Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of many Path of Exile items can be improved by upgrading the performance of them. They can cause additional damage, AD or even affixes.
Rare-grade equipment is often superior to modernized Common or Magic gear because of their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They improve the stats of the item that they are connected to. Armor upgrades can be found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Additionally, they can be rescued from items with upgrade components in them using an expert or greater salvage kit.
upgrade item 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 maximum upgrade level will boost its damage absorption. However, it's important be aware that this upgrade will increase its weight, which will cause it to be heavier than before.
There are many different kinds of armor upgrades that are available in the game. Each one has a distinct effect. Certain upgrades grant armor an extra amount of health points while others make it more powerful and lighter. The name of the upgrade will tell you the kind of upgrade an item can receive, as shown below.
Some of the upgrades also require magic or a hybrid technology and magic, as identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Some upgrades also require charges to use, and are indicated by an "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are continuously updated or never expire based on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest way to improve your armor. It can be found by exploring and looting small chests. Titanium is more expensive, however it is obtainable from smelters located 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 provide a significant boost to stats and are a worthwhile investment, particularly for one-handed weapons.
The process of upgrading an armor piece to max upgrade level will significantly boost its defense but the wearer must be aware that increasing its weight can drastically decrease its speed and agility. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The added defense usually isn't worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades let players increase the effectiveness of certain aspects of an weapon. Upgrades can increase the accuracy of a rifle or the damage caused by shotgun shells. Certain weapons also come with upgrades that improve their innate qualities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, minimizes the possibility of overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's speed to cause more damage) are two examples.
Most upgrades for weapons require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade for applying. These can be obtained by completing Side Quests or by killing a certain amount of bosses and monsters.
To upgrade a weapon, equipment set piece or Whetblade you need to visit the NPC [ArmorBoboko. Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee that is a certain number of Bars. The more bars you need to complete an upgrade, the more expensive the upgrade. The cost of the upgrades will be less 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. 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 the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level and at that point, the upgrades would be reset.
It's possible, but it is dependent heavily on RNG. Instead, you're much better off going to stores and purchasing equipment with low upgrade levels, but excellent base scores and stat distributions. They will also be able to give you the highest tier benefits and blessings.
Most players will want to make the most of upgrades to weapons they most often use to allow them to progress quicker. In addition players, they should also consider upgrading the weapons they use with their squadmates to make them more powerful and effective. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to enhance its effectiveness when accompanied by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are placed in the armor's sockets and weapons, increasing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. Jewelry crafting is a method of creating them. You combine the gemstone with specific reagents on a jewelry table. The higher the grade of the jewel the better 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 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 jewel it can provide different stat boosts when it is inserted into gear, weapons and jewelry.
All levels of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a high enough level to obtain them. Like other upgrade components jewels are able to be swapped by a different identical jewel without destroying it. You can only replace the jewel only once in a piece of equipment.
Utilizing more jewels in the movement will make it more smooth and is typically done to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. In addition to improving performance, the diamonds create a surface that is harder than metal, which means that repeated friction from pivots won't damage them as easily.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the appearance of your shields and weapons. These are a small perk and can be swapped freely 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 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 the Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are pieces of equipment that bestow many small but useful benefits to your hero. They can be obtained in the beginning areas as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, and by performing road interactions. They can be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinkets a player can unlock is the cloak, which gives an unimportant but beneficial boost to movement speed and the ability to escape. The player can then acquire necklaces, rings, and amulets in a similar fashion as they did with weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment has one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal or jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades provide smaller bonuses and can be used in any kind of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded, and is only compatible with certain kinds of trinkets.
These trinkets provide additional buffs and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This allows the hero to perform better when they are not active and may also help make up for a lack of a strong team or the absence of any slots from the talent tree that normally are filled with the hero's ideal stats.
As a general rule trinket upgrades should be a priority BiS (Best in Slot) items you won't replace soon. Then, you should consider any items with desirable statistics that aren't as significant as the iLevel for the item to be upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats that you'd like to upgrade as it's usually better to upgrade a single important stat than two sub-optimal 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 pick either 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 will also find other trinkets in the form of trophies and rewards throughout the game. They can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story, like finishing a chapter's main quest or killing a particular boss. You can view them by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.