by NeverCeaseToCrease » August 1st, 2019, 11:36 pm
Basically, the more pleats you have, the higher levels you can shift to. You can get to axial+3 with one pleat, axial+6 with 2 pleats, etc, but that's only if you stay along the grid and 45 degree ridge creases. If you are willing to "get off the grid" like in lang's wasp, you can shift to axial+4 pretty easily, and it's possible to go higher with just one pleat but it gets messy.
If you don't know what I mean, I can post some crease pattern examples. I've found level shifters handy for creating various styles of clothing for box pleated human figures.