World of Warcraft Item Upgrades
Upgrades to an item are a way to boost the stats of an item. Based on the type of upgrade you choose, it can increase an item's Rarity or Mark Level and increase other stats.
Each item has a track to upgrade it. Each upgrade increases the cost of the next one by a set amount.
Item Level
The value of an item's basic stats increases as it is upgraded. The value is the sum of all of its upgraded perks (attack magic attack, attack defense). Upgrades to items can be costly depending on the upgrader and the type of upgrade you choose to make. This is due to how many perks have to be replaced to allow the item to be upgraded.
It is also used as a gating requirement when queueing for raids, dungeons and scenarios. It also serves to limit how much PvP gear players can use, since PvP is limited at a lower level. The average level of an item can be found on the character sheet.
Using the item level will allow players to compare the power of equipment when choosing to buy or sell. It's a good indicator of an item's quality and the amount of damage it's capable of causing. The level of an item can be used to evaluate items when looking at a vendor's inventory.
On your PC, you can check the level of the item by pressing ALT or by using the left stick on XB1 or PS4. This will display the complete description of the item, as well as its level. It is also accessible by hovering over an item with the mouse cursor and typing /itemlevel in chat.
There are several theories about the method by which the level of an item is calculated. One theory says that the item level is determined by formulas that determine how valuable the stats of an item really are. It takes into account the fact that different perks have different values and that gems in sockets add to the overall value of the item Upgrader Kit. This process could result in a calculated amount for the item's level, which is typically close to Blizzard's real level of the item.
However, this is not the only factor which can affect an item's ilvl as the level of the region the item is dropped into can change the value of its stats, for example by adding a level to its haste rating or crit rating. This means that items that drop at higher levels will have higher ilvl than those from lower-level instances.
Item Stats
The stats of an item are a major element in what makes or breaks an item for players. The game uses a variety of them in a variety of ways to encourage players to play with multiple weapons, and also to stop one weapon from being "the Best item upgrade." The base stats on a weapon are enhanced by the weapon's stat modifications that are in turn enhanced by the player's level.
Item upgrades add to that by increasing certain stats on the item. The rarity of an item determines its cost of upgrading. For example, a grey or white item can only be upgraded once, whereas an item with rare tiers can be upgraded many times at higher prices.
Another method of altering the stats of an item is by affixing it. These are special stat boosts that can be added to an item by the player and they come in all shapes and sizes. Affixes are used to give items additional damage or special abilities (such as the ability to revive dead or reduce cooling downs), or to make them unique by adding a name.
All affixes can be currently re-rolled by selecting them in the upgrade window pressing the green button. It will cost a set amount of gold and other items. They can also be used as upgrade gauges, just like the other rerolling methods.
Players can choose to upgrade an item with specific stats, or reroll the affixes. The possible stat ranges for an item are determined by the level of the item, but all items are guaranteed to have at minimum one stat within the range, unless it is an item that is unique or a God roll from a raid boss.
Another thing that could be changed by introducing an option to upgrade the equipment without rerolling the affixes or choosing which stats to boost. But, like base equipment, this would have to be performed on a per-item basis and the interface for comparing items will not show all the stats that could be gained or lost at once.
Item Luck
The Luck stat of a player can increase the chance of finding items, the properties that are created by loot and the intensity of these properties. However, it does not directly affect damage or the ability to upgrade items. It provides players with the chance to upgrade their gear earlier in the game. This is more advantageous in early game runs because players tend to put defenses and weapon scaling over raw damage gains.
In addition to influencing the discovery of items, Luck also increases the chances of success when upgrading items using the Blacksmith. This is not to be confused with the Blacksmith's overall upgrade chance, which increases with each level of the item and can be further enhanced by using an anti-material such as a Scroll of Strength or a Jewel of Blessing.
Weapons, armor, and shields can spawn or be crafted by using the Luck property, with the default value of 40. These items can be enhanced with golden ingots, spined leather, or oak boards (depending on the type of material used) to grant a further +40 Luck or to increase the Luck of an item, up to 140.
Furthermore there are certain items, such as the Hollow weapon that is infused with hollow can be outfitted to increase the damage dealt by any damage-dealing skill by 5percent. These items are available in the shop or constructed using the right ingredients.
Item Failure
Not all upgrades are successful. However, there are some cash shop items which allow players to increase their success rate or prevent themselves from losing an item if the upgrade item is unsuccessful.
When you upgrade an item, the success rate is displayed in the Honing UI. The percentage represents the likelihood of successfully upgrading the item. This can be increased by using Additional Materials or Special Materials. The probability of success can only be increased by so much, and the likelihood that an upgrade will fail cannot exceed 100%.
The Luck of an item upgrade may affect the success of an upgrade. Every item has an initial success rate of 25%, and every item with Luck increases the chance of success by an additional five percent.
It is important to note that upgrade items are rendered above the items in the inventory which means that enchantment glints and other effects could be obstructed 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.