I selected "sometimes" as I've only had this happen twice, in two different ways.
- Adding a "Pristine" battery, to a "Badly Damaged" T3N RDS Optics scope for the m4, changed its state to "Worn".
- Using a "Pristine" IV Starter Kit on a "Badly Damaged" Saline Bag, comes out a "Pristine" usable Saline Drip (or whatever they're called when combined).
I'm not sure if this is a bug, or is intentional, but it clicked with me as something I should mention, just incase it was unintentional. I guess there's some logic behind increasing the quality of an item by combining it with something else, but I don't understand how a battery can fix the glass inside a T3N RDS Optics scope...