Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a common and essential way to boost the performance of numerous items in Path of Exile. They can be a great source of additional damage, more AD or even more affixes.
Rare-grade equipment is often superior to upgraded Common or Magic gear due to their high demands.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They increase the stats of whatever item they are connected to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of games and are available from Blacksmiths on bonfires. They can also be salvaged using a specialist or higher salvage kit to retrieve upgrade components from other items.
The amount of damage that an armored piece or weapon will absorb is contingent on the level of its upgrades. The ability to absorb damage of an armor piece will increase when it is upgraded to the maximum upgrade level. However, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will increase its weight, which will cause it to be heavier than before.
There are several kinds of armor upgrades available in the game, and they all have distinct effects. For instance, some upgrades will give the armor a certain amount of additional health points, while others make it stronger and lighter. The name of the armor upgrade will tell you the kind of upgrade the item can receive, as shown below.
A few upgrades are magic or a hybrid of technology and magic, which is shown by an "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Furthermore, some upgrades require charges to use, and are identified by an "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are updated daily or never expire based on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest option to improve your armor. It can be found by exploring and looting small treasure chests. Titanium is more expensive, but it can be obtained from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be used on armor pieces of the highest level. These upgrades can give a significant improvements in stats and are well worth the cost.
The player should be aware that upgrading a piece to the max upgrade level will increase its defense value. However, it can also reduce its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor above +9. The boost in defense usually isn't worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to enhance certain aspects of their weapon. For instance, an upgrade may improve the damage that is caused by shotgun shells or the accuracy of the rifle that snipes. Certain weapons also come with enhancements that enhance their intrinsic characteristics. Frictionless materials (improves stability, and reduces the risk of overheating), and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's velocity for greater damage) are two examples.
Most upgrades for weapons require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade. They can be obtained by doing side quests, or taking out a certain number of bosses or monsters, or from the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.
To upgrade the weapon, equipment set piece, or Whetblade, you must visit the NPC [ArmorBoboko. Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee that is a certain amount of bars. The higher the upgrade level, the more bars you will need to complete the upgrade. If you have multiple upgrade materials the cost of upgrading will be less.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your weapon and equipment sets was a bit different. Before, you could seek out an Upgrade Bench and pay for a specific amount of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to an increased level of rarity. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level at which point the upgrades would be reset.
It's possible, but it depends heavily on RNG. You're better off buying gear that has low upgrade levels and high base scores and stat distributions. These gears have a higher chance of granting you the most prestigious tier of benefits and blessings.
Most players will want to prioritize upgrades to the weapons they most often use to make sure they are able to level up faster. In addition players, they should think about upgrading the weapons that are most popular with their teammates to increase their power as well. Shepard, for example, should upgrade the M92F in order to 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 are used in the sockets of armor and weapons, enhancing the power of a character and bringing about secondary effects. They can be created through a process called jewelry crafting, which is where you combine a gem with a number of specific ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the quality of the gem, the greater the secondary effect. These reagents can be gotten from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses around the world, or by finding Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
upgrade item of a diamond can be improved by the Jeweler, in stages that range from Crude to Royal. Based on the level of the gem it can provide different stat boosts when inserted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.
The Jeweler can create the highest levels of gems except for the rare and legendary ones which require a certain level to get. Jewels can be replaced with another jewel without damaging the original. You are able to replace the jewel once within an item of equipment.
The use of more jewels in the movement will make it feel smoother and is usually performed for aesthetic reasons. Jewels also enhance performance and make an outer layer that is more durable than steel so that repeated friction from pivots do not cause damage to them.
In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades players can also get glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs give a slight boost and can be freely exchanged, however they are not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs are upgradeable, like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold and Scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be taken out from the inventory, and they are returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, like aegis and traits, aren't swappable and are only recoverable by using an Upgrade Extractor, or by salvaging them using a Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are a great way to provide your hero with various small, but useful, advantages. They can be acquired starting in the starter areas as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, or by completing road interactions. They can also be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinket players will unlock is the cloak. It grants a small, but useful bonus in movement speed and the ability to escape. The player can then collect necklaces, rings, and amulets, in a similar way similar to how they obtained weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade that can be either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades provide smaller bonuses and can be placed in any type of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed 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 engaged in combat. This allows the hero to be more effective while inactive and also helps fill in the void of a strong team or the absence of any talent tree slots which would normally be filled with the hero's best statistics.
As a general rule trinket upgrades should be prioritized over BiS (Best in Slot) items you won't replace anytime soon. Then, you should consider any items that have desirable statistics aren't as significant as the iLevel for the item to be upgraded. This is especially true if you want to upgrade multiple stats on an item. It's best to upgrade just one crucial stat rather than two suboptimal ones.
At the beginning of the game players who are in the jungle will typically want to upgrade their trinket into a red one, while top and middle players will usually opt for the pink or green ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices will have an impact on the ability of a hero to control the map.
In addition to the items mentioned above, players can also discover a variety of other items in the form of trophies and awards. These can be earned through completing certain milestones in the story, for instance the main quest of a chapter or killing a certain boss. These achievements can be seen by selecting the appropriate achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.