Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a frequent and important way to improve the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can be a great source of extra damage or more AD or even more attaches.
Rare-grade equipment is often superior to the more modernized Common or Magic equipment due to their higher requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They boost the effectiveness of the item they are attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged by using a specialist or higher salvage kit to salvage upgrades from the items.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can take on. The absorption of damage by a piece armor will increase when it's upgraded to the maximum upgrade level. However, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will raise its weight, requiring it to weigh more than before.
There are several types of armor upgrades available in the game, and each one has distinct effects. For instance, some upgrades give the armor a certain amount of additional health points, while others will make it stronger and lighter. The type of armor upgrade that an item can get will be identified by the name of the upgrade, as shown in the table below.
A few upgrades are magic or a hybrid of magic and technology, which is identified by the "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Certain upgrades require charges in order to be used. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges associated with these upgrades are updated daily or never expire, dependent on the upgrade.
The cheapest way to upgrade armor is by using Iron Ore, which can be obtained by exploring the environment and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, but can be found at the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain 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 boost in stats, and are worth the investment.
The player should be aware that upgrading a piece up to the maximum upgrade level will boost its defense. However, it will also reduce the speed and agility of the piece. It is not recommended to upgrade armor beyond +9. The defensive boost gained typically isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to enhance certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can increase the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage caused by shotgun shells. Some weapons also have special upgrades that enhance their inherent characteristics. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and reduces the risk of the risk of overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the speed of projectiles to cause more damage).
Most upgrades for weapons require three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade. They can be obtained by doing side quests, or killing a certain amount of monsters or bosses, or through the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.
To upgrade a weapon, equipment set piece, or Whetblade You must go to the NPC [ArmorBoboko. Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee that is a certain number of Bars. The more bars required to complete an upgrade, the more advanced the level. The cost of upgrades will be less if you have more than one of the relevant upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade your weapon and equipment sets has changed. Prior to Chapter 2 Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a certain number of Bars. 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 high on RNG and low on agency. It is better to purchase gear with low levels of upgrade, but high base scores and stat distributions. These items will have a higher likelihood of granting you highest level of advantages and benefits.
The majority of players will prioritize upgrades to the weapons they most often use to allow them to progress quicker. In addition to these players, they should also consider upgrading the weapons that are most popular with their teammates to increase their power as well. Shepard for instance should upgrade his M92F in order to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more useful when used by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to improve the stats of a character or to provide additional effects in armor and weapons. Jewelry crafting is a method for creating them. You combine the gemstone with specific reagents in a jewelry table. The higher the grade of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents are available from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses around the world, or by salvaging Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The Jeweler can enhance the quality of a gem in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. Based on the tier of the gem, it will provide a different stat boost when slotted into weapons, gear and jewelry.
The Jeweler is able to create the highest levels of gems with the exception of rare and legendary ones, which require certain levels to gain. Jewels can be replaced with another jewel without destroying the original. However you can only swap out one jewel in a piece of equipment once.
Using more jewels in a movement can make it feel more comfortable, and is often used to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. In addition to improving performance, the diamonds create a surface that is harder than metal, so repeated friction with pivots doesn't cause harm as easily.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the look of your shields and weapons. These glyphs offer a small boost and can be traded, but they are not guaranteed to be available as loot. Glyphs are like jewelry and can be upgraded at the Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs are also removed from the inventory, and they are returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as aegis and traits, cannot be swapped out, and are only recoverable by using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them with a Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are items of equipment that bestow a wide range of tiny but valuable advantages to your hero. They can be obtained in the beginning areas as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, and by completing road interactions. They can also be made by jewelers and later found or purchased on the Trading Post.
The first trinket players will unlock is the cloak. It gives a small but valuable boost in movement speed and the ability to escape. The player will then be able to acquire necklaces, amulets, and rings in a similar manner as they did with weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal or a jewel upgrade. gear upgrade are smaller and are able to be used on any equipment. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced, and can only be used with certain trinkets.
These trinkets also grant additional buffs and skills that are active even when the character is not in combat. This lets a hero become more efficient even when not in combat. It also helps compensate for the lack of a good slot in the talent tree or team which are usually filled by the hero's optimal stats.
A good guideline for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you will not replace in the near future, then any items with desirable stats that are less important than the iLevel of the item to be upgraded. This is especially true when an item has multiple stats you'd like to upgrade, as it's usually better to upgrade a single important stat than two sub-optimal ones.
In the beginning of the game, players in the jungle are likely to upgrade their yellow trinket into a red one in the middle and top players will usually opt for either a pink or green ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices will have a major impact on the hero's abilities to control maps.
Aside from the things mentioned above, players may also discover a variety of other trinkets throughout the game in the form of trophies and awards. These can be earned through completing certain milestones within the story. For example, completing the main quest for a chapter or defeating a boss. You can see them by clicking on the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.