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 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 specific amount.
Item Level
The value of an item's basic stats increase when it is upgraded. This value is the total of all its leveled up advantages (attack, magic attack and defense). The cost of upgrading items can be high depending on the upgrader and the type of upgrade you choose to perform. This is due to the variety of perks that need to be altered to upgrade an item.
It is also used to enforce gating requirements when queueing for dungeons, raids and scenarios. It is also used as a gating requirement when queueing for dungeons, scenarios and raids, and to limit the amount of PvP gear that a player can wear (since PvP is capped at a lower level). Players can see their average item level in their character sheet.
When deciding to purchase or sell gear, players can compare the level of an item. It's a good gauge of an item's worth and how much damage it's capable of causing. Comparing items in the inventory of a vendor can be done using the item level.
On your PC, you can check the level of the item by pressing ALT or using the left stick on XB1 or PS4. item upgrader will show the item's full description, including ilvl. You can also locate it by hovering over an item and typing in /itemlevel chat.
There are a variety of theories on the method by which the level of an item is calculated. One theory is that the item level is a numerical value derived from a formula that determines the value of an item's stats are worth. It considers the fact that various perks have different value, and also that sockets have gems that increase the item's overall value. This process can result in a calculated value for the item's ilvl which is typically close to Blizzard's real level of the item.
However, this is not the only factor that can affect an item's ilvl since the size 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. This means that items dropped at higher levels will have more the ilvl than items from lower level instances.
Item Stats
The stats of an item are a major component of what makes or breaks an item for players. The game utilizes them in many ways to encourage players to not restrict themselves to a particular weapon, and to encourage them to try out other weapons. The base stats on a weapon are increased by the weapon's stat modifications which are then enhanced by the player's level.
The upgrades to items add by boosting certain stats on the item. The cost of upgrades is determined by the rarity of the item. An item that is white or grey for instance, will only be upgraded once, while an item that has rare tiers can be upgraded multiple times with higher prices.
Affixes are another way to change an item's stats. These are special stat boosts that can be added to an item by the player and are available in all sizes and shapes. Affixes are used to give items extra damage or special capabilities (such as revitalizing dead or reducing cooling downs), or to differentiate them by putting a name on them.
Presently, all affixes are able to be rerolled by selecting them from the upgrade window and pressing the green button, which is accompanied by circling arrows. It will cost a set amount in gold and other items. These can be used as upgrade gauges just like the other methods of rerolling.
In addition to rerolling affixes, players can also choose which of the available stats to keep on an item when it is upgraded. The possible ranges of stats for an item are based on the level of the item, however all items are guaranteed to have at minimum one stat within the specified range, unless it is an item that is unique or the result of a God roll from a boss in a raid.
Another thing that could be changed by adding the option to upgrade the equipment without rolling the affixes or deciding which stats to increase. But, like base equipment, this would have to be carried out on a per-item basis, and the item compare interface will not show all the stats that could be that were gained or lost at the same time.
Item Luck
A player's Luck stat stacks up to increase the chances of finding items and the properties that are spawned from loot drops and the intensity of these properties. It doesn't, however directly impact damage or the ability to upgrade items. It simply gives players a possibility to obtain better equipment earlier in the game and is therefore more valuable in the initial game run as opposed to later ones, since most players prefer more powerful weapon scaling and defenses over raw damage gains.
Luck can also boost the chances of upgrading items at the Blacksmith. This is not to be confused with the Blacksmith's overall upgrade chances, which increase with each new level of item. They can also be increased by using anti-materials such as the Scroll of Strength and a Jewel of Blessing.
Armor, shields and weapons come with an initial Luck value of 40. These items can be enhanced with golden ingots or spined leather (depending on the material they are made of) to add another 40 luck or to boost the Luck of an item up to 140.
Certain items, like the weapon with Hollow-infused components can also be outfitted to increase the damage of any ability that is able to deal damage by 5percent. These items can be bought at the store, or they can be crafted using the right ingredients.
Item Failure
Not all upgrades work. Cash shop items can be used to boost the chance of success of an upgrade, or to protect players from losing their item in the event that it is not successful.
When you upgrade an item, the success rate is displayed in the Honing UI. The percentage represents the likelihood of successfully upgrading the item. This can be increased by using Additional Materials or Special Materials. The chance of success can only be increased by so much, and the likelihood that an upgrade will fail cannot exceed 100%..
The luck of an item can influence the success of an upgrade. Every item has a success rate of 25%, and each item with Luck increases the chance of success by 5percent.
The upgrade overlays of the item are rendered above the items in the inventory. This can 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.