Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of a variety of Path of Exile items can be improved by upgrading the performance of them. They can provide extra damage, AD or even affixes.
Rare-grade equipment can be superior to the more modernized Common or Magic gear due to their high demands.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They increase the effectiveness of the item that they are attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternatively, they can also be rescued from items with upgrade components within them by using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.
The amount of damage a piece of armor or weapon is able to absorb is dependent on the extent of its upgrades. The ability to absorb damage of an armor piece will increase when it's upgraded to its maximum upgrade level. It is important to note that this will increase the weight of the armor, therefore it must be heavier.
There are upgrade item of armor upgrades available in the game, and they all have distinct effects. Some upgrades give armor an extra number of health points, while others make it more powerful and lighter. The name of the armor upgrade will indicate the kind of upgrade an item can be given, as illustrated below.
A few upgrades also feature magical or a combination of magic and technology, which is indicated by an "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Certain upgrades require charges for use. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are either constantly updated or never expire, depending on the upgrade.
The cheapest method of upgrading armor is with Iron Ore, which can be obtained by exploring the area and looting chests of minor loot. Titanium is more expensive but can be found at the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to higher level armor pieces. These upgrades can give a significant boost in stats, and are worth the investment.
The player must be aware, however, that upgrading a piece up to the maximum upgrade level can increase its defense value. However, it can also affect the speed and agility of the piece. It is not recommended to upgrade armor above +9. The added defense generally isn't worth the weight and power expenses of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to increase the effectiveness of specific aspects of an 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 characteristics. Frictionless materials (improves stability, reduces the risk of the possibility of overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's speed to cause more damage) are two examples.
The majority of upgrades to weapons require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade to apply. They can be obtained by doing side quests, or taking out a certain number of monsters or bosses, or from the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.
Upgrades to 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 higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of 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 ways to upgrade your weapon and equipment sets has changed a bit. Previously, you could seek out an Upgrade Bench and pay a certain amount of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to a higher quality. You could continue doing this until you reach a max upgrade level of the equipment or weapon, following which the upgrades would reset.
This is still possible, but it depends heavily on RNG. You should consider buying equipment with low levels of upgrade, but high base scores and stat distributions. These will be able to give you the best tier of benefits and blessings.
The majority of players will prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they use most frequently to allow them to progress faster. Additionally 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 to increase its utility 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. They can be created using the process of jewelry crafting, which is where you combine a gemstone and various chemicals at a table. The higher the tier of the gem has, the more powerful its secondary effect. These reagents are obtained in the world through 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 by the Jeweler, in stages that vary from Crude to Royal. Based on the tier of the jewel it can provide different stat boosts when it is inserted into weapons, gear and jewelry.
All levels of jewels are crafted at the Jeweler however, there are some exceptions to this, such as the rare and legendary jewels which require you to be at a high enough level to qualify for them. Like other upgrade components jewels are able to be swapped with another jewel of the same type without damaging the original one. However, you can only replace a jewel in a piece of equipment only once.
Using more jewels in the movement will make it more smooth and is typically performed for aesthetic reasons. The jewels also improve performance and create a harder surface than metal so that repeated friction from pivots do not cause damage to them.
In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades, the player can also get glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs provide a small boost and can be freely swapped, but they're not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs are like jewelry and can be upgraded at the Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs can also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits and aegis are not swappable, and are only recoverable by using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them with a Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are pieces of equipment that offer many small but useful benefits to your hero. They can be obtained in the areas of starting as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, or by completing road interactions. They can be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinket a player can unlock is the cloak, which grants a small but useful bonus to speed of movement and the ability to escape. After that, they can get amulets, rings, and necklaces in the same fashion to how the player obtains weapons and armor. Each piece of gear comes with one upgrade slot that can accept either a universal or jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades provide smaller bonuses and can be used in any type of equipment, however, jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded and only works with specific types of trinkets.
These trinkets also grant additional buffs and skills that remain active even when the character is not fighting. This lets a hero become more efficient even when not in combat. It also helps compensate for the absence of excellent team or talent tree slots that are normally filled by a hero's top stats.
A good general rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you will not replace soon, followed by any items with desirable stats that are less important than the iLevel of the item being upgraded. This is true especially if you want to upgrade multiple statistics on an item. It's more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat rather than two suboptimal ones.
At the beginning of the game, junglers will usually want to upgrade their trinket into a red one, while top and middle players usually choose a green or pink ward (depending on the matchup). These choices will have an impact on a hero's ability to control the map.
Apart from the things mentioned above, players may also find a number of other trinkets in the game in the form of trophies and awards. These can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story. For example, completing the main quest of a chapter or beating the boss. These achievements can be seen by selecting the relevant achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.