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#1
Jan 18 2010 11:36pm



Upgrading

v1.10+ Expansion Only



- Contents -

Author's Note

Recipes
Notes

Modifications
Defense
Durability
Requirements

Quest Items
You Want Axe?
Khalim's Will

References
Tech Resources
Calculators



Author's Note

As the above image suggests, upgrading requires using the Horadric Cube. In this context, 'upgrading' will refer to the process of changing the base item (code) of rare or unique quality items. Gem, potion, and rune upgrades do not fit in this category. Furthermore, it should be noted that there are no upgrade recipes for other item qualities.

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the following applies to rare and unique items alike. For the less mathematically inclined (regardless if the calculations may appear trivial to some), I will refer to other resources that may serve as a quick reference. In the event that something appears inaccurate, you can drop me a PM concerning changes/corrections to the guide.

Please do not submit questions to which crystal clear answers have already been provided herein.

This guide supersedes the previous version.


Recipes


(U1) Basic rare Any Armor + Ral Rune + Thul Rune + Perfect Amethyst ~> Input base item modified to Exceptional

(U2) Basic rare Weapon + Ort Rune + Amn Rune + Perfect Sapphire ~> Input base item modified to Exceptional

(U3) Exceptional rare Any Armor + Ko Rune + Pul Rune + Perfect Amethyst ~> Input base item modified to Elite

(U4) Exceptional rare Weapon + Fal Rune + Um Rune + Perfect Sapphire ~> Input base item modified to Elite

(U5) Basic unique Any Armor + Tal Rune + Shael Rune + Perfect Diamond ~> Input base item modified to Exceptional

(U6) Basic unique Weapon + Ral Rune + Sol Rune + Perfect Emerald ~> Input base item modified to Exceptional


Single Player or Ladder Only

(U7) Exceptional unique Any Armor + Ko Rune + Lem Rune + Perfect Diamond ~> Input base item modified to Elite

(U8) Exceptional unique Weapon + Lum Rune + Pul Rune + Perfect Emerald ~> Input base item modified to Elite

    Notes
      Any Armor
      As specified in ItemTypes.txt, Any Armor (armo) is a supertype, i.e. parent iType, for any Helm (helm), Armor (tors), Any Shield (shld), Gloves (glov), Belt (belt), and Boots (boot).
      Helm (helm) is a supertype for Circlet (circ), Primal Helm (phlm: Barbarian Only), and Pelt (pelt: Druid Only).
      Circlet (circ): Circlet and Coronet are Basic (hence they both upgrade to Tiara), Tiara is Exceptional, and Diadem is Elite.
      Any Shield (shld) is a supertype for Shield (shie), Auric Shields (ashd: Paladin Only), and Voodoo Heads (head: Necromancer Only).

      Thus, 'Any Armor' means: any item type in the following body locations: Head, Torso, Gloves, Belt, Feet, as well as any shield (shie, ashd, head).

      Everything Remains
      Since the output field of CubeMain.txt reads: 'useitem,mod,exc' or 'useitem,mod,eli', ALL magic properties, item flags ("Socketed (X)", "Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)"), and socket
      contents (Gems, Jewels, Runes) remain when you upgrade an item. Bear in mind that socket contents may affect the Required Level after upgrading. See below for more information.
      Only the base item (code) is modified into the Exceptional (ubercode) or Elite (ultracode) version.

      Phase Blade
      Because of the above, upgrading is the only way to create an ethereal Phase Blade (items with nodurability=1 in Weapons.txt cannot generate ethereal).

Modifications

This section provides formulae for defense, (maximum) durability, and requirements of upgraded items. Weapon damage is handled as usual. In what follows, [] and {} will be used to denote
the floor and ceiling functions, respectively ([x] = largest integer <= x, {x} = smallest integer >= x). Rnd(x) returns an integer in the range 0 to x-1, chosen at random (uniformly).
    Defense
      Base
      Minimum and maximum figures are defined in minac and maxac fields of Armor.txt. Otherwise, you can find this information in Atair's tables. See the final section (References).
      The Arreat Summit is often right, but unfortunately it still hosts numerous inaccuracies. I recommend it only as a last resort.

      Final
      The game applies property 'ac%' ("+% Enhanced Defense") first, then 'ac' ("+Defense"). Result:

        (1) Defense = [(minac + Rnd(maxac - minac + 1)) * (1 + ac%/100)] + ac

      Evidently, this amounts to a whole range of possible values, depending on minac and maxac (remember, ac% and ac remain fixed, only the base item is modified).
      Note: Any Armor generating ac% fixes base defense at maxac+1 at the time of creation. This does not transfer to the upgrade. Use either (1) above or (2) below.

