Arcane Bond Incremental Upgrade Cost

[gatlingxyz]

I've been up and down the forum looking for a definitive answer. Some came from before the FAQ was posted/updated in 2013, so I'm not sure if I can follow those.

Let's say I have my arcane bond as an amulet. I choose to upgrade it to an Amulet of Natural Armor +1. I am 100% sure that the cost of this upgrade is 1,000 gp. Cool.

When I choose to upgrade this item to a Amulet of Natural Armor +2, do I pay 4,000gp or 8,000gp? Pre-FAQ kept saying something about the 50% cost being a one-time thing, but the FAQ makes me believe that I always pay the cost (using the price and Fame to know if I can upgrade). I feel like I'm overthinking it, but just want to be sure.

[Saethori]

Creating Magic Items wrote:

The cost to add additional abilities to an item is the same as if the item was not magical, less the value of the original item. Thus, a +1 longsword can be made into a +2 vorpal longsword, with the cost to create it being equal to that of a +2 vorpal sword minus the cost of a +1 longsword.

The Amulet of Natural Armor +1 has a cost of 1,000gp. The Amulet of Natural Armor +2 has a cost of 4,000gp. So the cost you pay is 4,000gp minus 1,000gp, or 3,000gp.

[gatlingxyz]

Saethori wrote:

Creating Magic Items wrote:

The cost to add additional abilities to an item is the same as if the item was not magical, less the value of the original item. Thus, a +1 longsword can be made into a +2 vorpal longsword, with the cost to create it being equal to that of a +2 vorpal sword minus the cost of a +1 longsword.

The Amulet of Natural Armor +1 has a cost of 1,000gp. The Amulet of Natural Armor +2 has a cost of 4,000gp. So the cost you pay is 4,000gp minus 1,000gp, or 3,000gp.

That is an even better answer than I was expecting. Thank you! I somehow missed that part in the creating magic items section.