Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a common and important way to improve 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 the more modernized Common or Magic gear because of their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They increase the stats of whatever 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 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 is able to absorb. Upgrading a piece of armor to its highest upgrade level will increase the damage it absorbs. It is important to note that this will increase the weight of the armor, therefore it must be heavier.
There are a variety of armor upgrades that are available in the game. Each one has a distinct impact. For instance, certain upgrades will give the armor a certain amount of health points while others will make it lighter and stronger. The name of the upgrade will indicate the kind of upgrade the item can receive, as shown below.
Some upgrades are magic or a hybrid of technology and magic, which is indicated by a "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Certain upgrades require charges for use. These are identified as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges associated with these upgrades are updated daily or never expire, according to the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest option to improve your armor. You can find it by exploring and looting small chests. upgrade item is more expensive but it can be obtained from smelters located in 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 improvements in stats and are worth the investment.
The player should be aware that upgrading a piece to the maximum upgrade level can increase its defense value. However, it will also affect its agility and its speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The boost in defense generally isn't worth the weight and power expenses of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of certain aspects of the weapon. Upgrades can improve the accuracy of a rifle or the damage that shotgun shells do. Some weapons also have special upgrades that enhance their inherent qualities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, minimizes the possibility of overheating), and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's speed to cause more damage) are two examples.
Most upgrades for weapons require three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade for applying. 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 need to visit the NPC [Armor] Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a specific number of Bars. The more bars needed to complete an upgrade the more expensive the upgrade. If you have multiple upgrade materials the cost of upgrading will be lower.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your weapon and equipment sets was a bit different. Prior to Chapter 2: Season 5 you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a specific number of Bars. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would be reset.
This is still possible, but it depends heavily on RNG. You should consider buying equipment that has low levels of upgrade, but high base scores and stat distributions. These will then have a chance at gaining you the highest tier bonuses and blessings.
To improve their skills quicker, players usually be more inclined to upgrade their weapons. In addition to these players, they should also consider upgrading the weapons they use with their squadmates to increase their power as well. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will increase its utility when accompanied by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are used in the sockets of armor and weapons, enhancing the power of a character and bringing about secondary effects. They can be made through an process known as jewelry crafting, where you combine a gem and several ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the grade of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents are obtained in the world from Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and sometimes by salvaging Legendary equipment. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The quality of a jewel can be improved at the Jeweler, with stages that range from Crude to Royal. The stat boosts will vary depending on the tier the jewel is at when it's slotted into jewelry, weapons, or gear.
The Jeweler can create the highest levels of gems apart from the rare and legendary ones which you must be at a certain level to get. Jewels can be replaced by another jewel without destroying the original. You can only replace the gem once in an item of equipment.
It is common to use more gems for aesthetic reasons. In addition to improving performance, the jewels also create an area that is stronger than steel, so the repeated friction from pivots doesn't cause damage as easily.
In addition to the upgrades mentioned above additionally, players can obtain glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These provide a small bonus and can be swapped freely however they aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded, as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold, and also Scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be removed from the inventory, and they are returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components like traits or aegis can't be exchanged and can only be recovered through an upgrade extractor, or salvaging with Black Lion Salvage Kit, or Ascended Salvage.
Trinkets
Trinkets are a great way to provide your hero with various small, but beneficial, advantages. They can be obtained in the areas of starting as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, and through doing road interactions. They can be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinket a player will unlock is the cloak. It gives a small, but useful bonus in speed of movement and the ability to escape. After that, they'll be able to get amulets, rings, and necklaces in a similar way to how a player obtains weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has an upgrade slot that can be either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be used on any equipment. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.
These trinkets can also grant buffs and skills that remain active whenever the hero is not in combat. This allows the hero to be more effective while inactive, and can also help to compensate for the absence of a solid team or any slots from the talent tree that normally are filled with the hero's ideal 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 any items with desirable stats, but less important than the iLevel of the item to be upgraded. This is particularly 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.
Jungle players will often upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red one prior to the start of the game. Top and mid players on the other hand will pick either a pink or green ward, based on the matchup. These choices can impact a hero's ability to control the map.
In item upgrader to the items mentioned above, players will also find other trinkets in the form of rewards and trophies throughout the game. They can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story, like completing a chapter's main quest or killing a particular boss. They can be viewed by selecting the appropriate achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.