World of Warcraft Item Upgrades
Upgrades to an item are a way to increase the stats of an item. Based on the type of upgrade it can increase an item's Mark Level or Rarity, as well as boost other stats.
Each item comes with a track for upgrading it. Each upgrade increases the cost of the next one by a certain amount.
Item Level
When an item gets upgraded, its base stats are increased in value. This is the sum of all the leveled up perks (attack, magic attack and defense). Upgrades to items can be costly, dependent on the upgrader and what type of upgrade you choose to do. This is because of how many perks need to be replaced in order for the item to be upgraded.
It is also used as a gating requirement when waiting for dungeons, raids and scenarios. It also serves to limit how much PvP gear players can wear, since PvP is limited at lower levels. The average item level can be found on the character sheet.
When deciding whether to purchase or sell equipment players can look at the item level. It's an indicator of the damage and quality. The level of an item can be used to compare items when evaluating the inventory of a vendor.
The item level can be seen by pressing the ALT key on a PC or using the left stick (L3) on XB1 and PS4. This will display the item's full description, including the ilvl. You can also find it by hovering over an item and typing in /itemlevel chat.
There are several theories about how the item level is determined. One theory is that the item level is a number that comes from a formula that calculates the value of an item's stats are worth. It takes into account the fact that various perks have different value and that gems in sockets add to the value of the item upgrader kit overall. This can lead to an item's ilvl which is calculated and is often very close to Blizzards actual item level.
However, this is not the only factor that affects an item's ilvl, as the size of the area the item was dropped in could change the value of its stats, such as by adding an amount to its haste or crit rating. Items that drop in higher-level instances will have higher ilvl.
Item Stats
Stats on an item are a significant element in what determines the value of an item for players. The game utilizes them in a variety of ways to encourage players not to limit themselves to a single weapon and to encourage players to experiment with other weapons. The base stats on a weapon are enhanced by the weapon's stat modifications, which are themselves boosted by the player's level.
The upgrades to an item can increase the stats of an item. The rarity of an item determines the cost of upgrading. For instance, a gray or white item can only be upgraded once, whereas an item with rare levels will be upgraded multiple times with higher prices.
Another way to change the stats on an item is through affixes. These are special stat boosts that can be added to an item by the player and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The affixes could provide the item extra damage, add a special ability to the item (such as reviving dead or reducing cooldowns), or make the item unique by adding an exclusive name to the Best item upgrade.
All affixes are re-rolled at the moment by selecting them in the upgrade window, pressing the green button. It will cost a set amount in gold and other items. These can be used as upgrade gauges similar to other rerolling methods.
Players can choose to upgrade an item with specific stats, or reroll attaches. The possible stat ranges of an item are determined by the level of the item, but every item is guaranteed to have at least one stat within that range, unless it is a unique item or an item that is a God roll from a boss in a raid.
This is another thing that can be modified by adding an option to upgrade the equipment without rerolling the affixes or choosing which stats to enhance. Like the base equipment, this will have to be done per item and the interface for item comparison will not show all possible stats simultaneously.
Item Luck
A player's Luck stat stacks up to increase the odds of item discoveries and the properties that are spawned from loot drops and the intensity of the properties. It doesn't, however directly impact damage or the ability to upgrade items. It provides players with the chance to upgrade equipment earlier in the game. This is especially advantageous for early game runs, since players tend to prioritize defenses and weapon scaling over raw damage gains.
Luck can also increase the chances of upgrading items at the Blacksmith. This is not to be confused with the Blacksmith's overall chance of upgrading that increases with each item level and can be further increased by using an anti-material such as a Scroll of Strength or a Jewel of Blessing.
Weapons, shields, and armor can spawn or be crafted by using the Luck property, which has a default value of 40. These items can be improved with golden ingots, or spined leather (depending on the type of material) to increase the value of 40 luck, or to increase the luck of the item to 140.
Moreover, certain items, such as the Hollow weapon, which is infused with Hollow, can be equipped to increase the damage dealt by any damage-dealing skill by 5%. These items can be purchased at the store or made using the correct ingredients.
Item Failure
Item upgrades are expensive and not all upgrades will be successful. However, there are some cash shop items that allow players to increase their chance of success or stop them from losing an item if the upgrade fails.
When you upgrade an item, the success rate is displayed in the Honing UI. The percentage is the chances of successfully upgrading the item, and can be enhanced by adding Additional Materials or Special Materials. The chance of success can only be increased by so much, and the chance that an upgrade will fail cannot exceed 100%.
The success of an upgrade is also affected by the Luck of that item. All items have a success rate of 25 percent and each Item Upgrader Kit with Luck increases this chance by 5percent.
The upgrade overlays of the item are rendered above the items in the inventory. This may block enchantment effects as well as other effects. 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.