Guide · June 10, 2026
Diablo IV Greater Affixes Explained — Tiers, Odds & What To Do With Them
What Greater Affixes are, how the GA I–IV tier system works, what the odds are, and exactly how they should change your keep or salvage decision in Season 13.
⚡ The Short Answer
A Greater Affix is a stat that rolled at 1.5× its normal maximum value. In Season 13, Greater Affixes come in four tiers (GA I through GA IV) with exponential scaling — a GA IV is roughly 5× more valuable than a GA I. Any item with at least one Greater Affix deserves a closer look before you hit salvage.
🔍 What Exactly Is a Greater Affix?
Every affix in Diablo IV has a normal roll range. A Greater Affix breaks that ceiling — it rolls in a separate, higher range that starts at 1.5× the normal maximum. In-game, Greater Affixes are displayed with a star icon next to the stat and a golden shimmer on the item tooltip. You can't miss them once you know what to look for.
Greater Affixes are not guaranteed. They are rare random rolls that can appear on Legendary, Ancestral, and (as of Patch 3.0.3) even Charm items. When one appears, it fundamentally changes how you should evaluate that item.
📊 The Four Tiers — GA I Through GA IV
Season 13 introduced a tier rating system for Greater Affixes. Each tier represents a progressively higher roll within the Greater Affix range:
- GA I: Entry-level Greater Affix. Still a meaningful upgrade over a normal roll, but the lowest tier. Common relative to higher tiers.
- GA II: Strong roll. Roughly 2× the value of a GA I. Worth keeping on a core stat for your build.
- GA III: Exceptional. Roughly 3.5× the value of a GA I. This is the tier where items start to become end-game viable regardless of other affixes.
- GA IV: Near-perfect roll. Roughly 5× the value of a GA I. These are permanent keeps. A single GA IV on a core stat is worth building around.
The tier number is displayed as a Roman numeral next to the star icon on the item tooltip. If you see ★IV next to a stat your build scales, stop everything and evaluate that item immediately.
⚖️ GA Count Matters As Much As Tier
One of the most common mistakes in Season 13 is treating all Greater Affixes as equal. The count and tier together tell the story:
- Two GA IIIs on core stats often outperform four GA Is — the exponential scaling makes higher-tier GAs disproportionately valuable
- Three GA Is on irrelevant stats is worse than one GA II on your primary scaling stat
- A GA on a stat your build doesn't use is worth significantly less than the same tier GA on a stat it does
Build relevance is the multiplier on top of tier. Always evaluate the GA in context of your class and build, not in isolation.
📦 Greater Affixes by Item Type
Greater Affixes behave differently depending on the type of item they appear on:
- Legendary / Ancestral Legendary: Standard evaluation. GA count and tier are the primary quality signal alongside Item Power.
- Unique items: As of Patch 3.0.3, every Unique has at least one variable affix that can roll at different values. Check whether that variable affix rolled near its maximum — this functions similarly to evaluating a GA roll.
- Charm items (Patch 3.0.3): Charms can now roll Greater Affixes at approximately ~4% chance per affix. A GA Charm is a significant find — treat it with the same weight as a GA on a regular gear slot.
- Magic and Rare items: A Magic or Rare item with even one Greater Affix is a Horadric Cube crafting candidate — do not salvage it. See below.
🔮 Magic & Rare GAs — The Horadric Cube Rule
Season 13 changed how low-rarity items with Greater Affixes should be handled. A Magic or Rare item that rolls a GA is not junk — it's a crafting base. The Horadric Cube can transmute it into a powerful Legendary, preserving the GA roll in the process.
The rule is simple: if a Magic or Rare item has ≥1 Greater Affix, do not salvage it. Bring it to the Horadric Cube. This applies even if the rest of the item's stats look mediocre — the GA is the value, not the rarity.
✅ The Greater Affix Decision Framework
- Does the GA land on a stat your build actually scales? If no — lower priority regardless of tier.
- What tier is it? GA III or IV on a core stat = keep/evaluate seriously. GA I or II = depends on the full item context.
- What rarity is the item? Magic or Rare + any GA = Horadric Cube, not salvage. Legendary + GA = standard keep/replace evaluation.
- What is the Item Power? A GA on a near-cap item (Ancestral ~900) is worth more than the same GA on a low-IP base where affix values are suppressed.
- How many GAs total? Multiple GAs on core stats compound. A 2-GA item with relevant stats beats a 1-GA item with one irrelevant roll.
🤖 Let the Scanner Do the Math
Evaluating Greater Affix tiers, item power context, build relevance, and Horadric Cube eligibility simultaneously — while standing at the Blacksmith with a full inventory — is exactly the kind of multi-variable problem AI handles better than human working memory.
StatVerdict reads the GA tier directly from your screenshot, cross-references it against your selected class and build, and factors in whether the item is a Horadric Cube candidate. The result is an instant grade and verdict that accounts for all of it at once. Free, no account needed.