Item Level Cap | Nioh 2 Wiki

Item Level Cap

The Item Level Cap is 170 in Dream of the Strong. This means that items such as weapons, armor and accessories can not exceed this base value. However, it can be increased with +levels. The item level cap increases every new game+ cycle.

The Tengu's Disciple: the Item Level Cap has been increased to 180 in Dream of the Demon.
Darkness in the Capital: 190 in Dream of the Wise.
The First Samurai: 200 in Dream of the Nioh

+levels

When certain Patronage bonuses are in effect, items can be forged with a + Level. When an item has a + Level, it has essentially 10 item levels worth of stats compared to a similar item that does not have one. Example: a Level 170 Tonfa will have roughly similar stats to a Level 160 + 1 Tonfa. Items can also be found with +levels. You can increase the +level of equipment by the following ways:

• Weapons and Armor:  Soul Matching an item with a greater or equal + Level to another item. 
  • If the fodder equipment is Divine rarity, no matter how many +levels it has over the receiving equipment, the plus level will only increase by 1. Thus, the most efficient way of increasing +levels with divine items is soul matching with other equipment of the same level
  • If the fodder equipment is Ethereal rarity, than you gain +levels equal to half the difference in +levels. If the fodder weapons +level is 30, and the receiving weapon is 20, then you will gain 5 levels, as the difference between them is 10.
• Accessories: See Stone of Penance

The + Level Cap is + 10 for Dream of the Strong, meaning the + Level on any item can not exceed this value. The + level cap also increases based on the the current New Game + cycle:

The Tengu's Disciple, the + Level Cap has been increased to + 20 for Dream of the Demon
Darkness in the Capital, the + Level Cap is +50 for Dream of the Wise
The First Samurai, the +Level Cap is +120 for Dream of the Nioh