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 fantastic source of damage, more AD or even more affixes.
Sometimes, however upgraded Common and Magic gear is often surpassed by Rare-grade equipment due to their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be applied to weapons and armor items. They improve the stats of the item that they are attached to. Upgrades to armor are available in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternately, they can be salvaged from items with upgrade components in them using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.
The amount of damage an armored item or weapon can absorb depends on the degree of upgrades. A piece of armor upgraded to the highest upgrade level will boost its ability to absorb damage. It is important to note that this will increase the weight of the armor, so it should be heavier.
There are several kinds of armor upgrades that are that are available in the game and they all have different effects. Certain upgrades give armor an additional amount of health points while others make it stronger and lighter. The type of armor upgrade that an item can get will be indicated by the name of the upgrade, as illustrated in the table below.
A few upgrades also feature magic or a mix of technology and magic which is shown by an "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Some upgrades also require charges for use. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are continuously updated or never expire based on the upgrade.
The cheapest way to upgrade armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be obtained by exploring the area and looting minor loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, however it is obtainable through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied to high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give significant improvement in stats and are worth the investment, particularly for one-handed weapons.
A piece of armor upgraded to its maximum upgrade level will dramatically increase its defense values but the wearer must be aware that putting more weight on it will drastically reduce its agility and speed. Therefore, it is not recommended to upgrade most armor pieces above +9, since the defensive boost gained is typically not worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades needed.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades give players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. For example an upgrade can increase the damage dealt by shotgun shells or the accuracy of a rifle sniper. Some weapons also have special upgrades that improve their innate characteristics. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of weapon overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the speed of projectiles to cause more damage).
The majority of upgrades to weapons require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade for applying. They can be obtained by completing side quests or by killing a certain number of bosses and monsters.
To upgrade an equipment set, weapon piece, or Whetblade You must go to the NPC [Armor] Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a specific amount of bars. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of bars are required to complete it. The cost of upgrading will be lower if have more than one of the relevant upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your weapon and equipment sets has changed a bit. Prior to Chapter 2 Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon or equipment by paying a specific number of Bars. You could continue doing this until you reach a max upgrade level of the equipment or weapon, following which the upgrades would reset.
It's possible, but it is dependent heavily on RNG. It is better to purchase gear that has low upgrade levels but with high base scores and stat distributions. These items will have a greater chance of granting you the highest level of benefits and blessings.
Most players will want to prioritize upgrades to the weapons they use most frequently to allow them to progress quicker. Players should also upgrade the weapons their squadmates use to boost their strength. Shepard, for example, should upgrade the M92F so that he can unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more useful when used in conjunction with biotic specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to boost a stat or provide secondary effects in armor and weapons. Jewelry crafting is a method for making them, where you combine a gemstone with a number specific reagents in a jewelry table. The higher the quality of the gemstone, the better the secondary effect. These reagents are obtained in the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and occasionally by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The quality of a diamond can be improved upon by the Jeweler, in stages that vary from Crude to Royal. improve items to stats will differ according to the tier that the jewel is at when it's inserted into jewelry, weapons or equipment.
The Jeweler is able to create all tiers of gems, except for the rare and legendary ones which you must be at a certain level to get. In contrast to other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped out with a identical jewel without damaging it. You can only replace the gem only once in a piece of equipment.
It is normal to use more jewelry to enhance the appearance of. The jewels can also enhance performance and create a surface harder than steel, so that the repeated friction from pivots do not damage them.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the appearance of your shields and weapons. These glyphs give a slight boost and can be exchanged, however they are not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs, just like jewelry, can be upgraded at the Jeweler to exchange gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs can also be removed, which returns them to the inventory. Other upgrade components, like traits and aegis, are not swappable, and can only be retrieved using an Upgrade Extractor, or by salvaging them using a Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are items of equipment that bestow an array of small, but beneficial advantages to your hero. They can be obtained in the beginning areas as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, or by completing road interactions. They can also be crafted by jewelers, and found or purchased on the Trading Post.
The first trinkets a player can unlock is the cloak. It grants an unimportant but beneficial boost in speed of movement and the ability to escape. The player can then acquire rings, amulets and necklaces, in a similar way similar to how they obtained weapons and armor. Each piece of gear comes with one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal upgrade or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be utilized on any device. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced, and can only be used with certain trinkets.
These trinkets also grant additional buffs and skills that remain active when the hero is not fighting. This enables the hero to perform better when they are not active, and can also help make up for a lack of a solid team or the absence of any slots from the talent tree which would normally be filled with the hero's best stats.
A good rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you aren't planning to replace soon, followed by items with desirable stats that are less important than the iLevel of the item being upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats that you wish to upgrade, since it's generally better to upgrade just one crucial stat than two subpar ones.
Jungle players often upgrade their yellow trinket to a red trinket at the start of the game. Mid and top players however will pick a green or a pink ward, based on the matchup. These choices will have an impact on the hero's ability to manage the map.
In addition to the items mentioned above, players can also find other trinkets that form trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, finishing a chapter’s main quest or beating the boss. They can be viewed by selecting the relevant achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.