Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a frequent and important way to improve the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can be a good source of damage, more AD or even more attaches.
In most cases, however upgraded Common and Magic gear is beaten out by Rare-grade gear because of their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They increase the effectiveness of the item that they are attached to. Armor upgrades are found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged by using a specialist or higher salvage kit to retrieve upgrades from the items.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it is able to absorb. Upgrading a piece of armor to its highest upgrade level will boost the damage it absorbs. However, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will increase its weight, which will cause it to be heavier than it was before.
There are several different types of armor upgrades available in the game. Each one has a distinct impact. Certain upgrades give armor an extra amount of health points while others make it more powerful and lighter. The name of the armor upgrade will indicate the kind of upgrade an item can receive, as shown below.
A few upgrades also feature magic or a mix of technology and magic which is shown by the "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Furthermore, some upgrades require a fee to use, and are shown by an "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are constantly updated or never expire, depending on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest option to upgrade your armor. You can find it by exploring and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more costly, but is readily available in the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant improvements in stats and are a worthwhile investment, especially for 1-handed weapons.
The player must be aware, however, that upgrading a piece to its maximum upgrade level can increase its defense value. However, it can also decrease its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The defensive boost gained usually isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of specific aspects of the weapon. Upgrades can boost the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage that shotgun shells do. Certain weapons come with special upgrades to improve their inherent capabilities. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of overheating of the weapon) and Kinetic Coils (increases the velocity of projectiles for greater damage).
The majority of weapon upgrades require the use of a whetblade, or one of the 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.
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 that is based on a specific number of Bars. The more bars needed to complete an upgrade the more advanced the level. The cost of the upgrades will be lower if have more than one of the upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade your 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 equipment or weapon to an increased level of rarity. You could do this until you reached a maximum upgrade level for your equipment or weapon, following which the upgrades would be reset.
You can still do this but the process is based on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're much better off visiting stores and buying equipment with low upgrade levels but excellent base scores and stat distributions. They will also be able to give you the best tier of bonuses and blessings.
The majority of players will prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they use most frequently to allow them to progress faster. Players should also upgrade the weapons their squadmates use to boost their strength. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to make it more useful when accompanied by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are utilized in the armor's sockets and weapons, enhancing a stat and providing secondary effects. They can be created through a process called jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gem with a number of specific chemicals at a table. The higher the quality of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents are available from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses all over the world, or through collecting Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The quality of a jewel can be improved 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 it is inserted into gear, weapons and jewelry.
The Jeweler is able to 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 with another jewel of the same kind without destroying it. However you can only swap out the jewels in an item of equipment only once.
Using more jewels in a movement will make it feel smoother and is typically used for aesthetic reasons. Apart from improving performance, the jewels also create an outer layer that is more durable than metal, which means that repeated friction from pivots doesn't cause damage as easily.
In addition to the upgrades mentioned above additionally, players can obtain glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs offer a small boost in power and can be exchanged, however they are not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs are like jewelry and can be upgraded at 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 and aegis are not swappable, and can only be recovered using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them with a Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can provide your hero with a variety of small, but useful, advantages. They can be obtained in the beginning areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, and by completing road interactions. They can also be made by jewelers, and found or purchased on the Trading Post.
The first trinkets that a player is able to unlock is the cloak, which grants an unimportant but beneficial boost in speed of movement and evasion. After that, they'll be able to acquire rings, amulets, and necklaces in a similar manner to the way a player can acquire weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with 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 also provide additional buffs and skills that are active when the hero is not in combat. This lets the hero be more effective when not active, and can also help fill in the void of a solid team or any slots in the talent tree that normally are filled with the hero's ideal statistics.
In general trinket upgrades should be prioritized over BiS (Best in Slot) items that you aren't likely to replace anytime soon. Also, consider items with desirable stats that are less significant than the iLevel for the item that is to be upgraded. item upgrades is especially true when you're looking to upgrade several stats on an item. It is more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat than two less important ones.
Jungle players will often upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red one prior to the beginning of the game. Top and mid players on the other hand will pick a pink or green ward, depending on the game's matchup. These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's abilities to control maps.
In addition to the items listed above, players will find other trinkets that form of rewards and trophies throughout the game. These can be obtained by completing certain milestones in the story. For instance, completing a chapter’s main quest or beating the boss. You can view them by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.