Path of Exile Item Upgrades

Item upgrades are a common and essential way to boost the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can be a great source of additional damage and more AD or even more attachments.

Sometimes, however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is outclassed by Rare-grade equipment due to their higher requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They improve the stats of the item that they're 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 a specialist or higher salvage kits to recover upgrades from the items.

The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it is able to absorb. The upgrade of an armor piece to the highest upgrade level will boost its damage absorption. It is important to note that this will increase the weight of the armor, which means it must be heavier.

There are a few different types of armor upgrades available in the game and each one has distinct effects. Certain upgrades give armor a greater number of health points, while others make it more powerful and lighter. The name of the upgrade will tell you the kind of upgrade the item level upgrade can receive, as shown below.

Certain upgrades require magic or a hybrid technology and magic, which are indicated by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Additionally, some upgrades require a fee to use, which are identified by a "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 gathered by exploring the area and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive but it can be obtained from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain 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 worth the investment.

The player should be aware that upgrading a piece to the maximum upgrade level will increase its defense values. However, it will also decrease its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor above +9. The boost in defense generally isn't worth the weight and power expenses of the upgrades.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can increase the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage caused by shotgun shells. Some weapons have special upgrades to improve their inherent qualities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, minimizes weapon overheating), and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's acceleration for greater damage) are two examples.

The majority of upgrades for weapons require a whetblade, one of 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 monsters and bosses.

To upgrade a weapon, equipment set piece or Whetblade you need to visit the NPC [Armor] Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a certain amount of bars. The more bars you need to complete an upgrade, the higher the level. 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 has changed a bit. Prior to Chapter 2 Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon or equipment by paying a certain amount of Bars. You could do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level at which point the upgrades would be reset.

It's still possible, but it depends heavily on RNG. You should consider buying equipment that has minimal upgrade items levels but with high base scores and stat distributions. These will then be able to give you the most prestigious bonuses and blessings.

The majority of players will prioritize upgrades to the weapons they most often use to help them level up quicker. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their squadmates utilize to increase their power. 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 increase a stat or provide secondary effects in weapons and armor. They can be created through an process known as jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gemstone and several chemicals at a table. The higher the level of the gem, the greater the secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained around the world from Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and, sometimes, by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.

The Jeweler can boost the quality of the gem in stages that range from Crude up to Royal. The stat boosts will vary according to the tier that the jewel is in when it is inserted into jewelry, weapons, or other gear.

All kinds of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler however, there are some exceptions to this, such as the rare and legendary gems that require you to be at a certain level to be able to get these. Jewels can be substituted with another jewel without damaging the original. You can only replace the gem only once in a piece of equipment.

Using more jewels in a move will make it more smooth and is usually done to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. The jewels can also enhance performance and create a harder surface than metal so that repeated friction from pivots does not cause damage to the movement.

A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the look of your shields and weapons. These glyphs give a slight boost in power and can be traded, but they're not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs, like jewelry, can be upgraded at the Jeweler to exchange gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs are also removed, which returns them to the inventory. Other upgrade components, like traits and aegis cannot be swapped out, and can only be recovered using an Upgrade Extractor, or by salvaging them using Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets are items of equipment that bestow a wide range of small but useful advantages to your hero. They can be acquired starting in the starter areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, or by performing road interactions. They can also be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.

The first trinkets that a player is able to unlock is the cloak. It grants a small, but valuable boost to movement speed and evasion. After that, they'll be able to get amulets, rings, and necklaces in a similar manner to the way a player obtains armor and weapons. Each 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 also grant additional buffs and skills that remain active whenever the hero is not in combat. This lets the hero be more effective when not active and may also help to compensate for the absence of a strong team or any talent tree slots that normally are filled with the hero's ideal statistics.

A good guideline for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you aren't planning to replace in the near future, then 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 upgrading upgrade [look at here] has multiple stats that you wish to upgrade, as it's usually better to upgrade a single crucial stat than two subpar ones.

Jungle players usually upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red one at the beginning of the game. Mid and top players, on the other hand, will choose a green or a pink ward, depending on the matchup. These choices can impact the hero's ability to manage the map.

In addition to the items mentioned above, players can also find a number of other trinkets in the game in the form of trophies and awards. These can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, completing the main quest for a chapter or beating a boss. These achievements can be seen by selecting the relevant achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.