World of Warcraft Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a method to boost the stats of an item. Based on the type of upgrade it can boost an item's Mark Level or Rarity, and also boost other stats.
Each item has a track to upgrade it. Each upgrade increases the cost of the next item by a certain amount.
Item Level
The value of an item's base stats increases when it is upgraded. This is the sum of all of its upgraded advantages (attack, magic attack and defense). Upgrades can be expensive dependent on who you employ and what you do. This is due to the number of perks that need to be changed in order to upgrade an item.
Item level is a popular measurement of power and can be seen on all item tooltips. It also serves to limit how much PvP gear players can use since PvP is not available at a lower level. The average level of an item can be found on the character sheet.
When deciding whether to purchase or sell equipment players can evaluate the item level. It's an excellent gauge of an item's worth and the amount of damage it will be able to deal. Comparing items from the inventory of a vendor can be done using the item level.
On PC, you can check the level of the item using ALT, or by using the left stick on XB1 or PS4. This will display the full description of the item, including its level. It is also accessible by hovering an item with the mouse cursor, and then typing /itemlevel in chat.
There are several theories about how the calculation of an item's level is carried out. One theory is that the level is a numerical value derived from a formula which calculates the amount an item's stats are worth. It is based on the fact that different advantages are valued differently and that gems found in sockets boost the value of the item. This could result in an item's ilvl which is calculated and is usually very close to Blizzard's actual item level.
This is not the only thing that affects the level of an item. The level of the area where the item was dropped may change its stats. For instance, it could add a level to the item's haste or crit rating. This means that items that drop at higher levels will have more the ilvl than items from lower level instances.
Item Stats
The stats of an item are a major part of what makes or breaks an item for players. The game makes use of a lot of them in different ways to encourage players to use multiple weapons, and also to stop one weapon from being "the Best item upgrader." The stats of a base weapon are enhanced by the weapon's stat modifications, which are themselves increased by the player's skill.
The upgrades to items add by increasing certain stats of the item. The rarity of an item upgrading determines the cost of upgrading. For example, a grey or white item will only be upgraded once, while an item with the rare tiers can be upgraded many times with higher prices.
Affixes are another way to alter the stats of an item. These are special stat boosts that can be added to an item upgrading by the player, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The affixes are used to give items extra damage, special abilities (such as the ability to revive dead or reduce cooling downs) or to differentiate them by adding a name.
All affixes are re-rolled at the moment by selecting them in the upgrade window, pressing the green button. This process will cost the player a specific amount of gold and items, which can be used to add to the upgrade gauge in the same manner as other options for rerolling.
In addition to the possibility of rerolling affixes, players may select which of the available stats they want to keep on an item when it is upgraded. The possible ranges of stats for an item are determined by the level of the item, but all items are guaranteed to have at least 1 stat within that range, unless it's an item that is unique or a God roll from a raid boss.
Another thing that could be changed is the possibility to upgrade equipment without having to roll the attachments, or pick which stats to boost. But, like base equipment, this would have to be done on a per-item basis, and the interface for item comparison will not show all the stats that could be gained or lost at once.
Item Luck
The Luck stat of a player increases the chance of finding items as well as the properties created by loot and the strength of these properties. However, it does not directly affect damage or the ability to upgrade items. It provides players with the chance to upgrade their gear earlier in the game. This is more beneficial in the early game, since players tend to prioritize defenses and weapon scaling over raw damage gains.
Luck can also increase the chance of upgrading items at the Blacksmith. This is not to confuse with the Blacksmith’s overall chances of upgrading, which increase with each item level. They can also be increased with the use of anti-materials such as a Scroll of Strength and a Jewel of Blessing.
Armor, shields and weapons have a default Luck value of 40. These items can be augmented by using golden ingots or spined leather (depending on the type of material) to increase the value of 40 luck, or to increase the Luck of an item up to 140.
Additionally there are certain items, like the Hollow weapon that is infused with hollow can be outfitted to increase the damage dealt by any damage-dealing skill by 5percent. These items can be found in the shops or made with the right ingredients.
Item Failure
Not all upgrades are successful. Cash shop items can be used to increase the success rate of an upgrade, or to protect players from losing their item in the event that it does not work.
When you upgrade an item, the success rate is displayed in the Honing UI. The percentage represents the chance of completing the upgrade successfully 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 overall chance of an upgrade failing can't be greater than 100%..
The success of an item upgrade is also affected by the luck of the item. Each item has an overall success rate of 25 percent and each item with Luck increases the chance of success by five percent.
Note that item upgrades are rendered above the items in the inventory, so enchantment glint and other effects may 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.