Quality

Quality is a property of cosmetic items. It is represented in-game by the item's prefix and color.

Quality is a purely cosmetic property, and has no effect on gameplay. Items can have both a Quality and a Rarity value.

Inscribed
Inscribed items have a counter that tracks a specific in-game statistic. A regular item can be changed to Inscribed quality by placing an Inscribed Gem into a socket. Inscribed items can also be unboxed from Treasure Chests. These items come with an Inscribed gem.

Tracked counters are viewable by other players. Other than this, Inscribed items are no different from regular items.

Unusual
Unusual is a prefix for couriers that have a special particle effect. Unusual couriers are found in Treasure Chests at an approximately 1-2% chance.

Elder
Elder is a special prefix for limited items obtained under certain circumstances. To date, there are six Elder items.

Heroic
Heroic is a special prefix for commemorative items dropped for spectators during a live tournament game.

Genuine
Genuine is a special prefix for limited items obtained under promotional circumstances. They are obtained as bonus items by purchasing certain merchandise.

Self-Made
Self-Made is a special prefix for items that were submitted to the Steam Workshop which were accepted and added to the game. They are given out to the creator(s) of the item by Valve. Self-Made items cannot be chiseled, socketed, or hammered.

Cursed
Cursed items are obtained from Cursed Recipe: Materialize Item. The only difference between Cursed items and normal items is that Cursed items can be used in Recipe: Hollow Jack.

Favored
Items awarded to professional players that win the Compendium team/player vote.

Autographed
Autographed items are inscribed with an Autograph Rune, bearing the digital signature of a notable member of the Dota 2 community.

Ascendant
Ascendant items are inscribed with an Ascendant Gem. Ascendant items track the number of Dota 2 Beta invites sent, or victories during the beta period.

Exalted
Granted to copies of the Arcana item Blades of Voth Domosh purchased before Jan 4th, 2014 and the Arcana item Fractal Horns of Inner Abysm purchased during the New Bloom festival 2014.

Frozen
Part of the Frostivus/Wraith Night event for 2013. Items unlocked through redeeming fragments have this quality.

Corrupted
Part of the Frostivus/Wraith Night event for 2013. Items created using the recipe Recipe: Wraith King's Relic will have this quality. These items comes socketed with a Foulfell Shard. The Corrupted quality can be transferred by transferring the gem.

Auspicious
Items unboxed from New Bloom Festival 2014 gifts.

Quality Priorities
needs user testing and confirmation -Lemon

Some Gems will change the quality of an item. In the event of a conflict with an item's existing quality, a priority is followed. Higher priority qualities take precedence.

Example 1: Socketing an Inscribed item with an Ethereal Gem will change the item's quality to Unusual. Example 2: Socketing a Genuine item with an Autograph Rune will not change the item's quality.