World of Warcraft Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a method to boost the stats of an item. Depending on the upgrade type it can boost an item's Mark Level or Rarity, as well as boost other stats.
Upgrading gear in The War Within requires a certain number of Flightstones and Crests, and each item has an upgrade track. Each upgrade increases the cost of the following one by a specific amount.
Item Level
When an item is upgraded, its stats are increased in value. This is the sum of all of its leveled up benefits (attack, magic attack and defense). Upgrades can be expensive dependent on who you employ and what you decide to do. This is due to the variety of perks that have to be changed in order to upgrade an item.
It can also be used to enforce gating requirements when queueing for dungeons, raids and scenarios. It also serves to limit the amount of PvP gear players can wear as PvP is restricted at lower levels. The average level of the item can be found on the character sheet.
Using the item level will allow players to compare the power of equipment when deciding to purchase or sell. It's an indicator of the item's damage and its quality. Comparing items in the inventory of a seller can be done by using the item's level.
On PC, you can see the level of the item using ALT, or by using the left stick on XB1 or PS4. This will show the item's full description, including ilvl. You can also locate it by hovering over an item upgrading and typing /itemlevel in chat.
There are several theories on how the item level calculation is carried out. One theory states that the item level is determined by an equation that determines the worth of the stats of an item really are. It takes into consideration the fact that various perks have different value, and also that sockets have gems that increase the value of the item overall. This can result in a calculated value for the item's ilvl which is typically close to Blizzard's actual level of the item.
However, this isn't the only factor which can affect an item's ilvl since the level of the area the item is dropped into can alter the value of its stats, such as by adding an additional level to its crit rating or haste rating. Items dropped in higher-level instances will have higher ilvl.
Item Stats
Item stats can determine the fate of an item for players. The game uses them in various ways to encourage players to not limit themselves to a single weapon, and to encourage players to explore other weapons. The stats of a base weapon are enhanced by the weapon's stat mods which are then increased by the player's skill.
The upgrades to items add by increasing certain stats on the item. The rarity of an item determines the cost of upgrading. An item that is white or grey for instance, will only be upgraded one time however, items with rare tiers may be upgraded multiple times with more expensive costs.
Another way to change the stats of an item is through affixes. They are stat boosters that can be added by the player to an item. The affixes can be used to give the item extra damage, or add a unique capability to the item (such as reviving dead or reducing the cooldowns) or make the item unique by adding an exclusive name to the Best item upgrade.
All affixes are currently re-rolled by selecting them in the upgrade menu and pressing the green button. This procedure will cost the player a certain amount of gold and items, which can be added to the upgrade gauge in the same manner as the other options for rerolling.
In addition to Rerolling affixes and rerolls, players can also choose which of the available stats to be kept on an item when it is upgraded. The stat ranges are determined by the item level upgrade's level. However each item will contain at least one stat in that range unless they are an item that is unique or a God Roll from a boss in a raid.
Another thing that could change is the option to upgrade equipment without having to reroll affixes, or choose which stats to boost. As with the base equipment, this would have to be done per item, and the interface for item comparison will not show all possible stats at once.
Item Luck
The Luck stat of a player boosts the probability of obtaining items as well as the properties spawned by loot and the intensity of these properties. However, it does not, directly affect damage or the ability to upgrade items. It gives the player the chance to upgrade their gear earlier in the game. This is more advantageous in early game runs because players tend to put weapon scaling and defenses above raw damage gains.
Luck can also boost the chance of upgrading items at the Blacksmith. This should not be confused with the Blacksmith's overall upgrade probability, which increases with each level and can be further enhanced by using an anti-material, such as a Scroll of Strength or a Jewel of Blessing.
The shields, armor and weapons have the default Luck value of 40. These items can be enhanced by 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.
Certain items, such as the Hollow-infused weapon can also be crafted to increase the damage of any ability that is able to deal damage by 5%. These items can be bought in the shop or crafted using the right ingredients.
Item Failure
Not all upgrades work. Cash shop items can be used to increase the success rate of an upgrade or to stop players from losing their item in the event that it is not successful.
When you upgrade an item the rate of success is displayed in the Honing UI. The percentage is the chances of successfully upgrading the item and can be increased by adding Additional Materials or Special Materials. There are limitations to the extent to which success rates can be increased and the probability of an upgrade failing cannot exceed 100%.
The luck of an item upgrades can affect the effectiveness of an upgrade. Every item has an average success rate of 25 percent, and every item with Luck increases the chance of success by 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 may be masked by them. 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.