Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of many Path of Exile items can be enhanced by upgrading the performance of them. They can also provide additional damage, AD or even affixes.
Rare-grade equipment is often superior to the more modernized Common or Magic gear due to their high demands.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be applied to weapons and armor items. They improve the stats of the item that they're attached to. Upgrades to armor can be found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at bonfires. They can also be salvaged using a professional or higher salvage kits to recover upgrades from the items.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it will absorb. Upgrading a piece of armor to its highest upgrade level will increase its ability to absorb damage. However, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will raise its weight, requiring it to weigh more than it was before.
There are a variety of armor upgrades available in the game. Each has a different impact. Some upgrades give armor a greater amount of health points while others make it more powerful and lighter. The type of armor upgrade that an item can receive will be identified by the name of the upgrade as illustrated in the table below.
item upgrades of the upgrades are also magic or a hybrid of magic and technology, which is identified by the "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Furthermore, some upgrades require a charge to use, and are identified by a "Charges" entry in the table below. upgrade item are either continuously updated or never expire, depending on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest way to upgrade your armor. You can find it by exploring and looting small chests. Titanium is more costly, 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 high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give significant boost to performance and are worth the cost, especially for single-handed weapons.
The process of upgrading an armor piece to its maximum upgrade level will dramatically increase its defense capabilities but the wearer must be aware that increasing its weight will drastically reduce its speed and agility. For this reason, it is not recommended to upgrade most armor pieces that are higher than +9 since the defensive boost gained is typically not worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. For instance an upgrade could increase the damage dealt by the shells of a shotgun or the accuracy of the rifle sniper. Some weapons have special enhancements to enhance their intrinsic characteristics. Frictionless materials (improves stability, and reduces the possibility of overheating), and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's velocity 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. These can be obtained by completing side quests or killing a certain amount of bosses and monsters.
Upgrading a Weapon, Equipment Set piece or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade cost of a certain number of Bars. The more bars you need to complete an upgrade, the higher the level. If you have multiple upgrade materials, the cost of upgrading will be less.
In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade weapon and equipment sets has changed a bit. Previously you could go to an Upgrade Bench and pay for a specific number 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, after which the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this however, the process is high on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're better off going to the stores and buying equipment with low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. These gears have a higher chance of granting you the highest level of benefits and blessings.
Most players will want to prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they most often use to allow them to progress quicker. In addition, players should consider upgrading the weapons that are most popular with their teammates to make them more powerful as well. Shepard, for example should upgrade his M92F 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 can be used to boost a stat or provide secondary effects on weapons and armor. They can be created through a process called jewelry crafting, where you combine a gemstone and a number of specific reagents at a jewelry table. The higher the grade of the gemstone is, the greater its secondary effect. These reagents can be found around the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and occasionally by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
The Jeweler can enhance the quality of gemstones in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. Depending on the tier of the jewel it will give different stat boosts when it is inserted into weapons, gear and jewelry.
All levels of jewels can be made at the Jeweler, with the exception of the rare and legendary gems that require you to be at a high enough level to qualify for them. Like other upgrade components jewels can be swapped out with a jewel of the same type without destroying the original one. You are able to replace the jewel once within an item of equipment.
It is typical to use more jewels to enhance the appearance of. The jewels also improve performance and create a harder surface than metal so that repeated friction caused by pivots does not damage 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 in power and can be swapped, but they are not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs are like jewelry and can be upgraded at the Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components such as aegis or traits cannot be exchanged, and can only be retrieved with an Upgrade extractor or salvaging using Black Lion Salvage Kit, or Ascended Salvage.
Trinkets
Trinkets can provide your hero with various small, but useful benefits. They are available in the start-up area as loot or personal story rewards. They are also available from vendors and by doing road interaction. They may also be crafted by jewelers, and found or purchased from the Trading Post.
The first trinket players will be able to unlock is the cloak. It grants a small, but useful bonus in speed of movement and the ability to evade. After that, they'll be able to purchase amulets, rings and necklaces in the same manner to the way a player can acquire armor and weapons. 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 put into any kind of equipment while jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded and only works with specific types of trinkets.
These trinkets can also grant buffs and skills that are active whenever the hero is not fighting. This lets a hero be more efficient when they are not active. It can also make up for the absence of good slots in the team or talent tree which are usually filled by the hero's optimal stats.
A good guideline for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you aren't planning to replace in the near future, then any items with desirable stats that are less important than the iLevel of the item being upgraded. This is especially true when you're looking to upgrade several statistics on an item. It is best to upgrade just one crucial stat instead of two subpar ones.
Jungle players often upgrade their yellow trinket to a red one at the start of the game. Mid and top players however they will select a green or a pink ward, based on the game's matchup. These choices will have a major impact on the hero's ability to control his map.
In addition to the items mentioned above, players will discover other trinkets in form of rewards and trophies throughout the game. They can be obtained by completing certain milestones in the story. For example, completing a chapter’s main quest or defeating an opponent. You can see them by clicking on the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.