Path of Exile Item Upgrades

Item upgrades are a common and important way to improve the performance of numerous items in Path of Exile. They can also provide additional damage, AD or even affixes.

Rare-grade equipment is usually superior to the more modernized Common or Magic equipment due to their high demands.

Armor

Armor upgrades are a form of upgrade item that can be used on armor and weapon items. They boost the performance of the item upgrader kit they are attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of the game and are available from Blacksmiths on bonfires. They can also be salvaged using an expert or higher salvage kit to salvage upgrade components from other items.

The amount of damage an armored item or weapon is able to absorb is dependent on the degree of upgrades. A piece of armor upgraded to maximum upgrade level will increase its ability to absorb damage. But, it's important to keep in mind that this will raise its weight, requiring it to weigh more than it was before.

There are several different types of armor upgrades that are available in the game. Each has a different effect. Certain upgrades grant armor a greater number of health points, while others make it more powerful and lighter. The kind of armor upgrade an item will receive is indicated by the name of the upgrade, as illustrated in the table below.

Some of the upgrades are also magic or a hybrid of technology and magic, which is indicated by an "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Some upgrades also require charges for use. These are identified as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges associated with these upgrades change daily or never expire, according to the upgrade.

The cheapest method of upgrading armor is with Iron Ore, which can be obtained by exploring the environment and looting minor loot chests. Titanium is more expensive however it is obtainable from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to higher level armor pieces. These upgrades can give a significant improvements in stats and are well worth the investment.

The process of upgrading an armor piece to max upgrade level will greatly increase its defense capabilities, but the player should be aware that increasing its weight will drastically reduce its speed and agility. It is not recommended to upgrade armor above +9. The added defense usually isn't worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades give players to enhance certain aspects of their weapon. For instance an upgrade can enhance the damage caused by a shotgun's shells or the accuracy of a rifle that snipes. Certain weapons also come with upgrades that enhance their inherent capabilities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, and reduces weapon overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's velocity to cause more damage) are two examples.

The majority of upgrades for weapons require the use of a whetblade, or one of the three Power Dices and a different amount of Minerals and Erons. They can be obtained by completing Side Quests or by killing a certain number of bosses and monsters.

Upgrades to 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 more bars needed to complete an upgrade, the more expensive the upgrade. If you have multiple upgrade materials The cost of upgrading will be less.

In Chapter 2: Season 5, the ways to upgrade your weapon and equipment sets has changed a bit. Prior to Chapter 2: Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a specific number of Bars. You could do this until you reached a maximum upgrade level for the weapon or equipment, after which the upgrades would reset.

It's possible, but it is dependent heavily on RNG. Instead, you're better off visiting stores and purchasing equipment that has low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. They will also have a better chance of bringing you the highest tier bonuses and blessings.

The majority of players will prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they use most frequently to make sure they are able to level up quicker. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their teammates utilize to increase their power. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will enhance its effectiveness when accompanied by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels can be used to increase the effectiveness of a skill or provide additional effects in weapons and armor. They can be made through an process known as jewelry crafting, which is where you combine a gem and a number of specific reagents at a jewelry table. The higher the level of the gemstone, the better its secondary effect. These reagents can be gotten from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses in the world, or by finding Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.

The Jeweler can enhance the quality of a gem in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. The stat boosts can vary depending on the level the jewel is in when it is inserted into weapons, jewelry, or gear.

The Jeweler can create all kinds of gems, except for the rare and legendary ones which you must be at a certain level to get. Jewels can be replaced by another jewel without destroying the original. However, you can only replace the jewels in a piece of equipment only once.

It is typical to use more jewelry for aesthetic reasons. Jewels also enhance performance and make a surface harder than steel so that repeated friction caused by pivots does not damage them.

A Glyphmaster can provide glyphs to enhance the appearance of your weapons and shields. These glyphs provide a small boost and can be exchanged, however they're not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs are upgradeable, like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold, and also scattered Crystal. Glyphs are also removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits and aegis are not swappable, and are only recoverable by using an Upgrade Extractor, or by salvaging them using a Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage Tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets can provide your hero with a variety of small, but beneficial, advantages. They can be acquired starting in the areas of starting as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, or by doing road interactions. They may also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased from the Trading Post.

The first trinket players will be able to unlock is the cloak. It gives a small but valuable boost in speed of movement and evasion. The player can then acquire rings, amulets and necklaces in a similar fashion as they did with weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with an upgrade slot which can be universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be placed in any kind of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded and only works with specific types of trinkets.

These trinkets can also grant buffs and skills that are active even when the character is not fighting. This allows the hero to be more effective when not active, and can also help make up for a lack of a solid team or any slots in the talent tree which would normally be filled with the hero's best statistics.

A good guideline for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best item upgrader-in-Slot) items that you won't be replacing soon, followed by any items with desirable stats but less important than the iLevel of the item that is being upgraded. This is particularly true if an item upgrader mod has multiple stats that you'd like to upgrade, as it's often more beneficial to upgrade one important stat rather than two sub-optimal ones.

At the beginning of the game, players in the jungle are likely to upgrade their trinket into a red one, while top and middle players will usually opt for either a 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.

In addition to the items mentioned above, players can also find other trinkets in the form of trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be obtained through completing certain milestones within the story. For example, completing a chapter’s main quest or defeating an opponent. You can check them out by selecting the achievement from the reward section of the hero's menu.