Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Item upgrades are a common and important way to improve the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can be a good source of additional damage or more AD or even more attachments.
Often times however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is outclassed by Rare-grade gear because of their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be used on armor and weapon items. They boost the performance of the item that they are attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of the game and are available from Blacksmiths on bonfires. Additionally, they can be salvaged from items with upgrade components in them using an expert or greater salvage kit.
The amount of damage that a piece of armor or weapon is able to absorb is dependent on the level of its upgrades. The damage absorption of an armor piece will increase when it's upgraded to the maximum upgrade level. However, it's important note that this will also increase its weight, which will cause it to be heavier than it was before.
There are a variety of armor upgrade available in the game. Each has a different impact. Certain upgrades grant armor an extra number of health points, while others make it more powerful and lighter. The kind of armor upgrade an item can receive will be indicated by the name of the upgrade as indicated in the table below.
Some of the upgrades also require magic or a hybrid technology and magic, which are identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table below. Certain upgrades also require fees in order to be used. These are identified as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are updated daily or never expire based on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest option to upgrade your armor. It can be found by exploring and looting small treasure chests. Titanium is more expensive, but is readily available at 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 a significant boost in stats, and are definitely worth the cost.
The player should be aware, however, that upgrading a piece up to the maximum upgrade level will boost its defense. However, it can also affect its agility and its speed. For this reason, it is typically not recommended to upgrade armor pieces beyond +9, because the increase in defense is usually not worth the additional weight and power cost of the upgrades needed.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of certain aspects of the weapon. Upgrades can increase the accuracy of a rifle or the damage that shotgun shells do. Some weapons also have special upgrades that enhance their inherent characteristics. Frictionless materials (improves stability, and reduces weapon overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's speed to cause more damage) are two examples.
The majority of upgrades to weapons require a whetblade. It's one of three Power Dices and a different amount of Minerals and Erons. These are obtained through either completing Side Quests, killing a certain amount of monsters or bosses, or from the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.
To upgrade an equipment set, weapon piece or Whetblade You must go to the NPC [ArmorBoboko. Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a certain amount of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of bars required to complete it. If you have multiple upgrade materials The cost of upgrading will be less.
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 specific amount of Bars. You could do this until you reach a max upgrade level of the equipment or weapon, following which upgrades would reset.
It's still possible, but it depends heavily on RNG. It is better to purchase gear that has low upgrade levels, but high base scores and stat distributions. These will have a better chance of bringing you the best tier of benefits and blessings.
To improve their skills faster, many players be more inclined to upgrade their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons their squadmates use to make them stronger. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to make it more useful when paired with biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to boost a stat or provide secondary effects on weapons and armor. Jewelry crafting is the process of creating them. You combine gemstones with specific reagents in a jewelry table. The higher the level of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained around the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and sometimes by salvaging 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. The stat boosts will vary depending on the tier the jewel is at when it is inserted into jewelry, weapons or other gear.
All kinds of jewels are crafted at the Jeweler and Jeweler's Workshop, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels which require you to be at a sufficient level to obtain these. Like other upgrade components jewels can be swapped by a different jewel of the same type without destroying it. You can only replace the gem once in an item of equipment.
It is typical to use more jewelry for aesthetic reasons. Jewels also enhance performance and make an outer layer that is more durable than steel, so that the repeated friction caused by pivots does not damage them.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the look of your shields and weapons. They offer a small benefit 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 a Scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, like traits and aegis are not swappable, and can only be retrieved using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them with a Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can be used to give your character various 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 through vendors and after completing road interaction. They may also be crafted by jewelers, and then found or purchased from the Trading Post.
The first trinkets a player is able to unlock is the cloak, which grants an unimportant but beneficial boost to movement speed and the ability to escape. The player can then collect necklaces, rings, and amulets in a similar manner as they did with weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with a slot for an upgrade that can be either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be used on any device. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.
item upgrade can provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This allows the hero to be more efficient while inactive. It can also compensate for the lack of a strong slots in the team or talent tree that are normally filled by the hero's optimal 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 being upgraded. This is especially true when you want to upgrade multiple stats on an item. It's more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat rather than two suboptimal ones.
Jungle players will often upgrade their yellow trinket to a red one prior to the start of the game. Mid and top players however will pick a green or a pink ward, depending on the game's matchup. These choices can impact the ability of a hero to control the map.
In addition to the items listed above, players may also discover a variety of other items in the form of trophies and awards. These can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story, for instance finishing a chapter's main quest or killing a particular boss. These can be viewed by selecting the appropriate achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.