Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a common and important way to improve the performance of numerous items in Path of Exile. They can cause additional damage, AD or even affixes.
Rare-grade equipment is usually superior to the more modernized Common or Magic equipment because of their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They boost the performance of the item they are connected to. Armor upgrades are available in the world of the game and purchased from Blacksmiths on bonfires. Alternatively, they can also be salvaged from items with upgrade components within them by using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it is able to take on. The damage absorption of a piece armor will increase when it's upgraded to the highest upgrade level. It is important to note that this will increase the weight of the armor, which means it must be more heavy.
There are several different types of armor upgrade available in the game. Each has a different impact. Certain upgrades grant armor an extra amount of health points while others make it more powerful and lighter. The name of the upgrade will indicate the type of upgrade that an item will receive, as shown below.
Some upgrades also feature magic or a mix of magic and technology, which is indicated by an "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Certain upgrades require charges to use. These are identified as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are constantly updated or never expire based on the upgrade.
The cheapest way to upgrade armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be found through exploring the surroundings and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive however it is obtainable through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied on armor pieces that are of high-level. These upgrades can provide significant boost in stats, and are well worth the cost.
The player should be aware that upgrading a piece up to the max upgrade level will boost its defense. However, it will also affect its agility and its speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The boost in defense generally isn't worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades give players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can boost the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage caused by shotgun shells. Certain firearms have upgrades to improve their inherent characteristics. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of overheating of the weapon) and Kinetic Coils (increases projectile acceleration for more damage).
The majority of weapon upgrades require a whetblade. It's one of three Power Dices and a different amount Minerals and Erons. These can be obtained by completing side quests or by killing a certain amount of monsters and bosses.
Upgrading a Weapon, Equipment Set piece or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade price that is based on a specific number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the more bars required to complete it. The cost of the upgrades will be less if you have more than one of the upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the ways to upgrade your equipment and weapon sets has changed a bit. Prior to Chapter 2: Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a specific amount of Bars. You could do this until you reached a max upgrade level of the equipment or weapon, following which the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this, but the process is high on RNG and low on agency. You should consider buying equipment that has minimal upgrade levels but with high base scores and stat distributions. These will have a chance at gaining you the most prestigious bonuses and blessings.
To level up faster, most players will be more inclined to upgrade their weapons. In addition to these players, they should think about upgrading the weapons they use with their teammates to increase their power and effective. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will enhance its effectiveness when paired with experts in biotics like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to improve the stats of a character or to provide additional effects on weapons and armor. They can be created using the process of jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gemstone and several ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the quality of the gem, the greater the secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses in the world, or by collecting Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The Jeweler can boost the quality of a gem in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. The stat boosts can vary depending on the level the jewel is at when it is inserted into jewelry, weapons, or equipment.
All tiers of jewels are crafted at the Jeweler and Jeweler's Workshop, with the exception of the rare and legendary gems that require you to be at a high enough level to be able to get these. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped with another identical jewel without damaging the original one. However you can only swap out a jewel in an item of equipment only once.
The use of more jewels in a move will make it more smooth and is typically used for aesthetic reasons. The jewels can also enhance performance and make a surface harder than steel, so that the repeated friction from pivots do not cause damage to them.
In addition to the above upgrades additionally, players can acquire glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs give a slight boost and can be traded, but they are not guaranteed to be available as loot. Glyphs, just like jewelry, can be upgraded at the Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs may also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components such as aegis or traits cannot be swapped, and can only be recovered with an Upgrade extractor or salvaging using Black Lion Salvage Kit, or Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can give your character many small, but beneficial, advantages. They are available in the starter area as rewards for personal stories or loot. They are also available from vendors as well as through doing road interaction. They can also be crafted by jewelers, and found or purchased from the Trading Post.
The first trinkets a player is able to unlock is the cloak. It grants a small but useful bonus in speed of movement and the ability to escape. The player can then collect necklaces, rings, and amulets in a similar fashion similar to how they obtained weapons and armor. item upgrading of equipment comes with one upgrade slot that can accept either a universal or jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades provide smaller bonuses and can be placed in any type of equipment, while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded, and is only compatible with certain types of trinkets.
These trinkets provide additional buffs and abilities that are active when the hero isn't fighting. This allows the hero to be more effective while inactive and also helps to compensate for the absence of a strong team or the absence of any talent tree slots that would normally be filled with the hero's ideal stats.
A good guideline for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you won't be replacing soon, followed by items with desirable stats, but less important than the iLevel of the item that is being upgraded. This is especially true when you're looking to upgrade several stats on an item. It is better to upgrade one important stat instead of two subpar ones.
At the beginning of the game junglers will usually want to upgrade their yellow trinket to a red, while top and middle players typically choose either a pink or green ward (depending on the matchup). These choices can affect a hero's ability to control the map.
In addition to the items listed above, players will find other trinkets that form of rewards and trophies throughout the game. These can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, finishing the main quest of a chapter or beating a boss. item upgrades can check them out by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.