Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Item upgrades are a common and essential way to boost the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can be a great source of extra damage and more AD or even more attaches.
Rare-grade equipment can be superior to upgraded Common or Magic gear due to their higher requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a kind of upgrade that can be used on weapons and armor items. They increase the stats of whatever item they are attached to. Upgrades to armor can be found in the world of the game and purchased from Blacksmiths on bonfires. They can also be salvaged by using an expert or higher salvage kits to retrieve upgrades from the items.
The amount of damage a piece of armor or weapon can absorb depends on the extent of its upgrades. Upgrading a piece of armor to maximum upgrade level will boost the damage it absorbs. However, it's important note that this will also increase its weight, which will cause it to be heavier than it was before.
There are several different types of armor upgrade available in the game. Each has a different impact. For example, some upgrades give the armor a certain amount of health points while others will make it stronger and lighter. The kind of armor upgrade an item can receive will be identified by the name of the upgrade, as shown in the table below.
A few upgrades are magic or a mix of technology and magic, which is indicated by a "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Some upgrades also require charges to use. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges for these upgrades are updated every day or never expire, dependent on the upgrade.
The cheapest method of upgrading armor is with Iron Ore, which can be gathered through exploring the surroundings and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more costly, but can be found at the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied on high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide a significant improvement in performance and are worth the investment, particularly for one-handed weapons.
A piece of armor upgraded to the highest upgrade level will significantly boost its defense but the wearer must be aware that putting more weight on it can drastically decrease its speed and agility. It is not recommended to upgrade armor beyond +9. The defensive boost gained generally isn't worth the weight and power expenses of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of specific aspects of an weapon. For example an upgrade can increase the damage dealt by shotgun shells or the accuracy of the rifle sniper. Certain weapons come with special upgrades that enhance their inherent capabilities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, and reduces the possibility of overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's acceleration to cause more damage) are two examples.
The majority of upgrades to weapons require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade for applying. These are obtained through either doing side quests, or killing a certain number of monsters or bosses, or by contacting the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.
Upgrades to a weapon, equipment Set piece, or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade cost that is based on a specific number of Bars. The more bars needed to complete an upgrade the higher the level. If you have multiple upgrade materials The cost of upgrading will be lower.
In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade weapon and equipment sets has changed. Previously, Cases gg could seek out an Upgrade Bench and pay a set amount of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon to a higher rarity. You could do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this, but the process is based on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're better off going to stores and buying equipment with low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. They will also be able to give you the most prestigious perks and blessings.
To improve their skills quicker, players usually be more inclined to upgrade their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their squadmates use to boost their strength. Shepard, for example, should upgrade the M92F in order to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will increase the effectiveness of the weapon when accompanied with biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are utilized in the sockets of armor and weapons, increasing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. Jewelry crafting is the process of making them, in which you combine the gemstone with specific reagents on a table. The higher the grade of the gem is, the greater its secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained around the world from Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and sometimes by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
The quality of a gem can be improved at the Jeweler, with stages that vary from Crude to Royal. Based on the tier of the jewel it can provide different stat boosts when inserted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.
The Jeweler is able to create the highest levels of gems apart from the rare and legendary ones that you must be at an appropriate level to obtain. Jewels can be substituted with another one without damaging the original. You are able to replace the jewel once in an item of equipment.
It is common to use more jewelry for aesthetic reasons. The jewels can also enhance performance and create a surface harder than steel, so that the repeated friction from pivots does not cause damage to them.
In addition to the upgrades mentioned above additionally, players can obtain glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs give a slight boost in power and can be traded, but they're not guaranteed to be available as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold, and also scattered Crystal. Glyphs may also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components like traits or aegis can't be swapped, and can only be retrieved through an upgrade extractor or salvaging with a Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage.
Trinkets
Trinkets are a great way to provide your hero with various small, but valuable, advantages. They are available in the starter area as rewards for personal stories or loot. They can also be obtained from vendors and by the completion of road interactions. They can also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased from the Trading Post.
The first trinkets a player is able to unlock is the cloak, which grants a small but useful bonus to speed of movement and evasion. Then, they can get amulets, rings, and necklaces in a similar way to how a player obtains weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with one upgrade slot that can accept either a universal upgrade or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be used in any type of equipment, while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded, and only works with certain kinds of trinkets.
These trinkets provide additional buffs and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't in combat. This allows a hero to be more efficient while inactive. It can also make up for the lack of a excellent team or talent tree slots which are usually filled by the hero's optimal stats.
In general trinket upgrades should be prioritized over BiS (Best in Slot) items you won't replace soon. Then, you should consider any items that have desirable statistics are less significant than the iLevel for the item that is to be upgraded. This is particularly true if an item has multiple stats you wish to upgrade, as it's usually more beneficial to upgrade one important stat rather than two sub-optimal ones.
Jungle players usually upgrade their yellow trinket to a red one at the start of the game. Top and mid players however will pick either a pink or green ward, based on the matchup. These choices will have an impact on a hero's ability to control the map.
In addition to the items mentioned above, players can also find other trinkets that form of trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be obtained by completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, completing the main quest of a chapter or defeating an opponent. You can check them out by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.