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 the rarity of an item or mark Level and increase other stats.
The process of upgrading gear in The War Within requires a set number of Flightstones and Crests and each item comes with an upgrade track. Each upgrade increases the price of the next item by a certain amount.
Item Level
When an item is upgraded, its stats increase in value. This is the sum of all the upgraded advantages (attack, magic attack and defense). Upgrades can be expensive dependent on who you employ and what you do. This is due to the sheer number of perks that have to be changed in order to upgrade an item.
It can also be used to enforce gating requirements when queueing for raids, dungeons and scenarios. It is also used to limit how much PvP gear players can use, since PvP is limited at lower levels. Players can view their average level of items on their character sheet.
When deciding whether to purchase or sell gear players can look at the level of an item. It's an indicator of the damage and its quality. Comparing items from the inventory of a vendor is possible using the item level.
The item level can be viewed by pressing the ALT key on a PC or using the left stick (L3) on XB1 and PS4. This will display the item's full description, including ilvl. You can also find 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 numerical value derived from a formula that calculates how much an item's stats are worth. It considers the fact that various perks have different value and gems in sockets increase the item's overall value. This process could result in a calculated amount for the item's level, which is typically close to Blizzard's real item level.
This isn't the only factor that affects the value of an item. The location of where the item was dropped can change its stats. For example, it could add a level to the item's haste or crit score. Items dropped in higher-level instances will have a higher ilvl.
Item Stats
The stats of an item are a major component of what makes or breaks an item for players. The game makes use of them in a variety of ways to encourage players not to limit themselves to a single weapon, and to encourage players to explore 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.
Item upgrades add to that by increasing certain stats on the item. Home of upgrades is determined by the rarity of the item. For instance, a gray or white item can only be upgraded once, while an item with the rare tiers will be upgraded several times at higher prices.
Affixes are a different method to alter the stats of an item. They are stat boosters that can be added by the player to an item. The affixes can do things like give the item additional damage, or add a unique capability to the item (such as reviving the dead or decreasing the cooldowns), or make the item unique by giving an exclusive name to the item.
All affixes can be currently re-rolled by selecting them in the upgrade menu pressing the green button. This procedure will cost the player a certain amount of gold and other items that can be added to the upgrade gauge in the same manner as other rerolling options.
In addition to the possibility of rerolling affixes, players may select which of the available stats they want to keep on an item after it is upgraded. The stat ranges are determined by the item's level. However every item will have at least one stat within the same range, unless it's an exclusive item, or the item is a God Roll from a boss in a raid.
Another thing that could change is the possibility of upgrading equipment without having to roll the attachments, or pick which stats to boost. Similar to the base equipment, this must be done per item and the interface for item comparison wouldn't display all possible stats simultaneously.
Item Luck
The Luck stat of a player increases the likelihood of locating items and the properties that are generated by loot, and the intensity of these properties. However, it does not, directly affect damage or the ability to upgrade items. It gives players the chance to upgrade their gear earlier in the game. This is particularly advantageous in early game runs since players tend to prioritize weapon scaling and defenses above 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 level of the item and can be further increased by using an anti-material, such as a Scroll of Strength or a Jewel of Blessing.
Weapons, armor, and shields can spawn or be crafted with the Luck property, which has the default value of 40. These items can be augmented with golden ingots or spined leather (depending on the material they are made of) for a further +40 luck, or to increase the Luck of an item up to 140.
Moreover, certain items, such as the Hollow weapon that is infused with hollow can be outfitted to increase the damage dealt by any damage-dealing skill by 5%. These items can be bought at the store or 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 prevent players from losing their item in the event that it is not successful.
The rate of success of an upgrade is shown in the Honing UI. The percentage is the probability of successful upgrading an item. This can be increased with Additional Materials or Special materials. The percentage of success can only be increased so high, and the probability that an upgrade will fail can't exceed 100%..
The Luck of an item can also influence the effectiveness of an upgrade. Every item has an initial success rate of 25% and every item that has Luck increases the chance of success by an additional five percent.
Note that item upgrades are rendered above the inventory items which means that enchantment glints and other effects could 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.