Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a frequent and important way to improve the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can also provide additional damage, AD or even affixes.
In most cases, however upgraded Common and Magic gear is beaten out by Rare-grade gear due to their requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They increase the effectiveness of the item they are attached to. item upgrade can be found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged using a professional or higher salvage kit to retrieve upgrades from the items.
The amount of damage a piece of armor or weapon is able to absorb is dependent on the extent of its upgrades. The absorption of damage by an armor piece will increase when it's upgraded to the maximum upgrade level. But, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will increase its weight, causing it to be heavier than before.
There are a few different types of armor upgrades available in the game and each one has distinct effects. For instance, some upgrades will give the armor a certain number of health points while others will make it stronger and lighter. The type of armor upgrade that an item can receive is indicated by the name of the upgrade, as shown in the table below.
A few of the upgrades are also magic or a mix of technology and magic which is shown by an "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Additionally, some upgrades require a charge to use, and are identified by the "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are updated daily or never expire depending on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest option to improve your armor. It can be found by exploring and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, but it can be obtained through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied to high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide a significant improvement in performance and are worth the investment, especially for 1-handed weapons.
Upgrading a piece of armor to its maximum upgrade level will significantly increase its defense capabilities but the wearer must be aware that increasing its weight will dramatically reduce its speed and agility. Therefore, it is typically not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces above +9, since the defensive boost gained is generally not worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades give players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. For item upgrade could enhance the damage caused by the shells of a shotgun or the accuracy of a rifle that snipes. Certain weapons come with special enhancements to enhance their intrinsic capabilities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, minimizes the possibility of overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's velocity to cause more damage) are two examples.
Most upgrades for weapons require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade for applying. They can be obtained by completing side quests or by killing a certain amount of monsters and bosses.
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 upgrades will be lower if you have more than one of the relevant upgrade materials.
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 specific amount of Bars. You could do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level at which point the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this, but the process is high on RNG and low on agency. It is better to purchase gear that has low levels of upgrade but with high base scores and stat distributions. These will then be able to give you the most prestigious benefits and blessings.
Most players will want to make the most of upgrades to weapons they are most likely to use to allow them to progress quicker. Additionally, players should consider upgrading the weapons that are most popular with their squadmates to increase their power and effective. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will make it more useful when paired with experts in biotics like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are placed in the armor's sockets and weapons, increasing the power of a character and bringing about secondary effects. They can be made through an process known as jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gem with several chemicals at a table. The higher the quality of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents can be gotten from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses around the world, or through collecting Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The quality of a gem can be improved upon by the Jeweler, with stages that range from Crude to Royal. Based on the level of the gem it can provide different stat boosts when inserted into weapons, gear and jewelry.
All kinds of jewels can be made at the Jeweler, with the exception of the rare and legendary gems that require you to be at a sufficient level to be able to get them. Like other upgrade components jewels can be swapped by a different identical jewel without destroying the original one. However you can only swap out the jewels in an item of equipment once.
The use of more jewels in a movement can make it feel more comfortable and is typically done to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. The jewels also improve performance and create an outer layer that is more durable than steel, so that the repeated friction caused by pivots does not damage them.
In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades players can also acquire glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These are a small perk and can be swapped freely but aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold, and also a Scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be removed, which returns them to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as aegis and traits, cannot be swapped out, and can only be recovered using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them using the Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can give your character many small, but beneficial, benefits. They can be obtained in the beginning areas as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, and through performing road interactions. They can be purchased from the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinket a player will unlock is the cloak. It provides a tiny but valuable boost in movement speed and evasion. The player can then acquire necklaces, rings, and amulets, in a similar way to how they acquired weapons and armor. Each piece of gear comes with one upgrade slot that can accommodate either a universal or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be utilized on any equipment. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.
These trinkets also grant additional 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 also helps compensate for the lack of a excellent slot in the talent tree or team that are normally filled by the hero's optimal stats.
In general, trinket upgrades should prioritize BiS (Best in Slot) items you won't replace in the near future. Then, you should consider any items that have desirable statistics are less significant than the iLevel for the item that is to be upgraded. This is particularly true if an item has multiple stats that you'd like to upgrade, since it's generally better to upgrade just one important stat than two sub-optimal ones.
In the beginning of the game players who are in the jungle will typically want to upgrade their trinket into a red one, while top and mid players usually choose a green or pink ward (depending on the matchup). These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's ability to control his map.
In addition to the items listed above, players will also find other trinkets that form of trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be earned through completing certain milestones within the story. For example, completing the main quest of a chapter or beating the boss. These can be viewed by selecting the appropriate achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.