World of Warcraft Item Upgrades
The upgrade of an item can be used to increase the stats of an item. Depending on the upgrade type it could increase an item's Mark Level or Rarity, and also boost other stats.
Each item has a track for upgrading it. Each upgrade increases the cost of the following one by a certain amount.
Item Level
When an item is upgraded, its stats improve in value. This is the sum of all the leveled up benefits (attack, magic attack and defense). Upgrades can be expensive depending on the person you hire and what you do. This is due to the sheer number of perks that need to be modified to upgrade an item.
It is also used to enforce gating requirements when queueing for dungeons, raids and scenarios. It is also used to limit the amount of PvP gear players can use, since PvP is limited at a lower level. The average level of an item can be found in the character sheet.
Using the item level can help players compare the potency of gear when deciding to purchase or sell. It's an excellent gauge of an item's worth and the amount of damage it is capable of dealing with. The level of an item can be used to evaluate items when looking at the inventory of a vendor.
The level of the item can be seen by pressing the ALT key on your PC or using the left stick (L3) on XB1 and PS4. This will show the item's full description, including the ilvl. It is also accessible by hovering an item upgrader Kit with the mouse cursor, and then entering /itemlevel into chat.
There are various theories about how the calculation of the item's level is done. One theory states that the level of an item is calculated by formulas that determine the worth of the stats of an item really are. It is based on the fact that different perks are valued differently, and that gems in sockets increase the value of the item. This could result in an item's ilvl calculated, which is usually very close to Blizzards actual level of the item.
This is not the only thing that affects the level of an item. The level of the area where the item was dropped may alter its stats. For instance it can increase the item level upgrade's haste, or crit rating. This means that items dropped at higher levels will have higher ilvl than those from lower-level instances.
Item Stats
The item's stats can make or break an item for players. The game makes use of a lot of them in different ways to encourage players to play with a variety of weapons, and prevent one weapon from being "the Best item upgrade." The stats of a base weapon are increased by the weapon's stat modifications, which are themselves enhanced by the player's level.
Upgrades to an item may increase the stats of an item. The rarity of an item determines the upgrade cost. For instance, a grey or white item can only be upgraded once, whereas items with rare levels will be upgraded multiple times with higher prices.
Affixes are a different method to change an item's stats. 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 are used to give items extra damage, special capabilities (such as revitalizing dead or reducing cooling downs) or to distinguish them by putting a name on them.
All affixes are re-rolled at the moment by selecting them in the upgrade window and pressing the green button. This will cost a specific amount in gold and items. These can be used as upgrade gauges just like the other rerolling methods.
Players can upgrade an item to specific stats, or reroll affixes. The range of stats determined by the item's level. However, all items will include at least one stat in that range unless they are an item that is unique or an item that has a God Roll from a boss in a raid.
This is another aspect that could be changed by introducing an option to upgrade the equipment without having to reroll the affixes or choosing which stats to enhance. Similar to base equipment, it would have to be done per item and the interface for item comparison wouldn't display all possible stats simultaneously.
Item Luck
A player's Luck stat stacks up to increase the likelihood of finding items and the properties that are spawned from loot drops and the intensity of these properties. However, it does not directly affect damage or the ability to upgrade items. It gives players an opportunity to get better equipment earlier in the game. This is especially beneficial in the early game, since players tend to prioritize defenses and weapon scaling over 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 upgrade probability, which increases with each item level and can be further enhanced 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 using the Luck property, with a default value of 40. These items can be upgraded 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 existing Luck of an item, up to 140.
Certain items, such as the weapon that is infused with hollow can also be outfitted to increase the damage of any ability that is able to deal damage by 5percent. These items are available in the shops or made using the right ingredients.
Item Failure
Not all upgrades work. However, there are some cash shop items that allow players to boost their success rate or prevent them from losing an item if the upgrade is unsuccessful.
The rate of success of an upgrade can be seen in the Honing UI. The percentage represents the probability of successfully upgrading the item and it can be increased by adding Additional Materials or Special Materials. There are limits to how much success rates can be increased and the probability of a failed upgrade cannot exceed 100%..
The success of an upgrade is also affected by the luck of that item. Each item has a success rate of 25 percent, and every item with Luck increases this chance by five percent.
The upgrade overlays for items are rendered above items in the inventory. This could 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.