Upgrading gear, ie "upping" is the term for taking Rare, Unique, or Set items and using a cube recipe to take them to their next tier. Magical (or "blue") gear cannot be upgraded. This is a guide explaining how to upgrade your items, and why you shouldn't be paying astronomical prices for most upgraded gear.

Previously, upgrading unique items from Exception to Elite tier used to be a luxury exclusive to D2: LoD in Ladder game-modes. Non-Ladder modes only allowed unique items to be upgraded to their Exceptional tier, with Rare items being able to be upped to any tier regardless of mode. In D2R, this isn't the case anymore as any Rare or Unique can be taken from their Normal base all the way to their Elite, regardless of which game mode you play. As of D2R, set items could be upgraded on Ladder only, but with the release of D2R's Patch 2.6, ALL set, rare, and unique items can be upgraded to Elite tier, even on non-ladder game modes.

With that being said: Currently ANY Rare, Set, or Unique item can be upgraded from Normal Tier to Exceptional, then to Elite tier, regardless whether it is an armor or weapon.


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To understand upgrading, you need to understand the only variable that changes when upgrading an armor or shield: the base defense. The item's intrinsic characteristics and variables remain static, such as Enhanced Defense %, + All Resistances, and all other modifiers the item has. In Diablo 2 LoD and Resurrected, when an item spawns and drops in-game and has an Enhanced Defense % modifier, it is always the highest defense PLUS the +Enhanced Defense% modifier after it. This is why every single +15% Enhanced Defense Archon Plate has 603 Defense, despite Archon Plates rolling with the possible defenses ranging from 410-524. When upgrading items, even if an item has +Enhanced Defense %, after it is upgraded the base defense of the item will roll between it's minimum and maximum value for that item base.The maximum defense roll on an Enhanced Defense item is not guaranteed anymore. This is critical in understanding the only mechanic that is involved when upgrading armor and shields.

For example, a commonly upgraded and traded upgraded item are Magefist gloves.

Magefist
Light Gauntlets
Defense: 24-25
Required Level: 23
Required Strength: 45
Durability: 18
+20-30% Enhanced Defense
+10 Defense
+1 To Fire Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Regenerate Mana 25%
Adds 1-6 Fire Damage

The only variable here on Magefist gloves are the Enhanced Defense. If you were to upgrade a 23% Enhanced Defense Magefist to their Exceptional or Elite tier, they will always retain 23% Enhanced Defense. This is why a perfect pair, 30%, is so desirable for upgrading because that is the only option you have if you were to attempt rolling "perfect" upped defense Magefist gloves.

With that being said, to upgrade these to their Exceptional tier, the recipe you'd need is a Tal + Ko + Perfect Diamond along with the gloves in your Horadric Cube. This will bring them to their exceptional tier, Battle Gauntlets. For the sake of seeing the possibilities of perfect defense rolls, let's see what a 30% Enhanced Defense Magefist could yield:

Magefist
Battle Gauntlets
Base Defense: 39-47 (Total Defense Range 60-71)
Required Level: 23
Required Strength: 88
Durability: 18
+30% Enhanced Defense
+10 Defense
+1 To Fire Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Regenerate Mana 25%
Adds 1-6 Fire Damage

Looking at the above, the ONLY variable that changes when upgrading an armor piece is the base defense. This means your gloves could roll between 39-47 defense (between 60 Defense and 71 Defense when accounting for the 30% Enhanced Defense) - meaning that you have only a 1 in 9 chance of getting perfect 71 defense.


Keeping in mind that since the base defense ALWAYS rolls when upgrading, you won't necessarily roll perfect Elite tier Magefist gauntlets if you were to upgrade these again. The base defense will roll again, meaning that even if you rolled low defense when you upgraded your 30% Magefist instead of the coveted 71 perfect Defense, you still have another shot at obtaining a perfect defense upped Magefist. Again, if you rolled 71 Defense, you are NOT guaranteed the next roll from Exceptional to Elite will be perfect. Each and every time you upgrade the item you are rolling the dice so while that 71 Defense could end up being 98, you are still facing the same exact 1:10 odds as if you were using a low 60 Defense pair.

Let's now take these 30% Enhanced Defense Magefist gauntlets to their Elite tier, Crusader Gauntlets by using a Lem + Ko + Perfect Diamond:

Magefist
Crusader Gauntlets
Base Defense: 59-68 (Total Defense Range 86-98)
Required Level: 23
Required Strength: 151
Durability: 18
+30% Enhanced Defense
+10 Defense
+1 To Fire Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Regenerate Mana 25%
Adds 1-6 Fire Damage

Since Crusader Gauntlets have a base defense of 59-68, you have a 1:10 chance of rolling perfect 98 Defense when upgrading Exceptional 30% Magefist gloves to their Elite tier. If you failed on the once-upped to Exceptional Tier with 1 in 9 odds, you had another 1 in 10 chance for your pair to have rolled perfect with a double-up. Bearing in mind that the Strength Requirements increases significantly, some people prefer to only upgrade their items once. If you failed on both attempts to roll perfect defense, they will likely have very little resell value as someone else can simply give it a shot themselves since the odds aren't so significant with Magefist.


Note how Magefists have a 1:9 and 1:10 chance of rolling perfect defenses when upgrading to their Exceptional and Elite tier. These really aren't gigantic odds, and with two chances to obtain perfect Defenses on either tier of glove, they shouldn't be priced as such. Hard-to-find gear or items that do have much higher odds, along with more variables, should cost or sell more. If you were to have Magefist gauntlets drop, you have a 1:11 chance of finding them between 20%-30% Enhanced Defense.

