Item rarity and modifiers

11 sections

One Coral Ring as Normal, Magic and Rare.

Why this matters

Every piece of gear is a base item plus modifiers. Read the modifiers and you can tell an upgrade from junk at a glance.

Why this matters

Every piece of gear is a base item plus modifiers. Read the modifiers and you can tell an upgrade from junk at a glance.

Four rarities

Normal items have no random modifiers. Magic items have up to one prefix and one suffix. Rares have up to three of each, jewels two. Uniques have fixed modifiers.

The name colour shows the rarity: white, blue, yellow or orange-brown.

How many random modifiers can a Magic item have at most?

Doom Spiral

Coral Ring

Item Level: 40

+24 to maximum Lifeimplicit

+47 to maximum Lifeprefix
+32 to maximum Manaprefix
+21% to Fire Resistancesuffix
+15 to Dexteritysuffix
+15% to Cold Resistancesuffix

A Rare Coral Ring with its implicit, prefixes and suffixes labelled.

Implicit and explicit

The implicit comes with the base type and sits above the line. The explicit modifiers sit below it: the random prefixes and suffixes.

A Coral Ring always has its Life implicit, whatever its rarity.

Read a Magic item's name

On a Magic item the prefix name comes before the base, the suffix name after. A Stalwart Coral Ring of the Drake has a Life prefix and a Fire Resistance suffix.

Rare items get a random name, so the name won't tell you.

"Sapphire Coral Ring of the Lynx": which part is the suffix?

Know when an item is full

On this ring Life and Mana are prefixes, resistances and attributes suffixes. A Rare with three suffixes can't get another suffix, whatever orb you use.

Exalted Orb
Adds one random modifier to a Rare.
Pick it when: The item has open slots and good lines already.
You give up: You can't choose prefix or suffix.
Orb of Annulment
Removes one random modifier.
Pick it when: You want to open a slot and can afford to lose a good line.
You give up: It may remove the line you wanted to keep.

Name	Life	Mod level
Hale	+3 to 9	1
Healthy	+10 to 24	5
Sanguine	+25 to 39	11
Stalwart	+40 to 54	18
Stout	+55 to 69	24
Robust	+70 to 84	30
Rotund	+85 to 99	36
Virile	+100 to 114	44
Athlete's	+115 to 129	54
Fecund	+130 to 144	64

The flat Life prefix tiers, with those above mod level 40 crossed out.

Item level decides the tiers

Every modifier tier has a mod level. An item only rolls tiers at or below its item level, which comes from the area it dropped in. Crossed-out tiers can't roll on an item level 40 ring.

Can an item level 40 ring roll Fecund (mod level 64)?

Read the level requirement

Modifiers raise an item's level requirement to 80% of the highest mod level on it. That is why a good Rare can need a higher level than its base.

A Fecund Life roll alone needs character level 51.

One modifier per group

Modifiers belong to groups, and an item can only have one from each group. You never see two flat Life prefixes on one item.

Item Tiers, new in 3.30

From Act 6, Magic and Rare drops can have an Item Tier from 2 to 5. Higher tiers roll better modifiers when identified, and better odds of higher bases, quality, sockets and links.

Item Rarity on monsters and on your gear makes tiered drops more likely. Ruthless has no Item Tiers.

From which act can drops have an Item Tier?

What tier 5 can do

Tier 5 items can drop with +1 item level, or as Fractured Magic items. Some bases only drop at a minimum tier: a Steel Ring needs tier 3, a Stygian Vise tier 5.

These are GGG's own examples from the 3.30 notes.

Read it as text

Why this lesson matters

Every piece of gear is a base item plus modifiers. Once you can read the modifiers you can tell an upgrade from junk at a glance, and you know which orb can fix what.

Four rarities

Normal (white): no random modifiers.
Magic (blue): up to one prefix and one suffix.
Rare (yellow): up to three prefixes and three suffixes. Jewels are the exception, with up to two of each.
Unique (orange-brown): fixed modifiers set by the unique.

Implicit and explicit modifiers

An implicit modifier comes with the base type and sits above the line in the tooltip. A Coral Ring always has a maximum Life implicit, whatever its rarity. Explicit modifiers sit below the line: the random prefixes and suffixes on Magic and Rare items.

Prefixes and suffixes

On a Magic item the prefix name comes before the base and the suffix name after: a "Stalwart Coral Ring of the Drake" has a Life prefix and a Fire Resistance suffix. Rare items get a random name, so you learn which lines are which. On this ring, Life and Mana are prefixes; resistances and attributes are suffixes. An item with three prefixes can't get another prefix, whatever orb you use.

Item level and mod level

Every modifier tier has a mod level: the item level an item needs before that tier can roll. Item level comes from the area the item dropped in. The flat Life prefix runs from Hale (+3 to 9, mod level 1) up to Fecund (+130 to 144, mod level 64), so a ring with item level 40 can never roll Fecund. Modifiers also raise an item's level requirement, to 80% of the highest mod level on it.

One modifier per group

Modifiers belong to groups, and an item can only have one modifier from each group. You never see two flat Life prefixes on one item.

Item Tiers (new in 3.30)

From Act 6 onwards, Magic and Rare drops can have an Item Tier from 2 to 5. A higher tier means better modifiers on average when you identify the item, and better odds of a higher level base, quality, more sockets and more links. Item Rarity on monsters and on your own gear raises the chance of tiered drops. Tier 5 items can drop with +1 item level, or as Fractured Magic items. Some bases only drop at a minimum tier: GGG's examples are Steel Ring (tier 3) and Stygian Vise (tier 5). Ruthless has no Item Tiers.