World of Warcraft Item Upgrades
Item upgrades are a way to boost the stats of an item. Depending on the upgrade type, it may raise an item's Mark level or Rarity, as well as boost other stats.
Upgrades to gear in The War Within requires a specified number of Flightstones and Crests and each item has an upgrade track. Each upgrade increases the cost of the following one by a set amount.
Item Level
The value of an item's base stats increases as it is upgraded. This value is the sum of the perks that are leveled up (attack magic attack and defense). Upgrades to items can be costly, depending on the upgrader and the kind of upgrade you decide to do. This is due to the sheer number of perks that need to be changed in order to upgrade an item.
It is also used as a gating requirement when queueing for raids, dungeons and scenarios. It can also be used to limit how much PvP gear players can wear as PvP is restricted at lower levels. Players can see their average item level in their character sheet.
Utilizing the level of an item can help players compare the potency of gear when choosing to buy or sell. It's a sign of the item's condition and its quality. The item level can also be used to evaluate items when examining the inventory of a vendor.
On your PC, you can view the item upgrader kit level 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. You can also find it by hovering over an item and typing /itemlevel into chat.
There are various theories on how the item level calculation is done. One theory suggests that the item level is determined by an equation that determines how valuable an item's stats actually are. It is based on the fact that different benefits are valued differently and that gems found in sockets increase the value of the item. This can result in a calculated value for the item's level, which is typically close to Blizzard's real level of the item.
This isn't the only factor that affects the level of an item. The degree of the area in which the item was dropped can change its stats. For example it can increase the Best item upgrade's haste, or crit rating. Items dropped in higher-level instances will have a higher value.
Item Stats
Item stats are a big element in what determines the value of an item for players. The game makes use of them in a variety of ways to encourage players to not limit themselves to a single weapon, and to encourage them to try out other weapons. The base stats on a weapon are increased by the weapon's stat modification, which are themselves increased by the player's skill.
Upgrades to an item may boost its stats. The rarity of an item determines its cost of upgrading. A grey or white item, for example, will only be upgraded one time however, items that has rare tiers can be upgraded multiple times with higher costs.
Another way to change the stats of an item is by affixing it. They are stat boosters that can be added by the player to an item. The affixes can provide the item extra damage, or add a unique capability to the item (such as reviving dead or cutting down the cooldowns), or make the item unique by giving an exclusive name to the item.
All affixes can be currently re-rolled by selecting them in the upgrade menu and pressing the green button. This will cost a specific amount of gold and other items. They can also be used as upgrade gauges just like the other methods of rerolling.
Players can choose to upgrade an item with a specific stat or reroll attaches. The possible stat ranges for an item are based on the level of the item, however all items are guaranteed to have at least one stat within the range, unless it is an item that is unique or an item that is a God roll from a boss of a raid.
Another thing that could be changed by introducing an option to upgrade the equipment without rolling the affixes or deciding which stats to boost. As with the base equipment, this must be done per item and the interface for item comparison wouldn't display all possible stats simultaneously.
Item Luck
The Luck stat of a player stacks up to increase the likelihood of finding items, the properties spawned on loot drops, and the intensity of the properties. However, it doesn't directly affect damage or ability to upgrade items. It provides players with the chance to upgrade their equipment earlier in the game. This is especially beneficial in the early game, since players tend to prioritize the scaling of weapons and defenses over raw damage gains.
Luck can also increase the likelihood of upgrading items at the Blacksmith. This isn't to be confused with the Blacksmith's overall chance of upgrading that increase with each new level of Best item upgrade. It is also possible to be enhanced by using anti-materials like the Scroll of Strength and a Jewel of Blessing.
Weapons, shields, and armor can be created or spawned with 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 give +40 Luck, or to increase the existing Luck of an item, up to 140.
Additionally some items, such as the Hollow infused weapon can be used to increase the damage of any damage-dealing skill by 5%. These items can be found in the shop or created 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 in the event that the upgrade fails.
The success rate of an upgrade is displayed in the Honing UI. The percentage indicates the probability of successfully upgrading an item. This can be increased by using Additional Materials or Special Materials. There are limits to the extent to which the success rates can be improved and the chance of a failed upgrade cannot exceed 100%.
The Luck of an item may influence the effectiveness of an upgrade. Each item has an initial success rate of 25%, and each item with Luck increases the chance of success by five percent.
The item upgrade overlays are rendered above the items in the inventory. This can cause obscurity to enchantment effects or 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.