Let's take a quick look at Skin of the Vipermagi - it's a 1:21 chance of obtaining a 13 MDR/35 All Res "perfect" piece. While not too bad, Wyrmhide armor has a base defense range from 361-470. This means you have a 1:107 chance of rolling perfect 1034 (After ED% is considered, anywhere between 800-1034 Defense). This is why armors/shields that have these higher rolling odds in addition to how many other variables they could have should be valued much higher, instead of easily found pieces with much, much lower odds and variables. Do not pay for other people's failed upgrade rolls if you have a better shot at rolling it yourself. Do your homework. See what the base defense range is on the item you are trying to upgrade.


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On the topic of weapons - When upgrading weapons to their Exceptional or Elite tiers, they have no variables whatsoever. A Falcata sword will always have 31-59 Damage, so every single Rixot's Keen (or subsuquently every single weapon in the game) upgraded to it's Elite tier will always do the same amount with no variable in damage, barring any kind of intrinsic ED%, +AR, or any other variable that weapon might spawn with.

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Final notes: If an item has a socket in it prior to upgrading, the contents of the socket will remain intact inside the item you are upgrading.

Recipies for upgrading items are as follows (set and unique items use the same recipe):

Ort + Amn + Perfect Sapphire + Normal Rare Weapon = Exceptional Rare Weapon
Fal + Um + Perfect Sapphire + Exceptional Rare Weapon = Elite Rare Weapon

Ral + Thul + Perfect Amethyst + Normal Rare Armor = Exceptional Rare Armor
Ko + Pul + Perfect Amethyst + Exceptional Rare Armor = Elite Rare Armor

Ral + Sol + Perfect Emerald + Normal Set Weapon OR Normal Unique Weapon = Exceptional Set Weapon OR Exceptional Unique Weapon
Lum + Pul + Perfect Emerald + Exceptional Set Weapon OR Exceptional Unique Weapon = Elite Set Weapon OR Elite Unique Weapon

Tal + Shael + Perfect Diamond + Normal Set Armor OR Normal Unique Armor = Exceptional Set Armor OR Exceptional Unique Armor
Lem + Ko + Perfect Diamond + Exceptional Set Armor OR Exceptional Unique Armor = Elite Set Armor OR Elite Unique Armor

TL;DR: You're paying (or asking) way too much Forum Gold for your low-odds perfect upgraded gear. Roll it yourself, and pay (sell) accordingly to how rare, useful, or difficult the item was to roll perfect.

I sold a Perfect Upped Tal-Rasha Belt for what should be average market price.

Since defense is the only factor when upgrading, any 15% Magic Find Tal Belt (MF on the belt ranges from 10-15% MF) will do just fine. They're dirt cheap on non-ladder, at around 5 FG. I had two random ones in my stash and used runes/gems I found while casually magic finding in my stash. Making this belt cost me nothing.

See that next comment right after someone purchased it? "bin if he dies" ? That's usually said if something is vastly underpriced. It's not, and frankly, at 1 in 8 odds of hitting a Perfect 65/15 is reasonable at a ~5-10 FG gamble.

YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF for a 5 FG 15mf Tal Belt and the cost of dirt cheap Lem/Ko/PDiamond sets. What are those, 3-5 FG a set? What'll it cost you if your odds are bad? Between 64 and 80 FG? 8-10 FG if you hit it on your first shot?

YOU ARE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR UPGRADED ITEMS.

This user is trying to sell Perfect Double Upgraded Hsarus' Boots for 750 Forum Gold. Another user is selling a pair for 200 FG.

Take a look at this utter insanity.

Why you'd want this boot instead of any Aldur Boot or superior equivalent after a 5-minute shopping trip to Anya is questionable, but if you for whatever reason wanted to upgrade a pair to a perfect defense on your own it can be done for a fraction of the price.

Hsarus' Iron Heel
Chain Boots
Defense: 8 - 9
Kick Damage: 6 - 12
Minimum Strength: 30
Durability: 16
Level Requirement: 3

20% Faster Run/Walk
Fire Resist +25%

Looking at the boot, there are no rolls on it aside from defense. This is the variable when upgrading anyway, so ANY Hsarus' Boot is a viable candidate for rolling. How many times have you found a pair of these boots on your own? A quick search at the time of this posting has only a single listing for trade on the forums for 2 Forum Gold. Considering these boots are never picked up for good reason, let's say their average market price is 2 FG based on this information. To upgrade these to their Elite tier, you'd need a Tal, Shael, Lem, Ko, and two Perfect Diamonds. Combined, these runes along with gems could roughly run you between 8-10 Forum Gold.

Exceptional-tier Chain Boots, Mesh Boots, have a defense range from 37-44. If this is your goal, you have a 1:8 chance of rolling perfect.

Elite-tier Chain Boots, Boneweave Boots, have a defense range from 59-67. If this is your goal, you have a 1:9 chance of rolling perfect.

For what the first user was asking, 750 FG, and at the cost of a pair of boots with runes/gems at 12 Forum Gold, you could roll for perfect SIXTY-TWO TIMES to hit a 1:9 chance. For the second listing, you could roll SIXTEEN TIMES to hit the 1:9 chance.

Learn the mechanics of upgrading. Do it yourself for a fraction of the cost. Don't buy "perfect" upgraded items without seeing the odds of doing it yourself.

PEOPLE ARE ASKING WAY TOO MUCH FOR UPGRADED ITEMS.