World of Warcraft Item Upgrades
Item upgrades can be used to increase the stats of an item. Based on the type of upgrade, it may increase an item's Mark Level or Rarity, and also boost other stats.
Each item comes with a track for upgrading it. Each upgrade increases the price of the next item by a certain amount.
Item Level
The value of an item's basic stats increases as it is upgraded. This value is the total of all the leveled up benefits (attack, magic attack and defense). Upgrades can be expensive, dependent on who you employ and what you do. This is due to the variety of perks that must be altered to upgrade an item.
Item level is a commonly used measurement of power and can be seen on all tooltips for items. It can also be used as a gating requirement while waiting for dungeons, scenarios, and raids, as well as to limit the amount of PvP gear a player can wear (since PvP is limited to a lower level). The average item level can be found in the character sheet.
When deciding whether to buy or sell equipment players can look at the level of an item. It's a good indicator of the quality of an item and the amount of damage it is able to deal. Comparing items from a vendor's stock can be done by using the item level.
On PC, you are able to view the item level by pressing ALT or by using the left stick on XB1 or PS4. This will display the full item description, including its level. It can also be found by hovering over an item using the mouse cursor and typing /itemlevel into chat.
There are several theories about the method by which the level of an item is determined. One theory suggests that the item level is calculated using an equation that determines the value of the stats of an item really are. It takes into account the fact that different perks have different worth, and also that gems in sockets add to the value of the item overall. This process could result in a calculated value for the item's ilvl which is typically close to the actual Blizzard item level.
However, this isn't the only factor which determines the ilvl of an item, as the level of the area the item dropped in can change the value of its stats, such as by adding an amount to its 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 be the difference between a good or bad item for players. The game makes use of a lot of them in different ways to encourage players to use multiple weapons, and prevent one weapon from being "the most effective." The stat mods on weapons boost base stats. These stat mods are then enhanced by the player's level.
The upgrades to items add by increasing certain stats of the item. The rarity of an item determines the upgrade cost. For example, a grey or white item will only be upgraded once, whereas items with rare tiers can be upgraded many times with higher prices.
Affixes can also be used to change an item's stats. They are stat boosts that can be added by the player to an item. The affixes can be used to give items extra damage or special abilities (such as reviving dead or reducing cooling downs) or to distinguish them by adding a name.
At present, all affixes can be modified by selecting them in the upgrade window and pressing the green button with circles arrows. This process will cost the player a specific amount of gold and other items that can be used to add to the upgrade gauge in the same way as the other options for rerolling.
Players can choose to upgrade an item with specific stats, or reroll attaches. The stat ranges are determined by the item's level. However each item will have at least one stat in the same range, unless it's an exclusive item or an item that has a God Roll from a raid boss.
Another thing that could be changed is the possibility of upgrading equipment without having to roll the attaches, or select which stats to increase. But as with base equipment, this would need to be carried out on a per-item basis and the interface for comparing items wouldn't show all possible stats that were gained or lost at the same time.
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 strength of the properties. It does not, however directly affect damage or the ability to upgrade items. It simply gives players a chance to upgrade their equipment earlier in the game and is thus more beneficial in the initial game run than in later ones, as most players prioritize more powerful weapon scaling and defenses over damage gains.
In addition to influencing the discovery of items, Luck also increases the chances of being successful when upgrading items using the Blacksmith. This is not to be confused with the Blacksmith’s overall chance of upgrading that increase with each new level of item. They can also be increased with the use of anti-materials, such as the Scroll of Strength and a Jewel of Blessing.
The shields, armor, and weapons have an initial Luck value of 40. These items can be augmented with golden ingots, or spined leather (depending on their material type) to increase the value of 40 luck or to boost an item's existing Luck up to 140.
Certain items, such as the Hollow-infused weapon can also be outfitted to increase the damage of any ability that deals damage by 5%. These items can be found in the shop or crafted with the right ingredients.
Item Failure
Not all upgrades work. Cash shop items can be used to increase the chance of success of an upgrade or to stop 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 probability of completing the upgrade successfully and it can be increased by adding Additional Materials or Special Materials. The percentage of success can only be increased as much, and the chance that an upgrade will fail cannot exceed 100%.
The success of an upgrades is also influenced by the luck of that item. All items have an average success rate of 25%, and every item with Luck increases the chance of success by five percent.
The item upgrade overlays are rendered above the items in the inventory. This may obscure enchantment effects and 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.