Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a common and essential way to boost the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can be a great source of damage and more AD or even more attachments.
Sometimes, however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is outclassed by Rare-grade gear due to their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be applied to armor and weapon items. They boost the stats of whatever item they are attached to. Upgrades to armor can be found in the world of the game and are available from Blacksmiths on bonfires. They can also be salvaged using a professional or higher salvage kit to salvage upgrade components from other items.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it will take on. The absorption of damage by a piece armor will increase when it's upgraded to its maximum upgrade level. It's important to remember that this will increase the weight of the armor, which means it must be heavier.
There are a few different kinds of armor upgrades that are that are available in the game and each one has distinct effects. Certain upgrades grant armor an extra number of health points while others make it more powerful and lighter. The type of armor upgrade that an item can get is indicated by the name of the upgrade, as indicated in the table below.
Certain upgrades require magic or a combination of technology and magic, as indicated by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Furthermore, some upgrades require charges to use, which are identified by the "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are constantly updated or never expire based on the upgrade.
item upgrader to upgrade armor is by using Iron Ore, which can be found by exploring the environment and looting chests of minor loot. Titanium is more expensive, however it is obtainable through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to higher level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant boost to stats and are a worthwhile investment, especially for 1-handed weapons.
The player must be aware that upgrading a piece to its maximum upgrade level will increase its defense value. However, it will also decrease its agility and speed. For this reason, it is generally not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces above +9, since the defensive boost gained is typically not worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades needed.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of specific aspects of a weapon. For instance an upgrade could enhance the damage caused by the shells of a shotgun or the accuracy of a sniper rifle. Certain firearms also have enhancements that enhance their intrinsic capabilities. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and minimizes overheating of the weapon) and Kinetic Coils (increases projectile acceleration for more damage).
item upgrades of upgrades to weapons require a whetblade, one of three Power Dices and a different amount Minerals and Erons. They can be obtained by completing Side Quests or killing a certain amount of bosses and monsters.
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 certain amount of bars. The more bars needed to complete an upgrade, the more advanced the level. The cost of upgrades will be lower if you have more than one of the upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the way you upgrade your weapon and equipment sets was a bit different. Prior to Chapter 2: Season 5 you could upgrade your weapon or equipment by paying a specific amount of Bars. You could do this until you reached a max upgrade level of the weapon or equipment, after which the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this, however, the process is high on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're much better off visiting stores and purchasing equipment that has low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. These gears have a higher chance of granting you the most prestigious tier of blessings and perks.
Most players will want to prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they most often use to make sure they are able to level up faster. In addition to these players, they should think about upgrading the weapons they use with their teammates to make them more powerful and effective. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will increase its utility when paired with biotech specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to boost the effectiveness of a skill or provide additional effects on weapons and armor. They can be made through an process known as jewelry crafting, which is where you combine a gem with a number of specific reagents at a jewelry table. The higher the level of the gemstone has, the more powerful its secondary effect. These reagents can be gotten from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses in the world, or through salvaging Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
The Jeweler can enhance the quality of a gem in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. Depending on the tier of the gem it can provide different stat boosts when inserted into gear, weapons and jewelry.
The Jeweler can craft all tiers of gems, with the exception of rare and legendary ones that require an appropriate level to obtain. Jewels can be substituted with another jewel without destroying the original. 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 also improve performance and make an outer layer that is more durable than metal so that repeated friction caused by pivots does not cause damage to the movement.
In addition to the above upgrades players can also obtain glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These are a small perk and are able to be swapped easily however they aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold and Scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits or aegis can't be exchanged, and can only be recovered through an upgrade extractor or salvaging using a Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage.
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 areas of starting as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, or by completing road interactions. They can also be made by jewelers, and found or purchased from the Trading Post.
The first trinket players will unlock is the cloak. It gives a small but valuable boost in movement speed and evasion. The player can then acquire rings, amulets and necklaces in a similar fashion as they did with weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has an upgrade slot that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be utilized on any device. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced and only work with certain trinkets.
These trinkets can also grant buffs and skills that are active whenever the hero is not in combat. This enables the hero to be more effective when not active, and can also help fill in the void of a strong team or any slots in the talent tree which would normally be filled with hero's ideal stats.
A good general rule of thumb 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 being upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats you'd like to upgrade as it's usually more beneficial to upgrade one important stat rather than two sub-optimal ones.
In the beginning of the game junglers will usually want to upgrade their trinket to a red in the middle and top players usually choose a green or pink ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's map control abilities.
In addition to the items mentioned above, players will find other trinkets that form of trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story. For example, completing the main quest of a chapter or defeating the boss. These can be viewed by selecting the relevant achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.