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 boost the rarity of an item, or its Mark Level and boost additional stats.
The process of upgrading equipment in The War Within requires a certain number of Flightstones and Crests Each item has an upgrade track. Each upgrade increases the cost of the next one by a certain amount.
Item Level
When an item gets upgraded, its base stats are increased in value. This is the sum of all of its leveled up benefits (attack, magic attack and defense). The cost of upgrading items can be high, dependent on the upgrader and the kind of upgrade you decide to do. This is due to the number of perks that have to be modified to upgrade an item.
Item level is a popular measure of power, and is visible on all tooltips of items. It also serves as a gating requirement while waiting for dungeons, scenarios and raids, and to limit the amount of PvP gear a player can wear (since PvP is limited to the lower levels). Players can view their average item level in their character sheet.
Using the item level can help players compare the power of equipment when choosing to buy or sell. It's an indicator of the item's damage and its quality. Comparing items in the inventory of a seller is possible using the item's level.
On your PC, you can check the level of the item by pressing ALT or using the left stick on XB1 or PS4. This will display the complete item description, including its ilvl. You can also locate it by hovering over an item and typing /itemlevel into chat.
There are a few theories on how the calculation of the item's level is done. One theory is that the level is a numerical value derived from a formula that calculates how much an item's stats are worth. It takes into consideration that different perks are valued differently, and that gems in sockets increase the item's value. This process could result in a calculated amount for the item's ilvl which is usually close to Blizzard's actual item level.
This isn't the only thing that affects the level of an
item upgrader mod. The location of where the item dropped can also alter its stats. For instance it can increase the item's haste or crit score. This means that items that drop at higher levels will have higher the ilvl than items from lower level instances.
Item Stats
Item stats are a big component of what determines the value of an item for players. The game makes use of a lot of them in various ways to encourage players to play with a variety of weapons, and also to stop one weapon from being "the best." The base stats on a weapon are enhanced by the weapon's stat modifications which are then enhanced by the player's level.
Item upgrades add to that by increasing certain stats on the item. The rarity of an item determines its cost of upgrading. For instance, a grey or white item will only be upgraded once, while an item with the rare tiers will be upgraded several times, at higher costs.
Affixes are another way to change an
item level upgrade's stats. These are special stat boosts that can be added to an item by the player, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The affixes can provide the item additional damage, or add a unique capability to the item (such as reviving dead or cutting down the cooldowns) or make the item unique by putting an additional name to the item.
Presently, all affixes are able to be modified by selecting them in the upgrade window and pressing the green button with circles arrows. This procedure will cost the player a specific amount of gold as well as items which can be added to the upgrade gauge in the same manner as the other rerolling options.
Players can upgrade an item by specific stats or reroll affixes. The possible ranges of stats for an item are based on the item level, but all items are guaranteed to have at least 1 stat within the range, unless it's a unique item or a God roll from a boss in a raid.
Another thing that could be changed is the option to upgrade equipment without having to reroll the affixes, or choose which stats to increase. Like base equipment, it would have to be done per item, and the interface for item comparison wouldn't display all possible stats simultaneously.
Item Luck
The Luck stat for a player adds up to increase the odds of item discoveries and the properties that are spawned from loot drops and the strength of these properties. It doesn't, however directly impact damage or the ability to upgrade items. It gives the player the chance to upgrade gear earlier in the game. This is especially beneficial in the early game, because players tend to put the scaling of weapons and defenses over raw damage gains.
Luck can also increase the likelihood of upgrading items at the Blacksmith. This should not be confused with the Blacksmith's overall upgrade chance that increases with each level and can be further enhanced through the use of an anti-material such as a Scroll of Strength or a Jewel of Blessing.
Weapons, shields, and armor can spawn or be crafted using the Luck property, with the default value of 40. These items can be enhanced with golden ingots, spined leather, or oak boards (depending on the item's material type) to give +40 Luck, or to increase the luck of an item, up to 140.
Furthermore some items, like the Hollow weapon that is infused with hollow can be used to boost the damage of any damage-dealing skill by 5%. These items can be found in the shop or crafted by using the appropriate ingredients.
Item Failure
Not all upgrades work. However, there are cash shop items which allow players to increase their chances of success or even prevent themselves from losing an item if the upgrade is unsuccessful.
The rate of success of an upgrade can be seen in the Honing UI. The percentage indicates the probability of successfully upgrading the item. This can be increased by using Additional Materials or Special Materials. There are limitations on how much the success rates can be improved, and the overall chance of an upgrade failing cannot exceed 100%..
The luck of an item can also influence the effectiveness of an upgrade. All items have an average success rate of 25 percent, and each item with Luck increases the chance of success by 5percent.
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 mod Upgrader CORE client config.