Reading these it's obvious I don't know much about itemization. Can someone tell me what the item names are based on quality? And what are the max of a spec you can have per item? For example I got a rare last night with 6 different magic effects vs the usual 3-4 and I still can't tell if that means it's any better.
When I buy, same thing, I'll put Vitality >100, Strength >50 and buy whatever is cheaper!
Item level 63 = "Archon" armor
Item level 62 = "Sovereign" armor (also this is the top level for crafted items)
Item level 61 = "Doom" armor
Item level 60 = "Warlord" armor
Though the names aren't always that clear. For example, item level 62 Shoulders are simply called "Pallium" and item level 61 pants are called "Schuynbalds" (something like that). Also weapons all use their own completely individual names so that's really just a matter of getting accustomed to their names (eg: when I get a rare Rune Sword I am excited, when I get a rare Strong Sword I am not lol)
Unfortunately you can't tell the 'base' item once an item has been identified by anything other than the appearance, but once it's identified all that really matters are the stats themselves which are a result of the random mods.
In my experience, I believe higher item level items have a higher 'ceiling' for their mod properties, but I think it is also possible that could be a result of the item dropping from higher monster level enemies. Personally I would not be surprised if the two stats work in coord to determine the final item properties, such that a level 60 item dropped off a level 60 enemy would have less 'power' on average than a level 60 item dropped off a level 63 enemy; however that is purely conjecture.
Just how many mods you receive can be tough to tell. For instance, I have a set of "Doom" boots ("Doom Treads") with something like 130 Str, 140 Vit, and 57 resist all. How many properties is that? Could be as few as two, could be as many as five I think because a property can be a "single" or "combo" and they tend to be additive ( to a cap? ).
For instance, my boots could break down any number of ways.
Property 1 = 130 str, Property 2 = 140 vit, Property 3 = 57 resist all
Property 1 = 70 Vit and 57 resist all, Property 2 = 130 str and 70 vit
Property 1 = 100 Str, Property 2 = 100 vit, Property 3 = 57 resist, Property 4 = 30 str and 40 vit
I would guess that there is some randomization in the number of properties that occur and I think higher item level items have a greater chance of having a higher number of properties, as I feel like when I browse the auction house that many Archon pieces have a very wide array of stats. Also in my experience I think +armor and +sockets may be independently determined outside of the random mods system, but again that's just how it feels to me.
The
D3 game guide that Blizzard has up is actually very complete and can help give a better understanding of the items you're seeing and how they relate to each other.