World of Warcraft Item Upgrades
Item upgrades are a way to increase the stats of an item. Based on the type of upgrade it can raise 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 set amount.
Item Level
When an item is upgraded, its basic stats are increased in value. This is the sum of all of its upgraded advantages (attack, magic attack and defense). Upgrades can be costly, depending on who you hire and what you decide to do. This is due to the number of perks that need to be altered to upgrade an item.
The level of an item is a widely used measurement of power and is visible on all tooltips of items. It is also used as a gating requirement when queueing for dungeons, scenarios, and raids, as well as to limit the amount of PvP gear that a player can wear (since PvP is limited to a lower level). Players can see their average item level in their character sheet.
Utilizing the level of an item will allow players to compare the strength of equipment when deciding to purchase or sell. It's a measure of the item's condition and its quality. The level of an item can be used to compare items when examining the inventory of a vendor.
On your PC, you can see the level of the item by pressing ALT or by using the left stick on XB1 or PS4. This will show the item's full description, including the ilvl. You can also locate it by hovering over an item and typing /itemlevel in chat.
There are various theories on how the calculation of the item's level is carried out. One theory is that the
item upgrader kit level is a numerical value derived from a formula which calculates the value of an item's stats are worth. It takes into consideration the fact that various perks have different value, and also that gems in sockets add to the overall value of the item. This can result in a calculated item's ilvl that is usually very close to Blizzard's real level of the item.
It's not the only thing that affects the ilvl of an item. The degree of the area in which the
item upgrading was dropped may change its stats. For instance, it could increase the item's haste, or crit rating. Items dropped in higher-level instances will have higher ilvl.
Item Stats
Stats on an item are a significant part of what determines the value of an item for players. The game makes use of them in a variety of ways to encourage players not to limit themselves to one weapon and to motivate players to explore other weapons. The stat mods of weapons boost base stats. These stat mods are then boosted by the player's level.
Item upgrades add to that by increasing certain stats of the item. The rarity of an item determines its cost of upgrading. A white or grey item for instance, will only be upgraded once, while an item with rare tiers may be upgraded several times at higher costs.
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 additional damage or other special abilities (such as revitalizing dead or reducing cooling downs) or to differentiate them by adding a name.
At present, all affixes can be rerolled by selecting them from the upgrade window and pressing the green button with the arrows that circle. This will cost a certain amount in gold and items. They can also be used as upgrade gauges, just like the other methods of rerolling.
In addition to rerolling affixes, players can select which stats to keep on an item when it is upgraded. The possible stat ranges of an item are determined by the item level, but every item is guaranteed to have at minimum one stat within the range, unless it's an item that is unique or an item that is a God roll from a raid boss.
Another thing that could be changed is the possibility of upgrading equipment without having to roll the attachments, or pick which stats to boost. But, like base equipment, this would need to be carried out on a per-item basis, and the interface for item comparison wouldn't show all possible stats that were gained or lost at the same time.
Item Luck
The Luck stat of a player increases the probability of obtaining items, the properties that are created by loot and the strength of these properties. It doesn't, however directly impact damage or the ability to upgrade items (
redirected here). It provides players with the chance to upgrade their equipment earlier in the game. This is particularly beneficial for early game runs, because players tend to put defenses and weapon scaling over raw damage gains.
Luck can also increase the chance of upgrading items at the Blacksmith. This is not to 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.
Armor, shields, and weapons have the default Luck value of 40. These items can be upgraded with golden ingots, spined leather or oak boards (depending on the material of the item) to give +40 Luck or to boost the existing Luck of the item up to 140.
Certain items, such as the weapon that is infused with hollow can also be crafted to increase the damage dealt by any skill that is able to deal damage by five percent. These items are available from the shop, or they can be constructed using the right ingredients.
Item Failure
Not all upgrades are successful. Cash shop items can be used to boost the chances of success for an upgrade, or to protect players from losing their items if it fails.
The success rate of an upgrade is shown in the Honing UI. The percentage represents the chance of successfully upgrading that item, and can be increased by adding Additional Materials or Special Materials. The chance of success can only be increased so high, and the probability that an upgrade will fail cannot exceed 100%.
The luck of an item may affect 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.
It is important to note that
upgrade items are rendered above the inventory items which means that enchantment glints and other effects may be masked by them. 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.