World of Warcraft Item Upgrades
Item upgrades are a way to boost the stats of an item. Based on the type of upgrade it can boost an item's Mark Level or Rarity, as well as boost other stats.
Each item comes with a track for upgrading it. Each upgrade increases the cost of the next one by a certain amount.
Item Level
When an item is upgraded, its basic stats increase in value. The value is the sum of all of an item's upgraded perks (attack magic attack and defense). The cost of upgrading items can be high depending on the upgrader and what kind of upgrade you decide to do. This is due to the number of perks that must be altered to upgrade an item.
It is also used as a gating requirement while queueing for dungeons, raids and scenarios. It is also used as a gating requirement while queueing for dungeons, scenarios, and raids, as well as to limit the amount of PvP gear players can wear (since PvP is limited to an lower level). The average level of the item is listed on the character sheet.
When deciding to purchase or sell gear players can evaluate the levels of the item. It's a good gauge of an item's worth and the amount of damage it is capable of causing. Comparing items in the inventory of a vendor is possible using the item's level.
On PC, you are able to see the level of the item by pressing ALT or using the left stick on XB1 or PS4. This will show the item's full description, including ilvl. It can also be located by hovering an item with the mouse cursor, and then typing /itemlevel into chat.
There are a few theories about how the item level calculation is done. One theory suggests that the item level is calculated using a formula that calculates the value of an item's stats actually are. It is based on the fact that different perks are valued differently, and that gems in sockets increase the item's value. This process could result in a calculated value for the item's ilvl, which is usually quite close to Blizzard's actual level of the item.
This is not the only factor that affects the value of an item. The degree of the area in which the item dropped can also change its stats. For instance, it could add a level to the item's haste or crit rating. Items dropped in higher-level instances will have higher ilvl.
Item Stats
Item stats are a big part of what determines the value of an item for players. The game utilizes them in various ways to encourage players to not limit themselves to one weapon, and to encourage players to explore other weapons. The stat mods of a weapon boost the base stats. These stat mods are then enhanced by the player's level.
Upgrades to an item may increase its stats. The rarity of an item determines its cost of upgrading. For example, a grey or white item will only be upgraded once, while an item with rare tiers can be upgraded many times with higher prices.
Another method of altering the stats of an item is to use affixes. They are stat boosts which can be added by the player to an item. The affixes can do things like give the item additional damage, add a special capability to the item (such as reviving the dead or decreasing cooldowns) or make the item unique by adding a special name to the item.
All affixes can be being re-rolled right now by selecting them in the upgrade window pressing the green button. This process will cost the player a specific amount of gold as well as items that can be added to the upgrade gauge in the same way as other options for rerolling.
Players can upgrade an item to specific stats, or reroll the affixes. The possible stat ranges for an item are based on the level of the item, however every item is guaranteed to have at least one stat within the specified range, unless it's an exclusive item or a God roll from a boss of a raid.
Another thing that could change is the option to upgrade equipment without having to reroll the attachments, or pick which stats to enhance. But, like base equipment, this would need to be done on a per-item basis and the item compare interface will not show all the stats that could be gained or lost at once.
Item Luck
The Luck stat of a player boosts the chance of finding items and the properties that are created by loot and the intensity of these properties. However, it does not directly affect damage or ability to upgrade items. It gives the player a possibility to obtain better gear in earlier waves and is thus more valuable in early game runs than in later ones, since most players prefer higher weapon scaling and defenses over raw damage gains.
In addition to influencing the discovery of items, Luck also increases the probability of success when upgrading items with the Blacksmith. This is not to be confused with the Blacksmith's overall upgrade chance, which increases with each level of the item and can be further enhanced through the use of an anti-material such as a Scroll of Strength or a Jewel of Blessing.
Armor, shields and weapons can spawn or be crafted using the Luck property, which has an initial value of 40. These items can be augmented by using golden ingots or spined leather (depending on their material type) for a further +40 luck, or to increase the luck of the item to 140.
Moreover there are certain items, such as the Hollow infused weapon, can be equipped to increase the damage dealt by any damage-dealing skill by 5percent. These items are available at the store, or they can be crafted using the right ingredients.
Item Failure
Upgrades to items are a costly process and not all upgrades will succeed. However, there are some cash shop items that allow players to boost their success rate or prevent them from losing an item if the upgrade fails.
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 can be increased by adding Additional Materials or Special Materials. The percentage of success can only be increased as much, and the likelihood that the upgrade will fail cannot be greater than 100%..
The success of an can be affected by the luck of that item. Every item has a base success rate of 25% and every item that has Luck increases that chance by 5%.
Note that item upgrades are rendered above the inventory items which means that enchantment glints and other effects could be obstructed by them. If item upgrading wish to disable the upgrade overlays, the config option decoration.renderUpgradeOverlays can be set to False in the Item Upgrader CORE client config.