Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a common and essential way to boost the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can be a great source of damage and more AD or even more attaches.
Sometimes, however upgraded Common and Magic gear is beaten out by Rare-grade equipment due to their requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They increase the effectiveness of the item that they are attached to. Armor upgrades are found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged by using a professional or higher salvage kit to retrieve upgrade components from items.
The amount of damage a piece of armor or weapon will absorb is contingent on the level of its upgrades. A piece of armor upgraded to the highest upgrade level will increase its damage absorption. However, it's important keep in mind that this will raise its weight, requiring it to weigh more than it was before.
There are a variety of armor upgrades that are available in the game. Each has a different impact. For instance, some upgrades will grant the armor a certain number of additional health points, while others make it lighter and stronger. The name of the upgrade will indicate the type of upgrade the item can be given, as illustrated below.
A few upgrades are magic or a mix of technology and magic, which is identified by a "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Some upgrades also require a fee to use, and are identified by an "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are either continuously updated or never expire, depending on the upgrade.
The cheapest method to upgrade armor is by using Iron Ore, which can be obtained through exploring the surroundings and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, however, it is available in the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied to armor pieces that are of high-level. These upgrades can give players a significant improvements in stats and are well worth the investment.
Upgrading a piece of armor to the highest upgrade level will significantly increase its defense capabilities but the wearer must be aware that putting more weight on it will drastically reduce its speed and agility. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The added defense generally isn't worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. For example an upgrade can enhance the damage caused by the shells of a shotgun or the accuracy of the sniper rifle. item upgrade come with enhancements that enhance their intrinsic characteristics. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and reduces the risk of overheating of the weapon) and Kinetic Coils (increases the speed of projectiles to cause more damage).
The majority of upgrades for weapons require a whetblade. It's one of three Power Dices and a different amount Minerals and Erons. These can be obtained by completing side quests or killing a certain amount of monsters and bosses.
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 higher the upgrade level, the more bars required to complete it. The cost of upgrades will be lower if have more than one of the upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the ways to upgrade your equipment and weapon sets changed a little. Prior to Chapter 2: Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a specific amount of Bars. You could continue doing this until you reach a maximum upgrade level for your equipment or weapon, following which the upgrades would be reset.
You can still do this however, the process is high on RNG and low on agency. You should consider buying equipment that has low levels of upgrade, but high base scores and stat distributions. These items have a higher chance of granting you the highest tier benefits and blessings.
To level up faster, most players will prioritize upgrading their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons their squadmates use to make them stronger. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to enhance its effectiveness when paired with biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to improve the stats of a character or to provide additional effects in armor and weapons. They can be created through the process of jewelry crafting, where you combine a gem with several ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the grade of the gem is, the greater its secondary effect. These reagents are available from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses in the world, or through finding Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Prisms and gold.
The Jeweler can enhance the quality of the gem in stages that range from Crude up to Royal. Depending on the tier of the gem it can provide different stat boosts when inserted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.
The Jeweler is able to create all tiers of gems, except for the rare and legendary ones, which you must be at an appropriate level to obtain. In contrast to other upgrade components, jewels are able to be swapped by a different jewel of the same type without damaging the original one. However it is only possible to replace one jewel in an equipment piece only once.
It is normal to use more gems to enhance the appearance of. In addition to improving performance, the diamonds create an outer layer that is more durable than metal, which means that repeated friction with pivots doesn't cause harm as easily.
A Glyphmaster can provide glyphs to enhance the look of your shields and weapons. These glyphs offer a small boost and can be freely exchanged, however they're not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded, as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold, and also Scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be removed, which returns them to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits and aegis aren't swappable and can only be recovered using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them using a Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can provide your hero with many small, but valuable benefits. You can find them in the starting area as loot or personal story rewards. They are also available through vendors and after doing road interaction. They can be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinket a player is able to unlock is the cloak, which gives a small, but valuable boost in speed of movement and evasion. Then, they can purchase amulets, rings and necklaces in the same fashion to how the player obtains armor and weapons. 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 equipment. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced, and can only be used with certain trinkets.
These trinkets provide additional buffs and abilities that are active when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This lets a hero be more efficient while inactive. It also helps compensate for the absence of strong team or talent tree slots that are normally filled by the hero's best stats.
A good 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 that are less important than the iLevel of the item that is being upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats that you'd like to upgrade, as it's often better to upgrade a single important stat than two sub-optimal ones.
Jungle players will often upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red one prior to the beginning of the game. Mid and top players however, will choose a pink or green ward, based on the game's matchup. These choices can affect the ability of a hero to control the map.
In addition to the items mentioned above, players can discover a variety of other items in the form of awards and trophies. They can be obtained by completing certain milestones in the story. For instance, completing a chapter’s main quest or defeating an opponent. item upgrading can be viewed by selecting the relevant achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.