Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a common and crucial method to enhance the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can provide extra damage, AD or even affixes.
Rare-grade equipment is often superior to upgraded Common or Magic gear due to their high demands.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a form of upgrade that can be used on weapons and armor items. They improve the stats of the item they're connected to. Upgrades to armor are available in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternately, they can be salvaged from items that have upgrade components within them by using an expert or greater salvage kit.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it is able to absorb. A piece of armor upgraded to its highest upgrade level will boost the damage it absorbs. However, it's important keep in mind that this will raise its weight, requiring it to weigh more than it was before.
There are several different types of armor upgrade available in the game. Each one has a distinct effect. Some upgrades give armor an extra number of health points while others make it stronger and lighter. The kind of armor upgrade an item will receive is indicated by the name of the upgrade, as shown in the table below.
Some of the upgrades also require magic or a hybrid technology and magic, as identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Some upgrades also require a charge to use, which is shown by a "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are continuously updated or never expire based on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest method to upgrade your armor. You can locate it by exploring and looting small treasure chests. Titanium is more expensive, however it is obtainable from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give players a significant increases in stats and are well worth the cost.
A piece of armor upgraded to max upgrade level will significantly increase its defense values but the wearer must be aware that putting on weight will dramatically reduce its speed and agility. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The added defense generally isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to enhance certain aspects of their weapon. For example, an upgrade may increase the damage dealt by the shells of a shotgun or the accuracy of a rifle sniper. Certain firearms also have enhancements that enhance their intrinsic capabilities. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of the risk of overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the speed of projectiles to cause more damage).
Most upgrades for weapons require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade. They can be obtained by finishing side quests, taking out a certain number of bosses or monsters, or through the Weapon Upgrade NPC in Central Flarine.
To upgrade a weapon, equipment set piece or Whetblade, you must visit the NPC [ArmorBoboko. Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a specific amount of Bars. More hints required to complete an upgrade the higher the level. The cost of upgrades will be lower if have more than one of the upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the ways to upgrade your equipment and weapon sets was a bit different. Prior to Chapter 2: Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon or equipment by paying a certain amount of Bars. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level at which point the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this, but the process is high on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're much better off visiting stores and buying gear with low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. These will then have a chance at gaining you the most prestigious benefits and blessings.
To level up quicker, players usually be more inclined to upgrade their weapons. In addition to these, players should consider upgrading the weapons favored by their squadmates to make them more powerful and effective. Shepard, for example, should upgrade the M92F so that he can unlock the Beretta M93R. This will increase the effectiveness of the weapon when used in conjunction with biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are utilized in the sockets of armor and weapons, enhancing the power of a character and bringing about secondary effects. Jewelry crafting is a method of making them, where you combine a gemstone with a number specific reagents in a jewelry table. The higher the grade of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses in the world, or by finding Legendary Gear. You can also purchase 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. Based on the tier of the jewel, it will provide a different stat boosts when inserted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.
All levels of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler however, there are some exceptions to this, such as the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a high enough level to qualify for the privilege of having them. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped out with a identical jewel without damaging it. You can only replace the gem once in an item of equipment.
Using more jewels in a move will make it feel smoother, and is often used for aesthetic reasons. In addition to enhancing performance, the jewels create an outer layer that is more durable than steel, so the repeated friction from pivots doesn't cause damage as easily.
In addition to the above upgrades additionally, players can acquire glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs offer a small boost in power and can be swapped, but they are not guaranteed to be available as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold and a scattered Crystal. Glyphs are also removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits and aegis cannot be swapped out, and can only be retrieved using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them with Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can give your character many small, but beneficial, benefits. You can find them in the start-up area as loot or as personal story rewards. They can also be obtained from vendors and by doing road interaction. They can be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinket a player can unlock is the cloak. It grants a small but valuable boost in movement speed and the ability to evade. The player can then acquire rings, amulets and necklaces, in a similar way as they did with weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with one upgrade slot that can accommodate either a universal or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades offer fewer benefits and can be put into any type of equipment, while jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded, and is only compatible with specific types of trinkets.
These trinkets can provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active when the hero isn't in combat. This allows the hero to be more effective when not active and may also help make up for a lack of a solid team or the absence of any slots from the talent tree that normally are filled with the hero's best stats.
As a general rule, trinket upgrades should prioritize BiS (Best in Slot) items that you will not replace in the near future. Next, any items that have desirable statistics aren't as important as the iLevel of the item that is to be upgraded. This is especially true when you're looking to upgrade several stats on an item. It's better to upgrade one important stat instead of two subpar ones.
Jungle players usually upgrade their yellow trinket to a red trinket at the beginning of the game. Top and mid players on the other hand, will choose either a pink or green ward, based on the game's matchup. These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's ability to control his map.
Aside from the things mentioned above, players can find other trinkets in the game in the form of trophies and awards. These can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, finishing a chapter’s main quest or beating the boss. You can view them by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.