Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a common and important way to improve the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can provide extra damage, AD or even affixes.
In most cases, however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is often surpassed by Rare-grade equipment due to their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They boost the stats of whatever item they are connected to. Armor upgrades can be found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged using an expert or higher salvage kits to retrieve upgrade components from items.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can absorb. A piece of armor upgraded to the highest upgrade level will increase its damage absorption. However, it's important be aware that this upgrade will increase its weight, causing it to be heavier than it was before.
There are several different types of armor upgrade available in the game. Each has a different impact. For example, some upgrades give the armor a certain amount of health points while others will make it stronger and lighter. The name of the upgrade will tell you the kind of upgrade an item can be given, as illustrated below.
Certain upgrades require magic or a hybrid technology and magic, which are identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table below. Some upgrades also require a fee to use, which are shown by the "Charges" entry in the table below. The charges for these upgrades are updated daily or never expire, according to the upgrade.
The cheapest method of upgrading armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be gathered by exploring the area and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, but is readily available 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 significant improvements in stats and are worth the investment, particularly for one-handed weapons.
The player must be aware that upgrading a piece to its maximum upgrade level will increase its defense values. However, it will also decrease its agility and speed. For this reason, it is generally not recommended to upgrade armor pieces above +9, because the increase in defense is usually not worth the extra weight and power cost of the upgrades required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. For example, 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 upgrades that improve their innate capabilities. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and minimizes the risk of overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the velocity of projectiles for greater damage).
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 doing side quests, or killing a certain number of monsters or bosses, or from the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.
The process of upgrading a weapon, equipment Set piece or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade price of a certain number of Bars. The more bars you need to complete an upgrade, the more expensive the upgrade. The cost of upgrading will be less if you have more than one of the relevant upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the way you upgrade your weapon and equipment sets changed a little. Prior to Chapter 2: Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a certain number of Bars. You could do this until you reached a maximum upgrade level for 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. It is better to purchase gear with minimal upgrade levels, but high base scores and stat distributions. These will then have a chance at gaining you the best tier of bonuses and blessings.
To increase their level faster, most players will be more inclined to upgrade their weapons. In addition to these players, they should think about upgrading the weapons that are most popular with their teammates to make them more powerful as well. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to increase its utility when paired with experts in biotics like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to improve a stat or provide secondary effects in armor and weapons. Jewelry crafting is a method for making them, in which you combine a gemstone with a number specific reagents in a jewelry table. The higher the tier 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 equipment. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The Jeweler can boost the quality of the gem in stages that range from Crude up to Royal. Based on the tier of the jewel it will give different stat boosts when inserted into weapons, gear and jewelry.
The Jeweler can create the highest levels of gems with the exception of rare and legendary ones which you must attain certain levels to gain. In contrast to other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped out by a different jewel of the same type without destroying it. You can only replace the gem once in an item of equipment.
Utilizing more jewels in a move can make it feel more comfortable, and is often done for aesthetic reasons. Jewels also enhance performance and create an outer layer that is more durable than steel, so that the repeated friction from pivots does not damage them.
In addition to the above upgrades, the player can also get glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs offer a small boost and can be freely exchanged, however they are 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 are also removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components like traits or aegis cannot be exchanged, and can only be recovered by using an Upgrade extractor or salvaging using a Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are a great way to give your character a variety of small, but useful advantages. They can be acquired starting in the areas of starting as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, and by completing road interactions. item upgrades may also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased at the Trading Post.
The first trinket that a player will be able to unlock is the cloak. It provides a tiny but beneficial boost in speed of movement and evasion. After that, they can purchase amulets, rings and necklaces in a similar fashion to how the player obtains armor and weapons. Each piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be used in any type of equipment, however, jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded, and is only compatible with specific types of trinkets.
These trinkets can provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This allows the hero to perform better when they are not active, and can also help make up for a lack of a strong team or the absence of any slots from the talent tree that normally are filled with hero's ideal stats.
A good general rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you aren't planning to replace soon, followed by any items with desirable stats but less important than the iLevel of the item to be upgraded. This is especially true if you are looking to upgrade multiple statistics on an item. It's best to upgrade just one crucial stat rather than two suboptimal ones.
Jungle players usually upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red trinket at the beginning of the game. Top and mid players however will pick a pink or green ward, depending on the matchup. These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's map control abilities.
Apart from the items listed above, players can also find a number of other trinkets in the game in the form of awards and trophies. These can be earned through completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, completing a chapter’s main quest or beating an opponent. They can be viewed by selecting the appropriate achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.