Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of a variety of Path of Exile items can be improved by upgrading the performance of them. They can also provide additional damage, AD or even affixes.
Rare-grade equipment can be superior to upgraded Common or Magic gear due to their higher requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a kind of upgrade that can be applied to weapons and armor items. They increase the effectiveness of the item that they are attached to. Upgrades to armor are available in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternately, they can be salvaged from items with upgrade components within them by with a professional or higher salvage kit.
The amount of damage that an armored item or weapon can absorb depends on the level of its upgrades. A piece of armor upgraded to the highest upgrade level will increase its ability to absorb damage. It's important to remember that this will increase the weight of the armor, therefore it must be more heavy.
There are several types of armor upgrades available in the game and they all have distinct effects. For example, some upgrades give the armor a certain number of health points while others make it lighter and stronger. The type of armor upgrade that an item can receive is indicated by the name of the upgrade, as shown in the table below.
Some of the upgrades also require magic or a hybrid technology and magic, as indicated by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table below. Certain upgrades require charges to use. They are referred to as "Charges" entries in the table. upgrade item associated with these upgrades change daily or never expire according to the upgrade.
The cheapest method to upgrade armor is by using Iron Ore, which can be found by exploring the area and looting chests of minor loot. Titanium is more expensive, however, it is available through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to higher level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant improvements in stats and are worth the investment, especially for 1-handed weapons.
The player must be aware, however, that upgrading a piece up to the maximum upgrade level can boost its defense. However, it can also affect its agility and speed. This is why it is typically not recommended to upgrade most armor pieces beyond +9, since the added defense is generally not worth the extra weight and power cost of the improvements required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades let players increase the effectiveness of certain aspects of an weapon. Upgrades can improve the accuracy of a rifle or the damage that shotgun shells cause. Certain firearms have upgrades that enhance their inherent capabilities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, and reduces the risk of overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's velocity for greater damage) are two examples.
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. These can be obtained by completing Side Quests, taking out a certain number of bosses or monsters, or through the Weapon Upgrade NPC in Central Flarine.
To upgrade a weapon, equipment set piece, or Whetblade, you must visit the NPC [ArmorBoboko. Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a specific amount of bars. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of bars you will need to complete the upgrade. The cost of upgrades will be lower if you have more than one of the upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your equipment and weapon sets was a bit different. Before you could go to an Upgrade Bench and pay for a specific number of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to an increased rarity. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would be reset.
You can still do this but the process is high on RNG and low on agency. You're better off buying gear with minimal upgrade levels but with high base scores and stat distributions. They will also be able to give you the highest tier benefits and blessings.
To level up faster, many players prioritise upgrading their weapons. In addition players, they should think about upgrading the weapons favored by their teammates to make them more powerful as well. Shepard, for example should upgrade his M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more useful when used in conjunction with biotic specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are placed in the sockets of armor and weapons, increasing the power of a character and bringing about secondary effects. Jewelry crafting is the process of creating them. You combine the gemstone with specific reagents on a jewelry table. The higher the grade of the jewel, the better its secondary effect. These reagents are obtained in the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and occasionally by salvaging Legendary equipment. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
The quality of a diamond can be improved by the Jeweler, in stages that range from Crude to Royal. Depending on the tier of the gem, it will provide a different stat boost when slotted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.
All tiers of jewels are crafted at the Jeweler and Jeweler's Workshop, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a certain level to qualify for these. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels are able to be swapped with a jewel of the same kind without damaging the original one. However it is only possible to replace one jewel in a piece of equipment once.
It is typical to use more gems for aesthetic reasons. Jewels also enhance performance and make a harder surface than steel so that repeated friction from pivots does not cause damage to them.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the appearance of your weapons and shields. They offer a small benefit and can be swapped out at any time but aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs are like jewelry and can be upgraded at the Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs are also removed from the inventory, and they are returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components such as aegis or traits cannot be swapped, and can only be found through an upgrade extractor, or salvaging with Black Lion Salvage Kit, or Ascended Salvage.
Trinkets
Trinkets can be used to give your character a variety of small, but beneficial, advantages. You can find them in the start-up area as rewards for personal stories or loot. They can also be obtained through vendors and after doing road interaction. They may also be crafted by jewelers, and found or purchased from the Trading Post.
The first trinket a player unlocks will be the cloak. It grants an unimportant but beneficial boost in speed of movement and the ability to escape. The player can then collect necklaces, amulets, and rings, in a similar way similar to how they obtained weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade that can be 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 can provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active when the hero isn't fighting. This allows the hero to be more efficient when they are not active. It also helps compensate for the absence of good team or talent tree slots that are normally filled by a hero's top stats.
In general trinket upgrades should be prioritized over BiS (Best in Slot) items that you aren't likely to replace in the near future. Then, you should consider any items with desirable stats that aren't as important as the iLevel of the item that is to be upgraded. This is especially true when an item has multiple stats that you'd like to upgrade since it's generally better to upgrade just one important stat rather than two sub-optimal ones.
At the beginning of the game, players who are in the jungle will typically want to upgrade their trinket to a red in the middle and top players typically choose either a pink or green ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices will have an impact on a hero's ability to control the map.
In addition to the items listed above, players will find other trinkets in the form trophies and rewards throughout the game. They can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story, like completing a chapter's main quest or killing a certain boss. These achievements can be seen by selecting the relevant achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.