World of Warcraft Item Upgrades
Upgrades to an item are a way to boost the stats of an item level upgrade. Depending on the upgrade type it can boost an item's Mark Level or Rarity, as well as boost other stats.
Each item has a track to upgrade it. Each upgrade increases the cost of the following one by a certain amount.
Item Level
When an item gets upgraded, its basic stats improve in value. This value is the sum of an item's leveled-up perks (attack magic attack and defense). Upgrading items can be expensive, depending on the upgrader you choose and the type of upgrade you choose to make. This is due to the variety of perks that must be changed in order to upgrade an item.
It can also be used to enforce gating requirements when queueing for raids, dungeons and scenarios. It can also be used to limit how much PvP gear players can wear as PvP is restricted at a lower level. The average level of an item can be found in the character sheet.
Utilizing the level of an item will allow players to compare the potency of gear when they decide to buy or sell. It's a good indicator of the quality of an item and the amount of damage it is capable of causing. Comparing items from a vendor's stock is possible using the item's level.
On your PC, you can view the item level upgrade level by pressing ALT or using the left stick on XB1 or PS4. This will display the complete description of the item, including its level. You can also find it by hovering over an item and typing /itemlevel in chat.
There are various theories about how the calculation of the item's level is done. One theory is that the item level is a number that comes from a formula that determines how much an item's stats are worth. It takes into consideration that different benefits are valued differently and that gems in the sockets increase the value of the item. This process can result in a calculated value for the item's ilvl, which is typically close to the actual Blizzard level of the item.
However, this isn't the only factor that can affect an item's ilvl because the level of the region the item dropped in can change the value of its stats, such as by adding a level to its haste or crit rating. This means that items dropped at higher levels will have higher ilvl than those from lower-level instances.
Item Stats
Item stats can be the difference between a good or bad item for players. The game makes use of them in various ways to encourage players to not restrict themselves to a particular weapon and to encourage players to explore other weapons. The stat modifications of an weapon increase the base stats. These stat mods are then increased by a player's level.
The upgrades to an item can increase its stats. The upgrade costs are determined by the rarity of the item. For instance, a grey or white item can only be upgraded once, while items with rare levels will be upgraded multiple times at higher prices.
Affixes can also be used to alter the stats of an item. These are special stat boosts that can be added to an item by the player and come in a variety of sizes and shapes. The affixes can be used to give the item extra damage, or add a unique ability to the item (such as reviving the dead or decreasing cooldowns) or make the item unique by adding an exclusive name to the item.
Currently, all affixes can be modified by selecting them in the upgrade window and pressing the green button with circles arrows. This procedure will cost the player a certain amount of gold and items that can be used to add to the upgrade gauge in the same way as other options for rerolling.
Players can choose to upgrade an item to a specific stat or reroll affixes. The range of stats determined by the item's level. However each item will have at least one stat in the same range, unless it's an exclusive item, or an item that has a God Roll from a raid boss.
Another thing that can be modified by introducing an option to upgrade the equipment without rerolling the affixes, or selecting which stats to enhance. As with the base equipment, this must be done per item and the item comparison interface wouldn't display all possible stats at once.
Item Luck
The Luck stat of a player stacks up to increase the odds of finding items and the properties that are spawned from loot drops, and the intensity of these properties. It does not, however directly affect damage or the ability to upgrade items. It provides players with an opportunity to get better gear earlier in the game. This is especially advantageous in early game runs because players tend to put the scaling of weapons and defenses over raw damage gains.
In addition to influencing item discovery, Luck also increases the probability of success when upgrading items using the Blacksmith. This isn't to be confused with the Blacksmith's overall chances of upgrading, which increase with each level of the item. It is also possible to be increased with the use of anti-materials such as the Scroll of Strength and a Jewel of Blessing.
The shields, armor, and weapons have the default Luck value of 40. These items can be enhanced with golden ingots, spined leather or oak boards (depending on the material of the item) to give +40 Luck, or to increase the existing Luck of an item up to 140.
Moreover there are certain items, like the Hollow infused weapon can be used to increase the damage dealt by any damage-dealing skill by 5percent. These items can be found in the shop or crafted using the right ingredients.
Item Failure
Upgrades to items can be a costly process and not every upgrade will be successful. Cash shop items can be used to boost the chances of success for an upgrade item or to prevent players from losing their item if it is not successful.
When you upgrade an item the rate of success is displayed in the Honing UI. The percentage indicates the probability of successfully upgrading the item. This can be increased with Additional Materials or Special Materials. There are limits to the extent to which the success rates can be improved, and the overall chance of a failed upgrade cannot exceed 100%.
The luck of an item may affect the effectiveness of an upgrade. Every item has a base success rate of 25%, and every item with Luck increases the chance of success by 5%.
It is important to note that upgrade items are rendered above the inventory items therefore enchantment glints and other effects may be obscured by the overlays. If you wish to disable the upgrade overlays, the config option decoration.renderUpgradeOverlays can be set to False in the Item Upgrader CORE client config.