Guide To Item Upgrades: The Intermediate Guide In Item Upgrades

Path of Exile item upgrading Upgrades

Item upgrades are a common and crucial method to enhance the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can be a great source of additional damage, more AD or even more affixes.

Often times however upgraded Common and Magic gear is beaten out by Rare-grade gear due to their higher 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. Alternately, they can be salvaged from items with upgrade components inside them, using an expert or greater salvage kit.

The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can absorb. The absorption of damage by an item upgrade of armor will increase when it is upgraded to its maximum upgrade level. It is important to note that this will increase the weight of the armor, therefore it must be more heavy.

There are many different kinds of armor upgrades available in the game. Each one has a distinct effect. For example, some upgrades will give the armor a certain amount of health points while others will make it stronger and lighter. The type of armor upgrade that an item upgrade will receive will be indicated by the name of the upgrade, as illustrated in the table below.

A few upgrades are magical or a combination of magic and technology, which is shown by the "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Additionally, some upgrades require charges to use, which are identified by a "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are constantly updated or never expire depending on the upgrade items.

The cheapest method to upgrade armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be found by exploring the environment and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive but is readily available at the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant boost in stats, and are definitely worth the investment.

The process of upgrading an armor piece to the highest upgrade level will greatly increase its defense values however, the user must be aware that increasing its weight will dramatically reduce its speed and agility. It is not recommended to upgrade armor beyond +9. The boost in 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. Upgrades can increase the accuracy of a rifle or the damage that shotgun shells cause. Some weapons also have special upgrades that enhance their inherent characteristics. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of overheating of the weapon) and Kinetic Coils (increases the velocity of projectiles for greater damage).

The majority of upgrades to weapons require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade. These can be obtained by completing Side Quests, killing a certain amount of monsters or bosses, or by contacting the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.

To upgrade an equipment set, weapon piece, or Whetblade You must go to the NPC [Armor] Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a specific amount of Bars. The more bars you need to complete an upgrade the more advanced the level. If you have multiple upgrade materials The cost of upgrading will be less.

In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your equipment and weapon sets changed a little. Prior to Chapter 2 Season 5 you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a certain number of Bars. You could continue doing this until you reach a maximum upgrade level for your equipment or weapon, after which the upgrades would reset.

It's still possible, but it depends heavily on RNG. Instead, you're much better off visiting stores and buying equipment that has low upgrade levels but excellent base scores and stat distributions. These will have a better chance of bringing you the highest tier benefits and blessings.

To level up faster, many players prioritize upgrading their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their squadmates use to boost their strength. 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 are placed in the sockets of armor and weapons, increasing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. They can be created using a process called jewelry crafting, which is where you combine a gemstone and several reagents at a jewelry table. The higher the level of the gemstone, the better the secondary effect. These reagents are obtained in the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and sometimes by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.

The quality of a jewel can be improved upon by the Jeweler, in stages that vary from Crude to Royal. The stat boosts can vary depending on the level the jewel is at when it's slotted into jewelry, weapons or gear.

The Jeweler can craft the highest levels of gems with the exception of rare and legendary ones, which you must attain a certain level to get. Like other upgrade components jewels can be swapped with another jewel of the same kind without damaging the original one. However, you can only replace one jewel in an equipment piece once.

Utilizing more jewels in a movement will make it more smooth and is typically performed for aesthetic reasons. The jewels also improve performance and create an outer layer that is more durable than steel, so that the repeated friction caused by pivots does not cause damage to the movement.

A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the look of your shields and weapons. These are a small perk 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 to exchange Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs can also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, like aegis and traits, cannot be swapped out, and are only recoverable by using an Upgrade Extractor, or by salvaging them using a Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets are pieces of equipment that bestow an array of small, but beneficial benefits to your hero. They can be obtained in the beginning areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, or by performing road interactions. They can be purchased from the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.

The first trinket players will be able to unlock is the cloak. It gives a small, but useful bonus in speed of movement and the ability to escape. The player can then collect necklaces, amulets, and rings in a similar fashion as they did with weapons and armor. Each piece of gear comes with one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal or jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades offer fewer benefits and can be put into any type of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded, and is only compatible with specific types of trinkets.

These trinkets can also grant buffs and skills that remain active whenever the hero is not in combat. This enables the hero to be more effective while inactive and may also help fill in the void of a strong team or the absence of any slots from the talent tree that would normally be 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 that are less important than the iLevel of the item upgrade that is being upgraded. This is especially true if an item upgrader mod has multiple stats you wish to upgrade, as it's usually better to upgrade just one crucial stat than two subpar ones.

Jungle players usually upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red one at the start of the game. Top and mid players however, will choose a pink or green ward, based on the matchup. These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's map control abilities.

In addition to the items listed above, players will also find other trinkets that form trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story, for instance completing a chapter's main quest or killing a certain boss. They can be viewed by selecting the appropriate achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.