage base and the strength and dexterity required to match the requirements of the upgraded equipment.

All items can be upgraded a maximum of five times, except for hero gear that can be upgraded up to eight times. Each each time you upgrade an item, it has the chance to fail. The failure rate increases the farther you go over the maximum number of upgrades. Failures can cause the item to return to its original state which means that the player has to pay for more materials than if they had stopped upgrading after the maximum number.

If an item does not upgrade, the amount of accumulated experience in its growth bar is reset to zero. The item also loses any bonuses it gained, such as chances to be crit attack damage, additional effects (such as a higher healing rate over time or reloading speed). However, the user can continue to use the weapon or armor after the failure.

When an item is upgraded the upgrades are applied from the lowest to highest. This means that when a weapon is upgraded, if it increases its crit chance that it will be applied prior to any damage to attack increases. Slots is a new attribute that was added to item definitions. The value is recalculated every time an upgrade occurs.

The amount of resources needed to upgrade an item is determined on the rarity rating and the number of upgrade slots. The cost of upgrading non-premium equipment is equal to its base value. For instance an item of common use could have five upgrades for a price of. 25600 Technology Points 4x Quality Improvement Chance. Hero grade items have a lower cost per upgrade.

Premium items could have different upgrade requirements than standard gear. For example, they may need less sowels, but they will require more minerals and orons. Players will still have to bring every piece of equipment they wish to upgrade to the NPC [Armor] Boboko located in Central Flarine. Each upgrade of equipment requires different amounts of ingredients for upgrading, in addition to the costs mentioned above.