10 Fundamentals About Item Upgrades You Didn't Learn At School
Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a frequent and crucial method to enhance the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can provide extra damage, AD or even affixes.
Rare-grade equipment is usually superior to the more modernized Common or Magic equipment due to their higher requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be used on armor and weapon items. They increase the effectiveness of the item they're attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternatively, they can also be salvaged from items with upgrade components within them by with a professional or higher salvage kit.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it will take on. Upgrading a piece of armor to maximum upgrade level will increase its ability to absorb damage. It is important to keep in mind that this will increase the weight of the armor, so it should be heavier.
There are a few different types of armor upgrades available in the game, and they all have different effects. For instance, certain upgrades will grant the armor a certain amount of additional health points, while others will make it stronger and lighter. The name of the armor upgrade will tell you the kind of upgrade an item can receive, as shown below.
Certain upgrades require magic or a hybrid technology and magic, which is identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Additionally, some upgrades require charges to use, and are identified by the "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are continuously updated or never expire, depending on the upgrade.
The cheapest method to upgrade armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be gathered through exploring the surroundings and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive but it can be obtained from smelters located in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied to armor pieces of the highest level. These upgrades can provide a significant boost to performance and are worth the investment, especially for 1-handed weapons.
Upgrading
item upgrades of armor to max upgrade level will greatly increase its defense values, but the player should be aware that putting more weight on it will drastically reduce its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The added defense generally isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.

Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow 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 rifle that snipes. Certain firearms have upgrades that enhance their inherent qualities. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and minimizes weapon overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the velocity of projectiles for greater damage).
The majority of upgrades to weapons 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, killing a certain number of monsters or bosses, or through the Weapon Upgrade NPC in Central Flarine.
To upgrade an equipment set, weapon piece, or Whetblade you need to visit the NPC [Armor] Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a certain amount of Bars. The more bars you need to complete an upgrade the more advanced the level. The cost of upgrades will be less if you have more than one of the upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the way you upgrade your equipment and weapon sets has changed a bit. In the past you could go to an Upgrade Bench and pay a set amount of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to a higher quality. You could continue doing this until you reached the maximum upgrade level for your equipment or weapon, after which the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this, but the process is high on RNG and low on agency.
sneak a peek at this site should consider buying equipment that has low levels of upgrade, but high base scores and stat distributions. These will have a chance at gaining you the most prestigious benefits and blessings.
The majority of players will make the most of upgrades to weapons they most often use to make sure they are able to level up quicker. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their squadmates use to make them stronger. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will enhance its effectiveness when accompanied by biotech specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are placed in the armor's sockets and weapons, increasing the power of a character and bringing about secondary effects. Jewelry crafting is the process of making them, where you combine a gemstone with a number specific reagents on a table. The higher the grade of the gemstone, the better the secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses all over the world, or by salvaging Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
The quality of a jewel can be improved at the Jeweler, with stages that range from Crude to Royal. The stat boosts will vary according to the tier that the jewel is at when it is inserted into jewelry, weapons or equipment.
The Jeweler is able to create all kinds of gems, except for the rare and legendary ones that you must attain certain levels to gain. Like other upgrade components jewels are able to be swapped by a different jewel of the same type without damaging it. However you can only swap out the jewels in an equipment piece only once.
Using more jewels in the movement can make it feel more comfortable and is typically used for aesthetic reasons. In addition to improving performance, the jewels also create an outer layer that is more durable than metal, which means that repeated friction with pivots doesn't cause harm as easily.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the look of your weapons and shields. These glyphs offer a small boost and can be exchanged, however they're not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold, and also scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components such as traits or aegis can't be swapped, and can only be found by using an Upgrade extractor or salvaging using the Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can give your character various small, but useful, benefits. They are available in the start-up area as loot or as personal story rewards. They are also available from vendors as well as through the completion of road interactions. They may also be crafted by jewelers, and found or purchased on the Trading Post.
The first trinket a player unlocks will be the cloak, which gives a small, but valuable boost to movement speed and the ability to escape. After that, they'll be able to purchase amulets, rings and necklaces in the same way to how a player can acquire weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has an upgrade slot that can be either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be placed in any type of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded and is only compatible with certain kinds of trinkets.
These trinkets also provide additional buffs and skills that are active when the hero is not fighting. This lets a hero be more efficient while inactive. It can also compensate for the absence of good slot in the talent tree or team which are usually filled by a hero's top stats.
As a rule, trinket upgrades should prioritize BiS (Best in Slot) items that you will not replace in the near future. Also, consider items that have desirable statistics are less significant than the iLevel of the item that is to be upgraded. This is true especially if you are looking to upgrade multiple statistics on an item. It's more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat instead of two subpar ones.
At the beginning of the game players who are in the jungle will typically want to upgrade their yellow trinket into a red one in the middle and top players usually choose a green or pink 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 items mentioned above, players can find a number of other trinkets throughout the game in the form of awards and trophies. These can be earned through completing certain milestones in the story, for instance finishing a chapter's main quest or destroying a boss. You can view them by clicking on the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.