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In Diablo 4, items that you loot have a stat called Item Power that determines the stat values that your items can roll when they are created. However, there is a hidden mechanic that is very important for Diablo 4 players to know and that is Item Power Breakpoints.
Item Power Breakpoints are hidden in game. These break points are fundamental to understanding your gear in Diablo 4 as they can make the difference between whether you should be upgrading an item or selling it for gold.
Item Power Breakpoints
Item Power is a value that can be seen underneath the Item's name. Not to be confused with Item Level, Item Power is a value that signifies the potential stat ranges an item can have.
There are 6 Item Power Breakpoints:
- Item Power 1-149
- Item Power 150-339
- Item Power 340-459
- Item Power 450-624
- Item Power 625-724
- Item Power 725+
Item Power Breakpoints are like power tiers for Items. When an item falls within these tiers, their stat ranges are set
The highest bracket is when the Item Power is 725+. When an Item has this Item Power, the stat ranges will be at their maximum possible ranges.
For example, an Item that sits with Item Power 624 may have give an affix of Intelligence, with a stat range of 10-20. If the item goes past 624 into the next Breakpoint, the range increases from 15-25.
Upgrading Item Power Breakpoints
So why is Item Power Breakpoints important to understand for Diablo 4 end-game players.
To get the highest possible stats on your items, you're going to want to hunt for Items that are in the Item Power 725+ range. However, you can also upgrade items in Diablo 4 at the Blacksmith and Jewelers (for rings and amulets).
Upgrading an item once adds +5 Item Power to the item. Items can have a max of 5 upgrade slots available. That means, if you have an Item that is at 700+ Item Power, you can upgrade it to make it break through to the final Breakpoint of 725.
When you go through a new Breakpoint, the stats are rerolled to the higher ranges! Normally when upgrading an item, you only get a small stat boost, but when you go through a Breakpoint, you'll get a huge bonus.
You can see from the Item above that on it's first upgrade, it only gets +2 Willpower added (sitting at Item Power 622). However, when we upgrade again, we get a huge bonus of +14 Willpower as we break through the Item Power Breakpoint of 625!
How To Get Higher Item Power
Getting those elusive 725+ Item Power items can prove challenging in Diablo 4, especially at the early levels. Because upgrading items can cost you a pretty penny and lots of item resources, many players looking to min-max choose to wait until they find Item Power 700+ items before upgrading.
Item Power is rolled on items that drop based on your character's level. Therefor, if you are only level 30, you're unlikely to get Item Power items that hit the max breakpoint.
When you start getting to Level 60, you'll start finding plenty of items that reach the max breakpoint level. For many players, it's worth power-leveling through past 60 to start getting better loot.
So I should just sell my items less than Item Power 700?
You still want to keep your good items. Scaling your character to get to the harder content requires incremental stat increases unless you've got a great build that can power level.
If you want to save resources, selling items with an Item Power level less than 700 is a good idea but you need to still be checking for those perfect affixes that you require. It is still very hard to roll the perfect item gear even with Item Power 700+, so having items that bridge the gap before you find the perfect item is well worth investing in.
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