Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of a variety of Path of Exile items can be improved by upgrading their performance. They can also provide additional damage, AD or even affixes.
Sometimes, however upgraded Common and Magic gear is outclassed by Rare-grade equipment due to their requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They boost the stats of whatever item they are connected to. Armor upgrades are found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternatively, they can also be salvaged from items that have upgrade components in them with a professional or higher salvage kit.
item upgrades of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it is able to take on. The absorption of damage by a piece armor will increase when it's upgraded to the highest upgrade level. It is important to keep in mind that this will increase the weight of the armor, which means it should be heavier.
There are a few different kinds of armor upgrades available in the game, and they all have different effects. For instance, certain upgrades will give the armor a certain amount of additional health points, while others will make it stronger and lighter. The kind of armor upgrade an item will receive will be indicated by the name of the upgrade, as indicated in the table below.
Certain upgrades require magic or a combination of technology and magic, which are shown by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table below. Certain upgrades also require fees to use. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges associated with these upgrades change every day or never expire, according to the upgrade.
The cheapest way to upgrade armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be obtained by exploring the environment and looting minor loot chests. Titanium is more costly, but can be found at the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied on high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give players a significant boost in stats, and are worth the investment.
The player should be aware, however, that upgrading a piece to the maximum upgrade level will increase its defense values. However, it will also decrease its agility and speed. This is why it is typically not recommended to upgrade armor pieces that are higher than +9 because the increase in defense is typically not worth the extra weight and power cost of the upgrades needed.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of specific aspects of the weapon. Upgrades can improve the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage that shotgun shells do. Certain weapons also come with enhancements that enhance their intrinsic capabilities. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and minimizes 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 for applying. These can be obtained by completing Side Quests or by killing a certain amount of monsters and bosses.
Upgrades to a weapon, equipment Set piece, or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade fee that is based on a specific number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of bars required to complete it. The cost of the upgrades will be lower if you have more than one of the upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your equipment and weapon sets has changed a bit. Prior to Chapter 2 Season 5 you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a certain amount of Bars. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this, however, the process is high on RNG and low on agency. You're better off buying gear with minimal upgrade levels but with high base scores and stat distributions. These will then have a chance at gaining you the best tier of benefits and blessings.
To increase their level faster, most players will prioritise upgrading their weapons. In addition to these players, they should also consider upgrading the weapons they use with their teammates to make them more powerful and effective. Shepard, for example should upgrade his M92F in order to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more useful when used in conjunction by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to increase the stats of a character or to provide additional effects in weapons and armor. 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 level of the gem, the greater the secondary effect. These reagents can be gotten from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses all over the world, or by finding Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The Jeweler can improve the quality of the gem in stages that range from Crude up to Royal. Depending on the tier of the jewel it can provide different stat boost when slotted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.
The Jeweler is able to create the highest levels of gems with the exception of rare and legendary ones, which require an appropriate level to obtain. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped out by a different jewel of the same kind without damaging it. You can only replace the jewel once in an item of equipment.
It is common to use more jewels to enhance the appearance of. Apart from improving performance, the diamonds create an outer layer that is more durable than metal, so repeated friction from pivots doesn't cause harm as easily.
A Glyphmaster can provide glyphs that can enhance the appearance of your shields and weapons. These glyphs offer a small boost in power and can be exchanged, however they are not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs are like jewelry and can be upgraded at the Jeweler to exchange gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, like traits and aegis are not swappable, and can only be retrieved using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them using Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are items of equipment that provide many small but useful advantages to your hero. They can be obtained in the starter 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 trinkets that a player is able to unlock is the cloak. It grants an unimportant but beneficial boost in speed of movement and the ability to escape. After that, they can get amulets, rings, and necklaces in the same way to how a player can acquire armor and weapons. Each piece of equipment has one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades offer fewer benefits and can be used in any kind of equipment while jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded, and only works with certain kinds of trinkets.
These trinkets grant additional buffs and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't fighting. This lets a hero become more efficient even when not in combat. It can also compensate for the lack of a strong team or talent tree slots which are usually filled by the hero's optimal stats.
As a rule trinket upgrades should be a priority BiS (Best in Slot) items you won't replace soon. Also, consider items that have desirable statistics aren't as significant as the iLevel of the item that is to be upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats you'd like to upgrade as it's usually better to upgrade just one important stat than two sub-optimal ones.
Jungle players will often upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red trinket at the start of the game. Mid and top players, on the other hand, will choose a pink or green ward, depending on the matchup. These choices will have a major impact on the hero's ability to control his map.
In addition to the items listed above, players will also find other trinkets in the form of trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be earned through completing certain milestones in the story, like completing a chapter's main quest or killing a particular boss. You can see them by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.