Item Upgrades: A Simple Definition Path of Exile Item Upgrades

The performance of a variety of Path of Exile items can be enhanced by upgrading the performance of them. They can also provide additional damage, AD or even affixes.

In most cases, however upgraded Common and Magic gear is outclassed by Rare-grade gear due to their requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be applied to armor and weapon items. They improve the effectiveness of the item they are connected to. Armor upgrades are found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged by using an expert or higher salvage kits to recover upgrade components from other items.

The amount of damage that a piece of armor or weapon is able to absorb is dependent on the extent of its upgrades. The absorption of damage by an item of armor will increase as it is upgraded to the highest upgrade level. However, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will raise its weight, requiring it to be heavier than it was before.

There are a few different kinds of armor upgrades available in the game and they all have distinct effects. Some upgrades give armor a greater number of health points while others make it more powerful and lighter. The type of armor upgrade that an item can get will be indicated by the name of the upgrade as illustrated in the table below.

Certain upgrades require magic or a combination of technology and magic, as indicated by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Furthermore, some upgrades require a charge to use, which are shown by the "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are either continuously updated or never expire, depending on the upgrade.

The cheapest way to upgrade armor is by using Iron Ore, which can be obtained by exploring the environment and looting minor loot chests. Titanium is more expensive but is readily available at the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high level armor pieces. item upgrade can give players a significant increases in stats and are worth the cost.

Upgrading a piece of armor to its maximum upgrade level will dramatically increase its defense values but the wearer must be aware that putting on weight will dramatically reduce its agility and speed. Therefore, it is not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces beyond +9, since the added defense is usually not worth the extra weight and power cost of the upgrades required.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to increase the effectiveness of specific aspects of a weapon. Upgrades can boost the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage that shotgun shells do. Certain firearms have upgrades to improve their inherent capabilities. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of the risk of overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases projectile acceleration for more damage).

The majority of upgrades to weapons require a whetblade. It's one of three Power Dices and a different amount of Minerals and Erons. These can be obtained by completing side quests or by killing a certain number of bosses and monsters.

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 required to complete it. If you have multiple upgrade materials The cost of upgrading will be lower.


In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade weapon and equipment sets has changed a bit. Previously, you could seek out an Upgrade Bench and pay a set number of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon to an increased quality. You could continue to do this until you reached the maximum upgrade level for your equipment or weapon, following which upgrades would reset.

This is still possible, but it is dependent heavily on RNG. It is better to purchase gear that has low upgrade levels but with high base scores and stat distributions. These will then have a chance at gaining you the best tier of perks and blessings.

Most players will want to prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they use most frequently to help them level up faster. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their teammates utilize to increase their power. Shepard for instance should upgrade his M92F in order to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more useful when used by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels can be used to boost a stat or provide secondary effects in armor and weapons. Jewelry crafting is a method for making them, where you combine a gemstone with a number specific reagents on a table. The higher the level of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents are obtained in the world through 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 Jeweler can boost the quality of a gem in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. Based on the level of the gem it can provide different stat boost when slotted into weapons, gear and jewelry.

The Jeweler can craft the highest levels of gems apart from the rare and legendary ones, which you must attain an appropriate level to obtain. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped out by a different jewel of the same type without destroying it. You are able to replace the jewel once in an item of equipment.

It is normal to use more gems for aesthetic reasons. In addition to enhancing performance, the jewels create an outer layer that is more durable than metal, so repeated friction from pivots doesn't cause damage as easily.

In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades players can also acquire glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs offer a small boost and can be freely swapped, but they are not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded, as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold, and also a scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits and aegis aren't swappable and are only recoverable by using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them with Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets can give your character various small, but useful benefits. You can find them in the starter area as loot or personal story rewards. They can also be obtained through vendors and after completing road interaction. They can be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.

The first trinket players can unlock is the cloak. It provides a tiny but beneficial boost in movement speed and evasion. After that, they can purchase amulets, rings and necklaces in a similar fashion to how the player obtains weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has an upgrade slot that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades are smaller and are able to be used on any equipment. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.

These trinkets also grant additional bonuses and abilities that are active when the hero is not fighting. This allows a hero to be more efficient when they are not active. It can also compensate for the lack of a strong slots in the team or talent tree which are usually filled by a hero's top stats.

A good guideline for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you won't be replacing soon, followed by items with desirable stats but less important than the iLevel of the item to be upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats that you wish to upgrade, as it's often better to upgrade just one important stat rather than two sub-optimal ones.

At the beginning of the game, junglers will usually want to upgrade their yellow trinket to a red in the middle and top players usually choose a green or pink ward (depending on the matchup). These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's ability to control his map.

Aside from the items listed above, players may also discover a variety of other trinkets in the game in the form of trophies and awards. These can be obtained by completing certain milestones in the story. For example, completing the main quest of a chapter or beating a boss. You can see them by selecting the achievement from the reward section of the hero's menu.