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 the rarity of an item, or its Mark Level and boost additional stats.
Upgrades to gear in The War Within requires a specified number of Flightstones and Crests, and each item has an upgrade track. Each upgrade increases the cost of the next one by a specific amount.
Item Level
The value of an item's base stats increases as it is upgraded. This is the sum of all its leveled up benefits (attack magic attack, attack defense). Upgrading items can be expensive, depending on the upgrader and the type of upgrade you choose to perform. This is because of how many perks need to be replaced in order for the item to get upgraded.
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 when waiting for dungeons, scenarios, and raids, as well as to limit the amount of PvP gear a player can wear (since PvP is restricted to a lower level). Players can see their average level of item on their character sheet.
Utilizing the level of an item can help players compare the strength of equipment when they decide to buy or sell. It's a good gauge of an item's worth and the amount of damage it's able to deal. Comparing items in a vendor's stock can be done by using the level of the item.
On your PC, you can see the level of the item using 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 into chat.
There are a variety of theories on how the item level is determined. One theory is that the level is a number that comes from a formula that calculates the amount an item's stats are worth. It takes into account the fact that various perks have different value and gems in sockets increase the item's overall value. This process can result in a calculated value for the item's level, which is usually quite close to Blizzard's real level of the item.
However, this is not the only factor that affects an item's ilvl, since the level of the area the item was dropped in could change the value of its stats, for example by adding a level to its haste or crit rating. This means that items that drop at higher levels will have higher ilvl than those from lower-level instances.
Item Stats
Stats on an item are a significant element in what determines the value of an item for players. The game utilizes them in various ways to encourage players not to limit themselves to one weapon and to motivate players to explore other weapons. The stat mods on weapons boost base stats. These stat mods are then boosted by the player's level.
Upgrades to the item add by boosting certain stats on the item. The rarity of an item determines its upgrade cost. An item that is white or grey, for example, will only be upgraded once and items that has rare tiers can be upgraded several times at more expensive costs.
Affixes are another way to change an item's stats. They are stat boosters that can be added by the player to an item. The affixes can be used to provide items with extra damage or other special capabilities (such as revitalizing dead or reducing cooling downs), or to distinguish them by adding a name.
All affixes are re-rolled at the moment by selecting them in the upgrade window, and pressing the green button. This process will cost the player a certain amount of gold and items, which can be added to the upgrade gauge in the same manner as the other options for rerolling.
Players can choose to upgrade an item to a specific stat, or reroll attaches. The stat ranges are determined by the item's level. However each item will have at least one stat in that range unless they are an item that is unique or the item is a God Roll from a boss in a raid.
Another thing that could be changed is the possibility of upgrading equipment without having to reroll the attaches, or select which stats to enhance. Similar to the base equipment, it would have to be done per item and the interface for item comparison would not display all the possible stats at once.
Item Luck
The Luck stat of a player can increase the chance of finding items and the properties that are spawned by loot and the strength of these properties. However, it does not directly impact damage or the ability to upgrade item s. It provides players with the chance to upgrade their gear earlier in the game. This is particularly beneficial in early game runs since players tend to prioritize weapon scaling and defenses above raw damage gains.
Luck can also boost 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 level and can be further enhanced by using an anti-material such as a Scroll of Strength or a Jewel of Blessing.
Weapons, shields, and armor can be made or spawn by using the Luck property, with the default value of 40. These items can be improved with golden ingots, or spined leather (depending on their material type) to add another 40 luck or to boost an item's existing Luck up to 140.
Certain items, such as the Hollow-infused weapon, can also be equipped to increase the damage dealt by any skill that deals damage by 5%. These items can be bought from the shop, or they can be made using the correct ingredients.
Item Failure
Not all upgrades work. Cash shop items can be used to boost the chances of success for an upgrade, or to protect players from losing their item if it fails.
The rate of success of an upgrade is shown 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. The chance of success can only be increased so much, and the likelihood that the upgrade will fail cannot be greater than 100%..
The Luck of an item may affect the success of an upgrade. Each item has an average success rate of 25% and each item with Luck increases the chance of success by 5percent.
Note that item upgrades are rendered above the items in the inventory, so enchantment glint and other effects can be obscured by the overlays. 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.