Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a common and crucial method to enhance the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can be a fantastic source of damage or more AD or even more affixes.
Rare-grade equipment is usually superior to the more modernized Common or Magic gear due to their higher requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They improve the stats of whatever item they are attached to. Armor upgrades are found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternately, they can be salvaged from items that have upgrade components in 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 is able to take on. The upgrade of an armor piece to the highest upgrade level will increase its damage absorption. However, it's important keep in mind that this will increase its weight, causing it to weigh more than before.
There are many different kinds of armor upgrades that are available in the game. Each one has a distinct effect. For instance, some upgrades will give the armor a certain number of additional health points, while others will make it stronger and lighter. The kind of armor upgrade an item can get is indicated by the name of the upgrade, as indicated in the table below.
Certain upgrades require magic or a hybrid technology and magic, as indicated by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Certain upgrades require charges to use. item upgrader are identified as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are either updated daily or never expire, depending on the upgrade.
The cheapest method of upgrading armor is with Iron Ore, which can be gathered through exploring the surroundings and looting minor loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, but is readily available at the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be used on armor pieces of the highest level. These upgrades can give significant improvements in stats and are a worthwhile investment, particularly for one-handed weapons.
A piece of armor upgraded to its maximum upgrade level will greatly increase its defense values however, the user must be aware that putting more weight on it will drastically reduce its speed and agility. upgrade item is why it is generally not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces that are higher than +9 since the added defense is generally not worth the extra weight and power costs of the upgrades required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades let players increase the effectiveness of specific aspects of an weapon. For example an upgrade can increase the damage dealt by a shotgun's shells or the accuracy of a rifle sniper. Some weapons also have special enhancements that enhance their intrinsic capabilities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, minimizes the risk of overheating), and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's acceleration for greater damage) are two examples.
The majority of upgrades for weapons require a whetblade. It's one of three Power Dices and a different amount of Minerals and Erons. They can be gained by completing Side Quests or killing a certain amount of monsters and bosses.
Upgrades to a weapon, equipment Set piece or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade cost that is based on a specific number of Bars. The more bars required to complete an upgrade the higher the level. If you have multiple upgrade materials the cost of upgrading will be lower.
In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade weapon and equipment sets has changed. In the past, you could seek out an Upgrade Bench and pay a certain amount of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to an increased rarity. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level and at that point, the upgrades would be reset.
This is still possible, but it is dependent heavily on RNG. Instead, item upgrade off going to the stores and purchasing equipment with low upgrade levels but excellent base scores and stat distributions. These gears have a greater 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 allow them to progress quicker. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their teammates utilize to increase their power. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to enhance its effectiveness when paired with biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are placed in the sockets of armor and weapons, increasing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. They can be created using an process known as jewelry crafting, which is where you combine a gemstone and several reagents at a jewelry table. The higher the grade of the gem, the better its secondary effect. These reagents can be found around the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and sometimes by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The quality of a gem can be improved at the Jeweler in stages that vary from Crude to Royal. The boosts to stats will differ depending on the tier the jewel is in when it's slotted into jewelry, weapons, or other gear.
The Jeweler can create all tiers of gems, apart from the rare and legendary ones that you must be at certain levels to gain. In contrast to other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped out with another jewel of the same type without damaging the original one. However, you can only replace the jewels in a piece of equipment once.
It is common to use more jewelry for aesthetic reasons. The jewels can also enhance performance and make a surface harder than metal so that repeated friction caused by pivots does not cause damage to the movement.
A Glyphmaster can provide glyphs that can enhance the look of your weapons and shields. These are a small perk and can be swapped out at any time but aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs are like jewelry and can be upgraded by the Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components such as traits or aegis can't be exchanged and can only be found through an upgrade extractor, or salvaging with the Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can provide your hero with various small, but beneficial, advantages. They are available in the starter area as rewards for personal stories or loot. They can also be obtained through vendors and after the completion of road interactions. They can also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased at the Trading Post.
The first trinket a player unlocks will be the cloak, which gives a small, but valuable boost to movement speed and evasion. After that, they can purchase amulets, rings and necklaces in a similar manner to the way a player can acquire weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment has one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal upgrade or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades offer fewer benefits and can be placed in any type of equipment while jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded and is only compatible with certain kinds of trinkets.
These trinkets also provide additional buffs and skills that are active when the hero is not fighting. This allows the hero to perform better when they are not active and also helps fill in the void of a solid team or any talent tree slots that normally are filled with the hero's best stats.
As a rule trinket upgrades should be a priority BiS (Best in Slot) items you won't replace soon. Also, consider items with desirable statistics that aren't as significant as the iLevel for the item that is to be upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats that you'd like to upgrade as it's usually more beneficial to upgrade one crucial stat than two subpar ones.
At the beginning of the game junglers will usually want to upgrade their trinket to a red in the middle and top players usually choose a green or pink ward (depending on the matchup). These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's abilities to control maps.
Aside from the items listed above, players can also find other trinkets throughout the game in the form of awards and trophies. These can be obtained by completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, finishing a chapter’s main quest or defeating an opponent. You can view them by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.