Item Levels and Upgrading

Understanding Item Level and Power Scaling

Every item level increase adds 1% more primary stat to an item; that's a bit of an oversimplification, but for now let's use that number for this guide. What's important to know is that item level scaling is exponential. In Slot Strength we'll talk about it!

This effect compounds - an item 100 levels higher has 1.01¹⁰⁰ = 170% more total stats than the base item.

Item level is the foundation of character power in World of Warcraft. Understanding how it scales and interacts with upgrade systems helps you make informed decisions about gear progression.

Why it feels like Power Scaling Explodes in an Expansion

It feels like that because it actually does, the absolute gain you get per item level increases exponentionally. 1% compounding growth is not a lot, but with a lot of item level eventually it goes wild. Small item level increases early on feel minor, but the same increases later become massive power jumps.

The chart below shows how item power scales across a fictional 100-item-level range. This demonstrates why endgame upgrades feel so much more impactful than early expansion gains.

^{We intentionally didn't make the chart look too sensational, but the ramping is real!}

Current Tier Item Levels

Midnight Season 1 uses a multi-raid structure with three raids. Items drop at different base levels depending on which boss you kill, following a 1/6 through 4/6 rank pattern within each difficulty's upgrade track:

Boss	%Raid Finder% (Veteran)	Normal (Champion)	Heroic (Hero)	Mythic (Myth)
Averzian (VS)	233 (1/6)	246 (1/6)	259 (1/6)	272 (1/6)
Vorasius (VS)	237 (2/6)	250 (2/6)	263 (2/6)	276 (2/6)
Salhadaar (VS)	237 (2/6)	250 (2/6)	263 (2/6)	276 (2/6)
Chimaerus (DR)	237 (2/6)	250 (2/6)	263 (2/6)	276 (2/6)
Vaelgor+Ezzorak (VS)	240 (3/6)	253 (3/6)	266 (3/6)	279 (3/6)
Vanguard (VS)	240 (3/6)	253 (3/6)	266 (3/6)	279 (3/6)
Belo'ren (MQ)	240 (3/6)	253 (3/6)	266 (3/6)	279 (3/6)
Crown (VS)	243 (4/6)	256 (4/6)	269 (4/6)	282 (4/6)
Midnight Falls (MQ)	243 (4/6)	256 (4/6)	269 (4/6)	282 (4/6)

^{VS = Voidspire, DR = Dreamrift, MQ = March on Quel'Danas}

Each difficulty's upgrade track is exactly +13 item levels from the previous difficulty at the same rank (e.g., Champion 1/6 = 246, Hero 1/6 = 259).

Upgrade Track Mechanics

All upgrade tracks now follow the same 6-rank pattern. The pattern is +4, +3, +3, +3, +4 — with bonus upgrades at ranks 1→2 and 5→6. Total: 17 item levels from 1/6 to 6/6 per track.

Track	1/6	2/6	3/6	4/6	5/6	6/6
Adventurer	220	224	227	230	233	237
Veteran	233	237	240	243	246	250
Champion	246	250	253	256	259	263
Hero	259	263	266	269	272	276
Myth	272	276	279	282	285	289

Example: Normal Item from Early Boss

Starting at Champion 1/6 (246 item level), here's the complete progression:

• 2/6: +4 levels (246 → 250) — bonus upgrade
• 3/6: +3 levels (250 → 253)
• 4/6: +3 levels (253 → 256)
• 5/6: +3 levels (256 → 259)
• 6/6: +4 levels (259 → 263) — bonus upgrade

The total progression is 17 item levels (246 → 263).

Heroic and Mythic Progression

• Heroic items: Hero 1/6 (259) → 6/6 (276) = +17 item levels
• Mythic items: Myth 1/6 (272) → 6/6 (289) = +17 item levels

All tracks gain 17 item levels total, following the same +4, +3, +3, +3, +4 pattern.

How Crests Changed: Normal vs Heroic Gear

In previous seasons, upgrading Hero track items past 4/6 required Mythic-tier crests. This created a meaningful tradeoff: spending Mythic crests on a Heroic item meant fewer crests available for actual Mythic gear. If you weren't planning to invest Mythic crests into a Heroic item, Champion 6/6 and Hero 4/6 were effectively the same item level, making fully upgraded Normal loot competitive with partially upgraded Heroic loot.

Midnight changed this. Crests are now track-specific. Hero Dawncrests can only upgrade Hero track items, and Myth Dawncrests can only upgrade Myth track items. Every upgrade costs a flat 20 Dawncrests, and the weekly cap is 100 per type (5 upgrades per week).

This means you can freely upgrade Heroic items all the way to Hero 6/6 (276) without touching your Mythic crest budget. The tradeoff that made Normal gear competitive no longer exists.

Champion 6/6 caps at 263, equivalent to only Hero 2/6. That's a 13 item level gap compared to Hero 6/6 (276). Normal items are now a stepping stone into Heroic, not a long-term investment. Replace them as you progress.

Mythic Items

Myth track caps at 289, a full 13 item levels above Hero 6/6 (276). You can also convert Hero Dawncrests into Myth upgrades: if you get a 1/6 Mythic item, upgrade its Hero track counterpart to 6/6 first. This gives you the Myth 1/6 → 2/6 upgrade for free, effectively turning 20 Hero Dawncrests into 20 Myth Dawncrests.

For detailed guidance on spending Dawncrests efficiently and managing upgrade costs, go on to the next chapter!