Guide To Item Upgrades: The Intermediate Guide On Item Upgrades

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 also provide additional damage, AD or even affixes.

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

Armor

Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They boost the performance of the item upgrading they are connected to. Armor upgrades can be found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternatively, they can also be salvaged from items that have upgrade components in them using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.

The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can absorb. The ability to absorb damage of a piece armor will increase as it is upgraded to the highest 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 upgrade available in the game. Each one has a distinct impact. For example, some upgrades give the armor a certain amount of additional health points, while others make it lighter and stronger. The name of the upgrade will indicate the kind of upgrade the item can be given, as illustrated below.

Some of the upgrades are also magical or a combination of technology and magic, which is indicated by an "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Certain upgrades also require fees in order to be used. They are referred to as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are continuously updated or never expire based on the upgrade.

The cheapest way to upgrade armor is with Iron Ore, which can be found through exploring the surroundings and looting minor loot chests. Titanium is more expensive but it can be obtained through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide a significant improvements in stats and are a worthwhile investment, particularly for one-handed weapons.

The player must be aware that upgrading a piece up to the max upgrade level will increase its defense value. However, it will also decrease the speed and agility of the piece. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The added defense generally 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 come with special upgrades that enhance their inherent characteristics. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of weapon overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases projectile acceleration for more damage).

Most weapon upgrades require three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade. These can be obtained by completing side quests or by killing a certain number of monsters and bosses.

Upgrading a Weapon, Equipment Set piece, or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade cost that is based on a specific 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 way you upgrade your weapon and sets has changed a bit. In the past you could go to an Upgrade Bench and pay for a specific number of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to an increased quality. You could do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would be reset.

You can still do this, however, the process is high on RNG and low on agency. It is better to purchase gear that has low levels of upgrade and high base scores and stat distributions. They will also have a chance at gaining you the most prestigious bonuses and blessings.

To improve their skills faster, most players will prioritise upgrading their weapons. Additionally players, they should think about upgrading the weapons that are most popular with their squadmates to increase their power as well. Shepard for instance should upgrade his M92F so that he can unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more effective when accompanied with biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels are placed in the armor's sockets and weapons, increasing a stat and providing secondary effects. Jewelry crafting is a method for making them, where you combine a gemstone with a number specific reagents on a jewelry table. The higher the tier of the jewel, the better its secondary effect. These reagents are available from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses around the world, or through collecting Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.

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

All kinds of jewels can be made at the Jeweler however, there are some exceptions to this, such as the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a certain level to obtain these. Jewels can be replaced by another jewel without damaging the original. However, you can only replace the jewels in an item of equipment once.

It is typical to use more jewelry for aesthetic reasons. The jewels also improve performance and create a harder surface than steel, so that the repeated friction from pivots does not damage them.

In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades, the player can also obtain glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs provide a small boost and can be freely traded, but they are not guaranteed to be available as loot. Glyphs, just like jewelry, can be upgraded at the Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components like traits or aegis can't be exchanged and can only be retrieved with an Upgrade extractor, or salvaging with the Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets are pieces of equipment that offer many tiny but valuable advantages to your hero. They can be acquired starting in the areas of starting as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, and by doing road interactions. They can be purchased from the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.

The first trinket a player will unlock is the cloak. It grants a small but beneficial boost in speed of movement and the ability to escape. The player can then collect rings, amulets and necklaces in a similar fashion to how they acquired weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment has one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be utilized on any equipment. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced and only work with certain trinkets.

These trinkets also provide additional buffs and skills that are active whenever the hero is not fighting. This enables the hero to be more effective when not active and may also help fill in the void of a solid team or the absence of any slots in the talent tree which would normally be filled with the hero's best stats.

A good rule of thumb 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 upgrader that is being upgraded. This is especially true if you're looking to upgrade several statistics on an item upgrader. It's best to upgrade just one crucial stat than two less important ones.

Jungle players often upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red one at the beginning of the game. Top and mid players on the other hand they will select 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.

Apart from the things mentioned above, players can also find other items in the form of awards and trophies. These can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story, such as completing a chapter's main quest or destroying a boss. These achievements can be seen by selecting the relevant achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.