Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a common and crucial method to enhance the performance of numerous items in Path of Exile. They can provide extra damage, AD or even affixes.
Often times however upgraded Common and Magic gear is outclassed by Rare-grade equipment due to their higher requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They boost the stats of whatever item they are connected to. Armor upgrades are found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternatively, they can also be salvaged from items with upgrade components inside them, using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can absorb. The damage absorption of an armor piece will increase as it is upgraded to the highest upgrade level. It is important to note that this will increase the weight of the armor, which means it should be heavier.
There are several different types of armor upgrades that are 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 type of armor upgrade that an item can get will be identified by the name of the upgrade as indicated in the table below.
A few upgrades are magic or a mix of magic and technology, which is indicated by the "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Some upgrades also require a fee to use, which are identified by a "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are continuously updated or never expire based on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest option to improve your armor. You can locate it by exploring and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, however, it is available through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be used on high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give significant improvement in performance and are worth the investment, especially for 1-handed weapons.
Upgrading a piece of armor to max upgrade level will greatly boost its defense, but the player should be aware that increasing its weight will dramatically reduce its agility and speed. For this reason, it is typically not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces beyond +9, since the added defense is generally not worth the additional weight and power costs of the upgrades required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to enhance certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can boost the accuracy of a rifle or the damage that shotgun shells do. Certain firearms have enhancements to enhance their intrinsic capabilities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, minimizes the risk of overheating), and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's acceleration to cause more damage) are two examples.
Most weapon upgrades require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade for applying. These are obtained through either doing side quests, or taking out a certain number of bosses or monsters, or by contacting the Weapon Upgrade NPC in Central Flarine.
The process of upgrading a weapon, equipment Set piece or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade fee that is based on a specific number of Bars. The more bars you need to complete an upgrade, the more advanced the level. If you have multiple upgrade materials the cost of upgrading will be less.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the ways to upgrade your equipment and weapon sets has changed a bit. Previously, you could seek out an Upgrade Bench and pay a set number of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon to an increased rarity. You could continue to do this until you reached a maximum upgrade level for the equipment or weapon, after which the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this but the process is high on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're much better off going to the stores and buying equipment with low upgrade levels but excellent base scores and stat distributions. They will also have a chance at gaining you the highest tier bonuses and blessings.
To level up faster, many players prioritize upgrading their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons their teammates use to make them stronger. Shepard, for example, should upgrade the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more effective when used by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are placed in the armor's sockets and weapons, enhancing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. They can be created using the process of jewelry crafting, where you combine a gemstone and a number of specific chemicals at a table. The higher the tier of the jewel has, the more powerful its secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained around the world from Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and occasionally by salvaging Legendary equipment. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
The Jeweler can improve the quality of the gem in stages that range from Crude up to Royal. Based on the level of the gem it can provide different stat boost when slotted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.
All levels of jewels are crafted at the Jeweler, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a high enough level to be able to get the privilege of having them. item upgrades can be replaced with another one without damaging the original. However you can only swap out one jewel in a piece of equipment only once.
It is common to use more jewels for aesthetic reasons. In addition to enhancing performance, the diamonds create a surface that is harder than steel, so the repeated friction from pivots won't cause harm as easily.
In addition to the upgrades mentioned above players can also acquire glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs provide a small boost and can be traded, but they are not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs are upgradeable, as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold and Scattered Crystal. Glyphs may also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, like aegis and traits, aren't swappable and can only be recovered using an Upgrade Extractor, or by salvaging them using the Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are items of equipment that offer many tiny but valuable advantages to your hero. You can find them in the starter area as loot or personal story rewards. They are also available from vendors and by doing road interaction. They can also be crafted by jewelers, and then found or purchased from the Trading Post.
The first trinket a player will unlock is the cloak. It grants a small but valuable boost in movement speed and the ability to evade. After that, they can acquire rings, amulets, and necklaces in the same manner to the way a player acquires armor and weapons. Each piece of equipment has one upgrade slot that can accept either a universal or jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be put into any kind of equipment while jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded and is only compatible with certain types of trinkets.
These trinkets provide additional buffs and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't in combat. This lets the hero perform better when they are not active and may also help make up for a lack of a solid team or the absence of any slots in the talent tree which would normally be filled with the hero's best statistics.
In general trinket upgrades should be prioritized over BiS (Best in Slot) items you won't replace soon. Next, any items that have desirable statistics aren't as significant as the iLevel for the item to be upgraded. item upgrade is especially true if you are looking to upgrade multiple stats on an item. It is more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat instead of two subpar ones.
Jungle players will often upgrade their yellow trinket to a red one prior to the beginning of the game. Top and mid players, on the other hand they will select a green or a pink ward, based on the matchup. These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's ability to control his map.
In addition to the items listed above, players will find other trinkets that form of rewards and trophies throughout the game. These can be obtained through completing certain milestones in the story, for instance completing a chapter's main quest or killing a particular boss. These achievements can be seen by selecting the relevant achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.