Path of Exile Item Upgrades

The performance of a variety of Path of Exile items can be enhanced by upgrading their performance. They can be a great source of additional damage and more AD or even more affixes.

Rare-grade equipment can be superior to the more modernized Common or Magic equipment because of their high requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They boost the stats of whatever item they are attached to. Armor upgrades are found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged using an expert or higher salvage kits to recover upgrade components from other items.

The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it is able to take on. The ability to absorb damage of an armor piece will increase when it is upgraded to the highest upgrade level. However, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will increase its weight, which will cause it to be heavier than it was before.

There are a few different kinds of armor upgrades that are available in the game and they all have distinct effects. For instance, certain upgrades give the armor a certain amount of additional health points, while others make it stronger and lighter. The name of the upgrade will tell you the kind of upgrade that an Item upgrader kit (historydb.date) will be given, as illustrated below.

Some of the upgrades are also magic or a hybrid of technology and magic which is indicated by the "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Furthermore, some upgrades require a fee to use, which is identified by a "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are either constantly updated or never expire depending on the upgrade.

Iron Ore is the cheapest method to improve your armor. It can be found by exploring and looting small treasure chests. Titanium is more expensive but it can be obtained through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be used on high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant boost in stats, and are well worth the cost.

The player must be aware that upgrading a piece up to the max upgrade level will boost its defense. However, it can also decrease the speed and agility of the piece. For this reason, it is generally not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces above +9, because the increase in defense is usually not worth the additional weight and power costs of the improvements required.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades give players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. For instance an upgrade can increase the damage dealt by shotgun shells or the accuracy of the sniper rifle. Some weapons also have special upgrades that enhance their inherent qualities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, and reduces the risk of overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's acceleration for greater damage) are two examples.

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

The process of upgrading a weapon, equipment Set piece, or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade price of a set number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of bars you will need to complete the upgrade. If you have multiple upgrade materials, the cost of upgrading will be lower.

In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade your weapon and equipment sets has changed. Before, you could seek out an Upgrade Bench and pay a set number of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to a higher rarity. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level and at that point, the upgrades would be reset.

This is still possible, but it depends heavily on RNG. Instead, you're much better off going to the stores and buying equipment that has low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. These gears have a higher chance of giving you the most prestigious tier of blessings and perks.

To improve their skills faster, most players will prioritise upgrading their weapons. In addition players, they should think about upgrading the weapons that are most popular with their teammates to make them more powerful as well. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will increase its utility when paired with biotech specialists such as Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels can be used to improve the effectiveness of a skill or provide additional effects in armor and weapons. They can be made through the process of jewelry crafting, where you combine a gem with several ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the level of the gem, the greater the secondary effect. These reagents can be found around the world from Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and sometimes by salvaging Legendary equipment. You can also buy 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. Based on the tier of the gem it will give different stat boosts when inserted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.

The Jeweler is able to create the highest levels of gems apart from the rare and legendary ones which require certain levels to gain. Jewels can be substituted with another jewel without damaging the original. You can only replace the gem once in an item of equipment.

The use of more jewels in a move will make it more smooth and is usually used to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. In addition to improving performance, the diamonds create a surface that is harder than metal, so repeated friction from pivots won't cause harm as easily.

In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades, the player can also acquire glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These provide a small bonus and are able to be swapped easily but aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold and scattered Crystal. Glyphs may also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits and aegis aren't swappable and can only be retrieved using an Upgrade Extractor, or by salvaging them using the Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets can provide your hero with many small, but valuable benefits. They are available in the starter area as loot or personal story rewards. They are also available through vendors and after completing road interaction. They can also be crafted by jewelers, and found or purchased at the Trading Post.

The first trinkets that a player can unlock is the cloak, which gives a small but useful bonus to speed of movement and evasion. The player can then acquire rings, amulets and necklaces in a similar manner as they did with weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with an upgrade slot that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be put into any type of equipment, while jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded, and only works with certain kinds of trinkets.

These trinkets also grant additional bonuses and abilities that are active when the hero is not in combat. This lets a hero be more efficient while inactive. It can also compensate for the absence of strong slot in the talent tree or team that are normally filled by the hero's Best item upgrade stats.

A good general rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best item upgrade-in-Slot) items that you will not replace in the near future, then any items with desirable stats, but less important than the iLevel of the item to be upgraded. This is especially true if you want to upgrade multiple statistics on an item. It is better to upgrade one important stat rather than two suboptimal ones.

Jungle players will often upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red trinket at the beginning of the game. Top and mid players on the other hand, will choose a green or a pink ward, based on the matchup. These choices can impact the hero's ability to manage the map.

Apart from the things mentioned above, players may also find other items in the form of awards and trophies. These can be obtained through completing certain milestones in the story, for instance finishing a chapter's main quest or killing a certain boss. These achievements can be seen by selecting the appropriate achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.