      Ethereal items carry a 50% bonus to their base defense, hence

        (2) Defense = [[(minac + Rnd(maxac - minac + 1)) * 1.5] * (1 + ac%/100)] + ac

      Note: In either case, (1) or (2), the odds of any particular roll are 1:(maxac - minac + 1). For instance, Zakarum Shield lists minac=169 and maxac=193, from which we deduce
      that Herald of Zakarum has a 1:25 (4%) chance of a perfect upgrade.
    Durability
      Item property 'durability' (read: maximum base durability) in Armor.txt, Weapons.txt. Otherwise, see the final section (References). Durability is always that of the base item,
      unless either 'indestruct' ("Indestructible") or unique item property 'dur' (adds durability) is present. Thus,

        (3) Durability = durability (+ dur)

      An example would be Duriel's Shell (dur=100). The Exceptional version has 150 durability (126 if ethereal), whereas the upgraded version has 150 durability regardless (albeit
      current durability < 150).
    Requirements
      Strength, Dexterity
      Strength and Dexterity requirements are those of the base item, further modified by 'ease' ("Requirements +X%") or ethereality (- 10). Nothing unusual, just for easy reference:

        (4) Required Strength = {reqstr * (1 + X/100)} (- 10)
        (5) Required Dexterity = {reqdex * (1 + X/100)} (- 10)

      Level
      As is evident from CubeMain.txt, there is a levelreq penalty associated with upgrading. From Basic to Exceptional (6): +5. From Exceptional to Elite (7): +7. Combining the two,
      from Basic to Elite (8): +12 (a two-stage upgrade). In short,

        (6) Required Level = levelreq + 5
        (7) Required Level = levelreq + 7
        (8) Required Level = levelreq + 12

      Note: 'levelreq' is always the higher (max) of base item and of anything inserted (Gems, Jewels, Runes). For rare items, also the highest levelreq from the affixes generated.
      Example: Upgrading Twitchthroe from Basic (Studded Leather) to Exceptional (Trellised Armor) would result in Required Level: 30 (25 + 5). Now, if we add say, a Shael Rune
      for another +20% FHR, thereby forcing levelreq = max(25,29) = 29, the Required Level becomes 34 (29 + 5). It does not stay at 30.

      See the References for more information on levelreq of base items, gems, jewels, runes, and affixes.

Quest Items

A quick summary of the results of ingame testing.
    You Want Axe?
      The Horadric Malus, Staff of Kings, Horadric Staff, The Gidbinn, and the Hell Forge Hammer may be upgraded using recipe (U6). However, since their ubercode and
      ultracode fields in Weapons.txt are empty, they will upgrade to a Hand Axe which happens to be the first weapon in that file. We thus obtain the generic upgrade sequence,

        "Quest Weapon" ~(U6)~> Hand Axe ~(U6)~> Hatchet ~(U8)~> Tomahawk

      Magic properties carry over as usual. Since the first upgrade is treated in accordance with (6), and because the same holds true for the second, we should adjust (6) and (8)
      to 'levelreq + 10' and 'levelreq + 17' for the second and third upgrades, respectively.

      For those who believe pictures say more than words, Morph was kind enough to post his screenshots here (##33-37).
    Khalim's Will
      Neither Khalim's Flail nor Khalim's Will may be upgraded, presumably due to an apparent mismatch between the code and normcode fields in Weapons.txt. It should be
      noted that the contents of these two fields are equal for each of the aforementioned 5 quest weapons.

References

© 2010 Eywa. The Horadric Cube image is property of D2Wissen.de.

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#2
Jan 18 2010 11:38pm
Previous one was prettier.
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#3
Jan 18 2010 11:38pm
Is this the dummies version ?_?

:thumbsup:
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#4
Jan 18 2010 11:40pm
Rare staff of kings
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#5
Jan 19 2010 01:50am
I like it, though the old one had more tables etc, which i love in your guides : )
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#6
Jan 19 2010 02:25am
Good job nuben, once again
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#7
Jan 19 2010 02:56am
tl;dr ^^
nah, as usual very well done mr faelwin ! (but colors look bit gay ^^)
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#8
Jan 19 2010 05:53am
Eywa/10


i cant see shyt cuz of those bastard colours :(
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#9
Jan 19 2010 05:56am
that yellow colour impossible to read.
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#10
Jan 19 2010 06:26am
Quote (Sladeinflame7 @ Jan 19 2010 02:56pm)
that yellow colour impossible to read.


mousedrag-paint it.
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