World of Warcraft Item Upgrades
Item upgrades are a way to increase the stats of an item. Based on the type of upgrade, it may increase the rarity of an item, or its Mark Level and increase other stats.
Each item has a track to upgrade it. Each upgrade increases the cost of the next Best item upgrader by a specific amount.
Item Level
When an item gets upgraded, its stats improve in value. This value is the sum of all of an item's leveled-up perks (attack magic attack and defense). Upgrades to items can be costly dependent on the upgrader and what kind of upgrade you decide to make. This is due to the number of perks that have to be modified to upgrade an item.
Item level is a widely used measurement of power and can be seen on all tooltips of items. It can also be used to determine a gating condition when queueing for dungeons, scenarios, and raids, as well as to limit the amount of PvP gear players can wear (since PvP is restricted to an lower level). The average level of an item is listed on the character sheet.
Using the item level can help players compare the potency of gear when they decide to buy or sell. It's a sign of the damage and its quality. The level of an item can be used to compare items when looking at the inventory of a vendor.
On your PC, you can view the item level by pressing ALT or using the left stick on XB1 or PS4. This will show the item's full description, including the ilvl. It is also accessible by hovering over an item with the mouse cursor and typing /itemlevel into chat.
There are many theories about the method by which the level of an item is calculated. One theory suggests that the level of an item is calculated by an equation that determines how valuable an item's stats really are. It considers that different perks are valued differently, and that gems in sockets increase the item's value. This can result in an item's ilvl which is calculated and is typically very close to Blizzards actual item level.
This isn't the only factor that affects the ilvl of an item. The degree of the area in which the item was dropped may alter its stats. For instance it can increase the item upgrading's haste or crit rating. Items dropped in higher-level instances will have higher ilvl.
Item Stats
The stats of an item can determine the fate of an item for players. The game utilizes them in many ways to encourage players to not restrict themselves to a particular weapon, and to encourage players to experiment with other weapons. The stat modifications of weapons boost base stats. These stat mods are then enhanced by the player's level.
The upgrades to an item can boost its stats. The rarity of an item determines its cost of upgrading. A white or grey item, for example, will only be upgraded one time, while an item with rare tiers can be upgraded multiple times at higher costs.
Another way to change the stats of an item is through affixes. These are special stat boosts that can be added to an Best item upgrader by the player, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Affixes are used to provide items with extra damage, special capabilities (such as reviving dead or reducing cooling downs) or to differentiate them by putting a name on them.
All affixes can be being re-rolled right now by selecting them in the upgrade window pressing the green button. This procedure will cost the player a certain amount of gold and items which can be used to add to the upgrade gauge in the same way as other options for rerolling.
Players can upgrade an item with a specific stat or reroll the affixes. The stat ranges are determined by the item's level. However each item will contain at least one stat in the range, unless they are an item that is unique, or a God Roll from a raid boss.
This is another thing that can be modified by adding the option to upgrade the equipment without rerolling the affixes, or selecting which stats to enhance. But as with base equipment, this would have to be done on a per-item level, and the interface for item comparison would not display all the possible stats gained or lost at once.
Item Luck
The Luck stat for a player adds up to increase the chances of item discoveries, the properties spawned on loot drops and the intensity of the properties. It does not, however directly affect damage or the ability to upgrade items. It provides players with the chance to upgrade gear earlier in the game. This is particularly useful in the early game, since players tend to prioritize weapon scaling and defenses above raw damage gains.
In addition to influencing item discovery, Luck also increases the probability of success when upgrading items with the Blacksmith. This should not be confused with the Blacksmith's overall chance of upgrading which increases with each item level and can be further enhanced through the use of an anti-material such as a Scroll of Strength or a Jewel of Blessing.
Weapons, shields, and armor can be made or spawn using the Luck property, with an initial value of 40. These items can then be enhanced with golden ingots, spined leather, or oak boards (depending on the material of the item) 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 infused weapon can be used to boost the damage of any damage-dealing skill by 5%. These items are available in the shop or created by using the appropriate ingredients.
Item Failure
Not all upgrades work. Cash shop items can be used to boost the success rate of an upgrade or to stop players from losing their item in the event that it fails.
The success rate of an upgrade is displayed in the Honing UI. The percentage is the chances of completing the upgrade successfully, and can be increased by adding Additional Materials or Special Materials. There are limitations to how much success rates can be increased and the probability of an upgrade failing can't exceed 100%.
The Luck of an item can also influence the effectiveness of an upgrade. Every item has an average success rate of 25% and every item with Luck increases the chance of success by an additional 5%.
Note that item upgrades are rendered above the inventory items which means that enchantment glints and other effects could 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.