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 be a good source of damage or more AD or even more affixes.
Sometimes, however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is beaten out by Rare-grade gear because of their higher requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They improve the performance of the item they are 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 specialist or higher salvage kits to salvage upgrades from the items.
The amount of damage an armored item or weapon can absorb depends on the level of its upgrades. Upgrading a piece of armor to its highest upgrade level will increase its damage absorption. However, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will increase its weight, which will cause it to weigh more than it was before.
There are many different kinds of armor upgrade available in the game. Each has a different effect. Some upgrades give armor an additional number of health points, while others make it stronger and lighter. The name of the upgrade will indicate the kind of upgrade that an item will be given, as illustrated below.
Certain upgrades require magic or a hybrid technology and magic, as identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Certain upgrades also require fees for use. These are identified as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are updated daily or never expire based on the upgrade.
The cheapest method to upgrade armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be obtained by exploring the environment and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, however, it is available at the smelters of 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 provide significant improvement in stats and are a worthwhile investment, especially for 1-handed weapons.
The process of upgrading an armor piece to max upgrade level will dramatically boost its defense however, the user must be aware that increasing its weight will drastically reduce its speed and agility. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The added defense typically isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades give players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. For instance, an upgrade may increase the damage dealt by shotgun shells or the accuracy of a sniper rifle. Certain firearms have enhancements to enhance their intrinsic qualities. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of weapon overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the speed of projectiles to cause more damage).
Most upgrades for weapons require three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade to apply. They can be obtained by completing side quests or by killing a certain number of bosses and monsters.
To upgrade an equipment set, weapon piece or Whetblade you need to visit the NPC [ArmorBoboko. Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a specific 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 your weapon and sets has changed. Prior to Chapter 2: Season 5 you could upgrade your weapon or equipment by paying a certain amount of Bars. You could do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would be reset.
It's possible, but it is dependent heavily on RNG. Instead, you're much better off visiting stores and buying equipment with low upgrade levels, but good base scores and stat distributions. They will also have a better chance of bringing you the best tier of perks and blessings.
To increase their level faster, many players prioritise upgrading their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their squadmates utilize to increase their power. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to increase its utility when accompanied by biotech specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to boost a stat or provide secondary effects in armor and weapons. They can be created using the process of jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gem with several ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the level of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents can be found around the world from Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and sometimes by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Prisms and gold.
The quality of a gem can be improved at the Jeweler, with stages that range from Crude to Royal. The stat boosts can vary depending on the tier the jewel is in when it's slotted into jewelry, weapons, or other gear.
The Jeweler is able to create the highest levels of gems except for the rare and legendary ones which you must attain certain levels to gain. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped with another identical jewel without damaging it. However it is only possible to replace one jewel in an item of equipment only once.
It is normal to use more jewelry for aesthetic reasons. In addition to improving performance, the diamonds create a surface that is harder than metal, so repeated friction from pivots doesn't cause harm as easily.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the appearance of your shields and weapons. These glyphs give a slight boost and can be freely swapped, but they're not guaranteed to be available as loot. Glyphs, just like jewelry, can be upgraded by the Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs can also be taken out from the inventory, and they are returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components such as aegis or traits cannot be exchanged, and can only be retrieved through an upgrade extractor or salvaging with Black Lion Salvage Kit, or Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can provide your hero with various small, but useful, benefits. They are available in the start-up area as loot or as personal story rewards. They can also be obtained through vendors and after doing road interaction. They may also be crafted by jewelers, and then found or purchased at the Trading Post.
The first trinket a player can unlock is the cloak. It grants a small, but valuable boost in speed of movement and evasion. The player can then collect necklaces, rings, and amulets, in a similar way to how they acquired weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades are smaller and are able to be used on any device. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced and only work with certain trinkets.
These trinkets grant additional buffs and abilities that are active when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This allows a hero to become more efficient even when not in combat. It also helps compensate for the lack of a excellent slot in the talent tree or team which would normally be filled by the hero's optimal stats.
upgrade item for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you will not replace in the near future, then any items with desirable stats, but less important than the iLevel of the item being upgraded. This is particularly true if an item has multiple stats that you'd like to upgrade as it's usually more beneficial to upgrade one important stat rather than two sub-optimal ones.
At the beginning of the game, players who are in the jungle will typically want to upgrade their trinket to a red, while top and middle players will usually opt for the pink or green ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices will have a major impact on the hero's ability to control his map.
Aside from the items mentioned above, players can discover a variety of other items in the form of trophies and awards. They can be obtained by completing certain milestones in the story. For example, completing the main quest of a chapter or defeating the boss. They can be viewed by selecting the relevant achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.