View source for Item Upgrade System

The Item Upgrade System is a core new feature introduced in EverQuest Legends. This is a new system first introduced in one of the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPlWEbfedh4 EverQuest Legends Insight series videos on youtube].

All gear can be upgraded from a starting tier of 0, to a max tier of 10. You do this though a process called Item Merging, where you use an item of the same name, or a new item called a [[Mote of Potential]] to upgrade the item's tier level. Each item or mote merged into your item adds experience to that item, and when that experience meets a certain amount then the item will upgrade to the next tier.

== How Tiers impact gear stats ==

Each time you merge enough exp into an item, it levels up, increasing that item's tier level. As the item gains experience towards the next tier, its stats will slowly increase.

* Each tier represents a cumulative 10% bonus to the item's stats
* The bonus is increased based on the experience added to the item, and not by the item's tier.
* All calculations round down to the nearest whole number.  For example, 42.9 AC becomes 42 AC.
* A minimum increase of +1 to a stat is guaranteed at the start of each tier.
* Weight is reduced in a similar way, but never below 0.1.
* Weapon damage is increased at +10% per Tier as well, with a minimum of 1.
* Weapon Delay is never reduced

== Cumulative Stat Bonus ==

The tier upgrade system has some moments where smaller bonuses can occur while you are adding exp to an item.  The overall stat bonus to an item is based on the amount of exp on that item, rather than the exact tier the item is at. This follows some simple math rules as follows.

* Add the percentage towards the next tier, divided by 10, to the current tier's cumulative bonus (see table below).
* If the cumulative bonus would result in a stat increasing, that stat will increase when that point is reached.
* Mid-Tier bonuses like this do NOT award the minimum bonus to a stat.
* Remember, the calculations round down to the nearest whole number!

::: Example: The [[Umbral Platemail Breastplate]] has an AC of 30.  At Tier 1, it gains 3 AC (cumulative bonus of +10%) for a total of 33 AC. If this item gains 1 item exp, then it is 50% of the way to Tier 2. This means the cumulative bonus is now 10 + (50/10) = 15% cumulative bonus.  It's AC will now be 34.  At Tier 2, it will be 36 (+20%).

Due to this, it is always a good idea to add exp to your gear, as every little bit accumulates and increases the gear's stats.

== Motes of Potential Experience Rules ==

Motes of Potential are an item unique to EverQuest Legends. Though these items have unique rules separate from standard gear for how they provide exp to an item.

* Motes add a fixed amount of exp to an item
* Motes cannot add exp to an item above a certain tier

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Mote Name
!Mote Max Tier
!Exp per Mote
|-
| [[Mote of Infinitesimal Potential]]
|0
|1
|-
| [[Mote of Minor Potential]]
|1
|1
|-
| [[Mote of Lesser Potential]]
|2
|2
|-
| [[Mote of Potential]]
|3
|4
|-
| [[Mote of Major Potential]]
|4
|5
|-
| [[Mote of Greater Potential]]
|5
|6
|-
| [[Mote of Superior Potential]]
|6
|7
|-
| [[Mote of Grand Potential]]
|7
|8
|-
| [[Mote of Ascendant Potential]]
|8
|9
|-
| [[Mote of Infinite Potential]]
|9
|10
|}

== Gear Experience Experience Rules ==
Gear provides experience equivalent to the experience needed to reach that gear's Tier Level. The following level details the exp gained when you merge a piece of gear into another.  Unlike motes, gear does not have a maximum tier for merging.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Gear Tier
!Exp When Merged
|-
|0
|1
|-
|1
|2
|-
|2
|4
|-
|3
|8
|-
|4
|16
|-
|5
|32
|-
|6
|64
|-
|7
|128
|-
|8
|256
|-
|9
|512
|-
|10
| -
|}

== Tiers ==

Each Tier requires an increasing amount of exp to reach.  This table lays out each tier's requirement. (Bonus per Exp is rounded to 3 decimal places).

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Tier
!Total XP Required
!Exp to Next Level
!Cumulative Bonus
!Bonus Per Exp
|-
| 0
| 0
| 1
| +0%
| +10%
|-
| 1
| 1
| 2
| +10%
| +5%
|-
| 2
| 3
| 4
| +20%
| +2.5%
|-
| 3
| 7
| 8
| +30%
| +1.25%
|-
| 4
| 15
| 16
| +40%
| +0.625%
|-
| 5
| 31
| 32
| +50%
| +0.313%
|-
| 6
| 63
| 64
| +60%
| +0.156%
|-
| 7
| 127
| 128
| +70%
| +0.078%
|-
| 8
| 255
| 256
| +80%
| +0.039%
|-
| 9
| 511
| 512
| +90%
| +0.020%
|-
| 10
| 1023
| -
| +100%
| -
|}

== Obtaining Motes ==
Motes have a chance to drop from any monster killed.  The higher the difficulty of the zone will increase the minimum level of the mote that will drop.  Killing mobs of a higher level (yellow or red) will also increase the chance of motes dropping.  Additionally, the player's level will affect the level of the motes that drop - at level 15, the highest that will drop in a Difficulty 4 is a Tier 3 mote.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Player Level
!Mote level
|-
|1
|1
|-
|10
|2
|-
|15
|3
|-
|20
|4
|-
|25
|5
|-
|30
|6
|-
|35
|7
|-
|40
|8
|-
|45
|9
|-
|50
|10
|-
|}

*Note: Tiers 1-3 need confirmation on level drop.